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Home Care Help Independent guide to Support at Home

If contributions are hard to afford, help exists — please use it

Last updated 20 August 2026

Figures current as at 20 August 2026: contribution rates as set at 1 November 2025; personal care free from 1 October 2026.

The short version

  • Financial hardship provisions exist through Services Australia. If paying your contributions would cause genuine hardship, they can be reduced or waived.
  • The system is built on a simple principle: nobody should go without care because they can't contribute.
  • Before anything else, check you've had a means assessment — without one, you're charged the maximum rates by default.
  • Free, independent advocacy is available from OPAN on 1800 700 600. They'll help you make the case; it costs nothing.

First, a word if you've been cutting back

Through late 2025 and into this year, plenty of people quietly reduced their services — fewer showers with help, the cleaning dropped — because the new contributions felt like more than they could manage. If that's you or your parent, please know two things. The costs you're carrying may not be the costs you're meant to carry. And going without care usually costs more in the end — a fall, an infection, an avoidable hospital stay. The steps below are worth an hour of your time.

Check the basics before assuming you can't afford it

  1. Make sure you've had a means assessment

    Start here

    If Services Australia hasn't assessed your finances, you're charged the maximum rates — around 50% on independence services and around 80% on everyday living — by default. Completing the assessment often produces a much lower rate, especially for pensioners. Contact Services Australia, or ask My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 where to start.

  2. Check which services you're actually paying for

    10 minutes with your statement

    Clinical care — nursing, physio, OT, care management — is free for everyone, and from 1 October 2026 personal care is too. If cost is the pressure, talk to your provider about the mix: sometimes the plan can lean harder on free clinical services while things are tight. Check whether you're grandfathered, too — protected rates are much lower, and some protected full pensioners should be paying nothing at all.

  3. Compare your provider's prices

    This week

    Your contribution is a percentage of the provider's price — so a provider well above the national medians costs you more out of pocket every single week. Switching providers is free and needs no new assessment.

Applying for financial hardship assistance

If the numbers still don't work, the formal safety net is financial hardship assistance through Services Australia. It exists for people whose circumstances mean paying aged care costs would leave them unable to meet essential living expenses — and it can reduce or waive your contributions for a period. Hardship isn't only for people with nothing: unexpected essential expenses, a partner's costs, or assets you genuinely can't access can all be part of the picture.

Contact Services Australia and ask about financial hardship assistance for aged care costs. You'll be asked for details of income, assets and essential expenses. Decisions are made case by case, and you can reapply if your circumstances change. Your provider should keep services running while this is sorted out — if you're told services will stop over unpaid contributions, that's exactly the moment to bring in an advocate.

Free advocacy: OPAN, 1800 700 600

The Older Persons Advocacy Network is independent, free and on your side. An advocate can help you understand what you're being charged, gather the hardship paperwork, and speak with your provider or Services Australia with you — or for you. Many people find the asking easier with someone alongside them. Call 1800 700 600.

Not sure where to start?

Tell us what you're being charged and what's hard about it. We'll help you see which of these steps fits your situation — gently, and at your pace.

Talk to us Understand your contributions

Common questions

Will my services stop if I can't pay my contributions?

They shouldn't — the system's design principle is that nobody misses out on care because they can't contribute. If a provider threatens to withdraw services over affordability, contact OPAN on 1800 700 600 straight away, and consider a complaint to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Our complaints guide explains how.

Does asking for hardship help affect my pension?

No. Hardship assistance relates to your aged care costs; it isn't a loan and it doesn't reduce your pension. It simply adjusts what you're asked to contribute while your circumstances warrant it.

I own my home but have very little income. Can I still qualify?

Possibly — hardship decisions look at what you can actually access, not just what you own on paper. Assets you can't reasonably draw on can be taken into account. It costs nothing to ask Services Australia, and an OPAN advocate can help you put the case.

Is there a limit on what I'll pay over my lifetime?

Yes. Non-clinical contributions stop once you reach the lifetime cap — currently $137,917.01, or $86,185.23 if you're grandfathered. If you've been paying care fees for many years, check how close you are.

I'm still waiting for my funding and paying privately. Is there help now?

Interim services through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme cost far less, and hardship provisions can apply there too. See what help exists while you wait.

Sources

  1. Services Australia, servicesaustralia.gov.au — financial hardship assistance for aged care costs.
  2. Support at Home Program Manual — participant contributions and hardship provisions.
  3. My Aged Care, myagedcare.gov.au — help with aged care costs, accessed 20 August 2026.
  4. Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) — free aged care advocacy, 1800 700 600.
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