How many hours a week does Classification 8 buy?
Last updated 21 August 2026
Budget figures current as at the 1 July 2026 indexation (2026-27); median hourly prices from the mid-2026 National Summary of Support at Home Prices.
The short version
- Classification 8 - the highest ongoing level - buys about eleven to twelve hours of help a week at national median prices, after care management.
- The quarterly budget of $20,034.28 is $1,541.10 a week - about $1,386.99 for services once the 10% care management cap comes out.
- A nursing-intensive week delivers around ten hours; an all-support-worker week reaches twelve; a true seven-day roster sits in between.
- At this scale, pricing differences are worth thousands of dollars a year - a 15% rate gap on a full roster is roughly two hours a week either way.
Classification 8 exists for people whose needs are substantial every single day - and its budget is genuinely different in kind: enough for daily visits, meaningful nursing and a household kept running, all at once. The question becomes design, not scarcity. Gently, here is what the dollars do.
The arithmetic
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Quarterly budget (2026-27) | $20,034.28 |
| ÷ 13 weeks in a quarter | ≈ $1,541.10 a week |
| − care management (capped at 10%) | − $154.11 |
| = left for services each week | ≈ $1,386.99 |
| ÷ $115 - the median personal care hour | ≈ 12 hours a week |
Three ways twelve-ish hours can be shaped
| Service | Rate | Hours / week | Cost / week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered nurse | $180/hr | 2 hrs | $360.00 |
| Enrolled nurse | $145/hr | 2 hrs | $290.00 |
| Personal care | $115/hr | 5 hrs | $575.00 |
| Cleaning | $110/hr | 1 hr | $110.00 |
| Care management (10%) | - | - | $154.11 |
| Total | 10 hrs | $1,489.11 of $1,541.10 weekly budget |
| Service | Rate | Hours / week | Cost / week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal care | $115/hr | 7 hrs | $805.00 |
| Cleaning & laundry | $110/hr | 2.5 hrs | $275.00 |
| Social support (outings, company) | $111/hr | 2.5 hrs | $277.50 |
| Care management (10%) | - | - | $154.11 |
| Total | 12 hrs | $1,511.61 of $1,541.10 weekly budget |
| Service | Rate | Hours / week | Cost / week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal care - weekday hours | $115/hr | 8 hrs | $920.00 |
| Personal care - weekend hours at $143.75/hr | $143.75/hr | 3 hrs | $431.25 |
| Care management (10%) | - | - | $154.11 |
| Total | 11 hrs | $1,505.36 of $1,541.10 weekly budget |
The three weekend hours in Week 3 cost $86.25 more than weekday hours would - about $1,121 a quarter. On this budget that’s absorbable, but it’s still ten cleaning hours a quarter traded for weekend timing, and worth deciding deliberately.
Indicative only - providers set their own prices; the loading and the low/high rates discussed below are illustrations around the published medians. Contributions change your out-of-pocket cost, never the hours (and clinical care, including all nursing here, is free to you). Compare typical hourly rates.
Price Week 2’s roster 15% under the medians and it costs about $1,153.88 - leaving room for roughly two extra hours every week. Price it 15% over and it no longer fits: about one and a half hours have to come off. Same budget, a gap of three-plus hours a week - more than 150 hours a year - decided entirely by the provider’s price list. The care management cap (up to $2,003 a quarter here) deserves the same scrutiny.
How to get more hours from the same budget
- Tender the roster. With a spend above $80,000 a year, ask two or three providers to price your actual weekly roster line by line, loadings included. Benchmark against typical rates.
- Compare care management in dollars. Between the 10% cap and a leaner fee sits potentially hundreds of dollars a quarter - pure hours. How to compare it.
- Match qualifications to tasks. Reserve RN hours ($180) for what genuinely needs an RN; an enrolled nurse ($145) or support worker ($115) hour stretches further where it’s clinically appropriate - your care plan should say which is which.
- Consider self-managing the non-clinical side - on a budget this size the fee savings are at their largest. Self-management explained.
A budget this size deserves a second quote
Share your current roster and price list with us. We’ll show you how providers in your area compare on the same hours - no pressure, no obligation.
Common questions
What if even Classification 8 isn’t enough?
Classification 8 is the top ongoing level, but it isn’t the whole picture. Short-term pathways add separate funding on top - the Restorative Care Pathway (around $6,000, extendable to around $12,000) after a setback, and equipment or home modifications through AT-HM up to $15,000 over 12 months. If needs have changed significantly, talk it through with My Aged Care (1800 200 422) and your care manager - a Support Plan Review can look at the whole arrangement. The restorative pathway explained.
Do we pay anything for all this nursing?
No - nursing, allied health and care management are clinical care, free for everyone regardless of means. Contributions apply only to independence services (5-50%) and everyday living services (17.5-80%) - and from 1 October 2026 personal care becomes free too. How contributions work at your level.
Can unspent funds build up for a difficult period ahead?
Only to a point - rollover is capped at the greater of $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly budget, about $2,003 here. Funds carried over from an old Home Care Package are exempt from that cap. For a genuinely difficult period, the short-term pathways and a reassessment conversation matter more than saving. The rollover rules.
How do we check we’re not being overcharged?
Read the monthly statement against the price list every month - they’re mandatory, and at this spend errors are expensive. Benchmark against the government’s quarterly National Summary of Support at Home Prices, and remember the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission can order refunds for overcharging. How to read your statements.
Sources
- Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Support at Home program classifications and budgets, 1 July 2026 indexation.
- Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - National Summary of Support at Home Prices (median service prices), 2026.
- Support at Home Program Manual - quarterly budgets, care management cap and the defined service list.
- My Aged Care, myagedcare.gov.au - Support at Home program guidance, accessed 21 August 2026.