CHSP in Queensland
Last updated 21 August 2026
The short version
- CHSP is the entry-level home help program - small per-service contributions (typically $5-$15 an hour for domestic help), quick to start, no national queue.
- It's not ending: the government confirmed on 20 August 2026 that CHSP stays standalone until at least 30 June 2029. What that means.
- Queensland matters doubly here: it has the longest Support at Home waits in the country, so CHSP is often the only support Queenslanders get for months - and it has a vast regional geography where the local CHSP outlet may be the only door.
- Big names: Blue Care/UnitingCare, Wesley Mission Queensland, Anglicare Southern Queensland, and a strong Meals on Wheels network.
How CHSP works in Queensland
CHSP is a national program: government grants fund around 1,300 organisations to deliver task-based help - cleaning, delivered meals, transport to appointments, personal care, social groups, minor home mods - to about 830,000 older Australians. You pay a small contribution per service (typically around $8-$12 for a delivered meal, $3-$10 per transport trip), the government covers the rest, and every provider must have hardship arrangements so inability to pay never blocks a service. It suits people who need one or two kinds of help a few hours a fortnight; anything more belongs with Support at Home.
Queensland's delivery landscape is dominated by long-established not-for-profits: Blue Care/UnitingCare (with a footprint that reaches far beyond the south-east), Wesley Mission Queensland and Anglicare Southern Queensland all run home support at scale, and the state's Meals on Wheels network remains one of the strongest in the country. The sector is unusually well coordinated too - COTA Queensland runs the CHSP-funded "CHSP Provider Hub", a community of practice that trains and supports the state's providers. Provider footprints change, so confirm who currently holds CHSP funding in your area via My Aged Care's Find a Provider tool or ask us.
Queensland runs its own Queensland Community Support Scheme (QCSS) - state-funded in-home support for younger people and others not eligible for Commonwealth aged care. If you're under 65 (under 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people), QCSS is usually the right door, via the Queensland Government rather than My Aged Care.
The regional reality
Queensland has Australia's most spread-out population, and CHSP reflects it. Nearly 40% of CHSP clients nationally live outside major cities, and about a quarter of CHSP outlets are in rural or remote areas - in much of regional Queensland, the block-funded local outlet is the practical face of aged care. The honest caveat: outside the south-east, provider capacity gaps are real. Being assessed as eligible doesn't guarantee a provider has room; if the first one is full, contact others on your referral list and ask My Aged Care to re-refer you. In remote Indigenous communities - the Gulf, Cape York, the Torres Strait - aged care is often delivered through NATSIFAC flexible aged care services rather than mainstream CHSP. See providers in regional Queensland for who covers your area.
Getting CHSP in Queensland
Access is the same national pathway: register with My Aged Care (1800 200 422 or myagedcare.gov.au), have a phone screening, then a home support assessment - usually at your home, and more a conversation than a test. You'll receive referral codes and can start with any local provider that has capacity, typically within days to a few weeks. There's no national waiting queue for CHSP. Our step-by-step guide covers the process.
CHSP while you wait for Support at Home
This matters more in Queensland than anywhere: the state has the longest Support at Home waits in the country - a median of 322 days from application to services starting in the first official wait-times report, about seven weeks longer than Victorians wait. If you've been approved and are in the queue, CHSP is the standard bridge: My Aged Care can refer you for interim CHSP services so the wait isn't unsupported. Take it - waiting with a fortnightly clean and delivered meals beats waiting with nothing. See the waitlist in Queensland.
Need help finding the right door?
Tell us your postcode and what help you need. We'll tell you whether CHSP or Support at Home fits, and which Queensland providers actually have capacity.
Common questions
I'm on the Support at Home waitlist. Can I get CHSP now?
Usually, yes. My Aged Care can refer people approved for Support at Home to CHSP as interim support while they wait - and with Queensland's waits the longest in the country, it's standard advice to take it. Your place in the Support at Home queue isn't affected, and your CHSP services continue until your package starts.
Is CHSP ending in 2027?
No. The planned merger into Support at Home was abandoned on 20 August 2026 - CHSP continues standalone until at least 30 June 2029, with consultation on its long-term design starting in 2026. Anything citing "1 July 2027" is out of date. Read our summary.
I've been assessed as eligible but no provider in my town can take me. What now?
This happens in regional Queensland. Three moves: contact every provider on your referral list, not just the first; call My Aged Care (1800 200 422) and ask them to re-refer you to other providers, including ones based in nearby towns; and if you're still stuck, the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN, 1800 700 600) can advocate for you at no cost. We can also check who genuinely covers your area.
Sources
- My Aged Care, myagedcare.gov.au - Commonwealth Home Support Programme, accessed August 2026.
- Ministers Butler and Rae, media release, 20 August 2026 - CHSP standalone until at least 30 June 2029 (as reported by ABC News and sector press).
- COTA Queensland - CHSP Provider Hub (Sector Support and Development).
- Aged Care Act 2024 Wait Times Report (System Governor, May 2026) - state median waits, Nov 2025-Mar 2026.
- AIHW GEN aged care data - CHSP providers and outlets by remoteness.
- CHSP 2025-27 Program Manual and Client Contribution Framework, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.