Support at Home wait times can vary depending on your priority category, approval date, location and when funding becomes available. The latest government data shows the median time from application to ongoing Support at Home services is 297 days for people whose services started between 1 Apr and 30 Jun 2026. That covers your whole journey, from your first My Aged Care application to the service commencement date recorded by your provider. Short-term priority services move much faster, and the median for the End-of-Life Pathway is just 14 days. Finding a provider early helps you prepare for when your funding is allocated.
Key Takeaways
- The median time from application to ongoing Support at Home services is 297 days, down from 344 days measured the same way
- This covers your assessment, your time in the funding queue and finding a provider
- My Aged Care’s estimated wait times only cover the funding queue, so they measure something different
- Across all services combined, Western Australia has the shortest time and Queensland the longest
- Once funding is allocated, you have 56 days to sign a service agreement and start services, or 84 with an extension
When people talk about the Support at Home wait, they usually mean the time spent in the queue for funding. The government’s wait times report measures something bigger: everything from the day you apply to the service commencement date recorded by your provider. It calls this elapsed time, because not all of it is time spent waiting. That’s why the figures you see on My Aged Care, in the news and in the report rarely match.
The good news in the latest report is that the time from application to ongoing services is coming down. The rest of this article explains what the figures cover, why your own wait may look quite different and what you can do now to shorten the part you control.
How Long Are Support at Home Wait Times?
The government publishes elapsed times based on historical data. In its latest report, released on 11 Aug 2026, the median time from application to ongoing Support at Home services is 297 days. The median is the middle value, so half the people who started services between 1 Apr and 30 Jun 2026 took less time than this and half took longer.
According to the Aged Care Act 2024 Wait Times Report, this measures your entire journey. It starts from your first My Aged Care application and ends on the service commencement date recorded by your provider.
Your total time is made up of three parts:
- Wait to be assessed. Demand in your local area and your assessment priority affect how soon an assessor from the Single Assessment System can see you.
- Wait for funding. Once you’re approved and seeking services, you join the national Priority System until funding is allocated to you.
- Wait to start services. You find a provider, sign an agreement and your services begin.
The first two parts are largely out of your hands. You can prepare for the third, which is why researching your aged care options early can help you start services as soon as funding arrives.
Why Are There Different Support at Home Wait Times?
The wait times report and the estimated wait times on My Aged Care measure different parts of the same process. My Aged Care’s estimates only cover the second part, starting from the access approval start date in your assessment outcome letter and ending when your funding is allocated. The report covers all three parts, so the figures aren’t directly comparable, and both can be right.
As at 30 Jun 2026, My Aged Care estimated these waits for ongoing funding:
- Urgent priority: within one month
- High priority: one month
- Medium priority: five to six months
- Standard priority: seven to eight months
The report also looks backwards. It describes people who have already started services, some of whom applied well before the reporting period, so it can’t tell you exactly how long the queue is today.
In practice, use the My Aged Care estimate for your priority category to plan when your funding might arrive. Use the report’s figures as context for the whole process, including the time it takes to choose a provider and get started.
Is the Wait for Support at Home Getting Shorter?
The median time from application to ongoing Support at Home services fell from 344 days for 1 Nov 2025 to 31 Mar 2026 to 297 days for 1 Apr to 30 Jun 2026. Both figures use the same method, so the fall isn’t caused by a change in how the report counts.
If you read the first wait times report, you may have seen a median of 347 days. The government has since changed the method so it excludes reassessments and Support Plan Reviews and counts only first applications. It revised the earlier figures to match and updated the data to capture additional service commencement records, which is where the 344 days comes from.
Because the report counts people who started services in each period, it shows how long their journey took rather than how long the queue is today. The earlier figure also covers the first five months of Support at Home, so it’s a less settled point of comparison. The direction is encouraging, but not every service got faster, as the next section shows.
How Fast Do Priority Services Start?
Funding is allocated immediately once you’re approved for the End-of-Life or Restorative Care pathways. The report still measures the whole journey from application to service commencement. These are the medians for services that started between 1 Apr and 30 Jun 2026:
- End-of-Life Pathway: 14 days
- Restorative Care Pathway: 64 days
- Assistive technology and home modifications: 193 days
The End-of-Life and Restorative Care pathways both got faster. Assistive technology and home modifications went against the trend, with medians up from 105 and 107 days for 1 Nov 2025 to 31 Mar 2026, and the report doesn’t explain why.
The same 56-day window to sign a service agreement and start services applies to assistive technology and home modifications, so if you’re approved for either, line up a provider early.
Does Your Location Change Your Wait Time?
Where you live makes a difference, although less between states than between local areas. Across all the services in the report combined, Western Australia has the shortest median elapsed time at 229 days and Queensland the longest at 266 days.
The report doesn’t break ongoing Support at Home down by state. Those state figures combine ongoing Support at Home, its short-term pathways and ongoing and short-term residential aged care. Treat them as a comparison between states rather than as the wait for ongoing services where you live.
Local areas vary much more. Across Aged Care Planning Regions, the longest reportable median was 316 days in South West Sydney and the shortest was 72 days in Alice Springs. These figures also combine the different service types. The report lists every region, although some figures are withheld where there were fewer than 10 service commencements.
Why Is There a Waiting Time for Support at Home?
Ongoing Support at Home funding is allocated through the national Priority System rather than automatically becoming available when you’re approved. Provider availability can also affect when services begin.
The Priority System aims to make sure people with the most critical needs get help fastest. The report also lists everyday factors that stretch out the time between applying and starting services, including changes in health, time to make decisions, waiting for a preferred provider and the time it takes to finalise a service agreement.
Some of those you can’t change. Others, like choosing a provider and having your paperwork ready, you can start on today.
How Many People Are Waiting for Support at Home Funding?
As at 30 June 2026, 106,977 people were waiting for an ongoing Support at Home place.
The wait times report doesn’t count how many people are waiting for funding, but it does track first aged care applications awaiting a triage decision. That number fell from 23,491 applications at the end of Dec 2025 to 14,382 at the end of Jun 2026. Not all of these applications will lead to approval for Support at Home.
Your priority category and approval date both affect your funding timeframe, so the total number waiting doesn’t tell you how long your own wait will be.
How Support at Home Wait Lists Work
The Support at Home Program uses a national Priority System to decide who receives funding first. Instead of a simple first come, first served list, everyone is given a priority category based on their assessment: urgent, high, medium or standard.
Funding is allocated using both your priority category and approval date. People with more urgent assessed needs are prioritised for access.
Your assessment outcome also places you in one of the eight Support at Home classifications, which sets how much funding you receive. Your priority category and approval date affect when you receive it.
What Affects Your Place in the Queue?
Your priority category and approval date affect your wait. The Integrated Assessment Tool calculates your priority category using information collected at your assessment, and an Assessment Delegate checks that the correct information has been used.
The government’s priority criteria include living alone, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity, assessed cognitive impairment, homelessness or risk of homelessness, a need for urgent services and motor neurone disease. An additional criterion applies to people in specified regional or remote areas who have waited more than six months from their initial assessment referral.
Your broader assessment also considers matters like:
- Safety risks: falls, difficulty keeping track of medications or difficulty managing daily tasks at home
- Current supports: the help you already have in place, or whether you’re managing on your own
- Carer wellbeing: whether the person providing most of your care can keep doing so
- Health changes: recent hospital stays or noticeable changes in your mobility
This is why it pays to be specific at your assessment. Describe a typical week, including the bad days, so the assessor sees how you actually manage.
Local provider availability doesn’t change your place in the funding queue, but it does affect how quickly you can start. Even after funding is allocated, your services can’t begin until you choose a provider and sign an agreement. Researching home care providers early makes this stage easier.
For more detail on how assessment information affects classification and priority, see our Integrated Assessment Tool guide.
How Can I Check on My Support at Home Application?
You can check your status and estimated wait time whenever you need to:
- Online: log in to your My Aged Care online account to see your approval status and priority category
- By phone: call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 to ask about your application and any updates
Make sure your status is listed as “seeking services”. If you’re approved but not marked as seeking services, you won’t be offered funding. You can update this status at any time.
What If My Needs Change While I Am Waiting?
Your priority category reflects your situation at your assessment. If things change while you’re in the queue, for example a fall, a hospital stay or your carer no longer being able to help, contact My Aged Care as soon as you can.
Explain what has changed and ask about a Support Plan Review. You may need an updated support plan or a reassessment. If your needs have changed substantially, a Support Plan Review may be appropriate.
In the meantime, you may be able to get some help while you wait for your funding.
What to Do If Your Care Needs Increase
This section is for people already receiving Support at Home. Care needs change over time, and you don’t always need a formal review to change your services.
Start with your provider. Ask about mixing and matching services to better fit what you need now, because there are often ways to stretch your Support at Home budget without a formal review.
If your needs have changed significantly, call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 and ask for a Support Plan Review. If the review shows you need more support, you may be referred for reassessment and approved for a higher Support at Home classification. You may then need to wait for the additional funding to be allocated.
How to Actively Reduce Your Wait Time
The 297-day median includes the time it takes to find a provider and sign an agreement. That’s the part you can help shorten by researching providers before your funding arrives.
You have 56 days from the date of your funding allocation letter to sign an agreement and start services. You can ask My Aged Care for a 28-day extension, giving you 84 days in total. That sounds like plenty, but comparing providers, checking who has availability and reading each provider’s service agreement and fees takes time.
Doing this research now removes the guesswork, so you can move quickly once your funding is assigned.
Find Home Care Providers Near You While Waiting for Funding
Waiting for your Support at Home funding doesn’t mean you have to wait to explore your care options. Comparing providers early can help you make an informed decision and prepare to start services once your funding becomes available.
Aged Care Decisions offers free, independent assistance to help you find and compare suitable Home Care providers in your area.
Find Home Care Providers in Melbourne
If you’re waiting for your Support at Home funding, now is a good time to explore your options. Aged Care Decisions can help you find home care providers in Melbourne, compare services and identify suitable providers based on your care needs, preferences and location.
Find Home Care Providers in Sydney
Preparing for your Support at Home funding allocation? Our free matching service can help you find home care providers in Sydney, explore suitable care options and prepare for a smoother transition once your funding is available.
Find Home Care Providers in Brisbane
Whether you’ve recently been approved for Support at Home or are still waiting for funding, Aged Care Decisions can help you find home care providers in Brisbane and compare suitable options, so you’re better prepared when it’s time to arrange your care.
How Our Free Service Helps
We can’t move you up the Priority System or speed up your assessment, because those are handled through My Aged Care. Where we can help is the third part of your wait: finding a provider who can start.
- Current availability: we check which Support at Home providers in your area are taking new clients, so you’re not waiting on a list that was full months ago
- Matched to you: we match providers to your care needs, budget and location
- Independent: we’re independent, and we don’t take payment from you
- No obligation: you receive a tailored list of options and decide who to contact
Sources
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Aged Care Act 2024 Wait Times Reports
Includes the second report, published 11 August 2026, and revised figures for the earlier reporting period.
My Aged Care: Assessment Outcome: Support at Home
Funding wait estimates, the number of people waiting, interim funding and timeframes for starting services.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Support at Home Ongoing Services Priority Categories Assignment
How priority categories are calculated and checked.
