The latest numbers on packages, interim funding and wait lists

Written by Lilly Sorensen, Sector Support Administrator

In the February Senate Estimates Hearing, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing revealed the most recent data on aged care.

How many people are receiving Support at Home packages?
As at 31 December 2025:
346,893 people allocated Support at Home ongoing places
36,403 of these people are receiving a ‘minimum service offer’ of 60% of their approved package
The minimum service offer is when the approved package level is offered, but at only 60% of the full budget.

Waiting to be Assessed 
103,527 people were waiting for an aged care needs assessment at 31 December 2025. (Down from 113,150 on 31 October 2025)  

Support at Home wait list 
On 31 December 2025, there were 131,366 people waiting in the Support at Home Priority System, for their approved classification, an increase from 107,281 on 31 October 2025. 
Of these 131,366: 
36,403 receiving some services, but waiting for a place at their approved classification, or receiving home care services with a ‘minimum service offer’ of 60%
94,963 are waiting without any services. 
4,812 older people died waiting for the level of home care they had been assessed as needing in 2024-25. (Increased from 3,383 in 2023-24)  

Wait List Urgency
Of the 131,366 people who are waiting:  

Although the low number of people in the Urgent Priority category appears encouraging, it’s important to have clear data on how many packages are approved within each priority band, as well as the specific package levels involved. Without this information, we can’t track how many people are moving into or out of each priority group, or determine the proportion of packages at Level 1 compared to Level 8. Month-to-month changes in the number of people classified as Urgent Priority could result from either fluctuations in new urgent cases or variations in package allocations, but without detailed breakdowns, we won’t be able to pinpoint the cause.

A new National Prioritisation System   

At 31 December 2025, the average wait time 9 months overall.

As part of the needs assessment, an assessment is made about both the level of care needed (e.g. Level 1 to 8), and the urgency which that care is needed (e.g. Urgent to Standard).  

Factors influencing Prioritisation (National Priority System)  

In the previous Home Care Package program, people would receive lower-level package while they wait for their higher approved package level. (e.g. receive Level 2 while waiting for Level 4). 

With Support at Home, people receive the package they are approved for, but at minimum service offer of 60%. The average time on these interim packages ‘minimum service offer’ is 10 weeks, after which they move to 100% of their approved package. The time spent waiting on the 60% minimum service could range from around 3 weeks to 17 weeks.  

The 60% minimum service offer aims to make sure people can get access to funding at the earliest opportunity, to meet the commitment of 63,000 additional packages in the first 8 months of the program, in order to reach the total 83,000 as promised in the budget.  

Release of New Packages
83,000 Total New packages to be released in FY2025-26
Comprising of: 
20,000 were released July to October 2025 (Home Care Packages) 
20,000 were released November & December 2025 (Support at Home)
6,615 were released January 2026 
36,385 remaining need to be released through the rest of FY 25-26  

New Packages released at full funding level?
 93% of packages being released at 60% of approved funding 
7% released at full funding level.  

The Support at Home Priority System 
As part of the needs assessment, the Prioritisation system relies on six criteria to assign an older person to a priority level:  

• Whether the person lives alone 
• Whether the person has cognitive impairment 
• Is the person homeless or at risk of homelessness?  
• Does the person identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?  
• Is there a need for urgent access to ongoing in-home aged care?  
• Whether the individual has waited at least six months for an assessment and resides in MMM 5, 6 or 7.  

 Assessment review requests 
414 requests for review were received in the period 1 November 2025 to 23 January 2026.  
2 reviews for Support at Home assessments were finalised. 1 was confirmed and 1 was reassessed.   

Hardship Claims
1,326 claims in November 2025
1,272 claims in December 2025
68.4% of claims approved in December.
Nous Group has been commissioned to conduct a review of Equity and Access under Support at Home.  

 In regard to who is bearing the additional burden of administration under Support at Home, surprisingly, it was stated the Department representatives have not heard specific advice that administration is taking a specific amount of time, though it has been received as feedback, but not in the quantum or in data,  but “we are very happy to engage with providers about what the genuine administrative impact is”.  

Barriers to accessing Cottage Respite services
Support at Home service list gives access to:  

• Flexible respite, which gives you support and assistance in an older person’s home during the day or overnight
• Community and centre based respite, which provides support through small day outings or structured group activities. 

Although Cottage Respite was previously offered under Home Care Packages, it is not offered by Support at Home. It is now only accessible under the Commonwealth Home Support Program. Advice from Departmental representatives is, if you are in the Support at Home program, you can still access cottage respite simultaneously by getting it with CHSP, and you can do that by getting a referral for CHSP cottage respite. You can do that by either getting a support plan review undertaken or getting an urgent referral for CHSP cottage respite, and you do that by contacting the My Aged Care contact centre. 

With the CHSP transition consultation ongoing, Departmental representatives recognised the importance of cottage respite for older people, post 1 July 2027.   

Why are reparation payments not exempt from means testing?  
Senator David Pocock raised the issue of Stolen Generation redress payments, which are not exempt from means testing, and are classed as an asset. Communities have been advocating for Stolen Generation redress payments to be exempt, similar to the exemption on National Redress Scheme payments. The Department’s decision was a response to strong consumer advocacy, and advocacy from the roundtable of survivors of childhood institutional sexual abuse, so payments from the National Redress Scheme are exempt from assessable assets for means testing. Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy has received strong feedback from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community organisations and Elders, and “we will be looking very closely at seeing this change”.  

 Number of people accessing CHSP 
838,000 people “accessed a service” with CHSP in 2024-25
457,053 people accessed 1 or more services in the 6 month period 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2025 
Due to current data limitations, it is not possible to know how many people are accessing CHSP at a single point in time.    

CHSP Data & Wait List: a work in progress 
Currently there is no data linkage between the number of approvals for CHSP and understanding who takes up a service, and in what timeframe. The assessment and approvals data is held separately in My Aged Care (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing); while the CHSP service delivery data is reported through the Commonwealth grants hub Data Exchange (Department of Social Service). This is an ongoing project by the Department, and the first major step is being implemented: Data Exchange reporting now requires My Aged Care ID when reporting on services delivered.   

Conclusion
While a definitive budget allocation towards the 83,000 packages was not disclosed, Department representatives gave assurances there was sufficient budget allocated to deliver on this target. What older people, providers and advocates can conclude is the greater need for transparency on wait times, package releases, government spending, with clear, timely, consistent and accurate data, so older people, providers and the community can be reassured that every older person receives the care they need when it is needed.  

It’s worth remembering, these wait times don’t exist in isolation. The person seeking care will experience an aggregated wait time over the course of their aged care journey: wait for assessment, wait to be approved for interim 60% package, find a suitable provider with availability, receive minimum services while waiting to be allocated a full package. In all our conversations about these billion-dollar decisions in Canberra, we must always keep the older person at the centre of decision making.  

Committee members included: 

• Dorinda Cox Senator for WA, ALP
• Penny Allman-Payne Senator for QLD, Greens
• Michelle Ananda-Rajah Senator for VIC, ALP

Senators included: 

• David Pocock Senator for ACT, Independent
• Anne Ruston Senator for SA, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Liberal

Government ministers appearing before the Committee included: 

• Rebecca White Member for Lyons (TAS) Assistant Minister for Women, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health
• Malarndirri McCarthy Senator for NT, Minister for Indigenous Australians

Department of Health, Disability and Ageing & its agency representatives appearing included:

• Greg Pugh First Assistant Secretary, Access and Home Support Division
• Sonja Stewart Deputy Secretary, Ageing and Aged Care Group
• Robert Day First Assistant Secretary, Quality and Assurance Division
• Blair Comley PSM Secretary of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
• Natalie Siegel-Brown Inspector General of Aged Care

For further insights you can view the 11 February 2026 Senate Estimates Hearing on Health and Aged Care recording and transcript.

Opportunities to have your say at a government consultation:

Aged Care Data and Reporting
How would you improve the collection and reporting of aged care clinical, care needs, quality and service delivery information? Consultation sessions for home care providers will be held on 12 March and 18 March 2026. Read the Consultation Paper and book a spot here

IHACPA Home care pricing (Support at Home and CHSP)
In-home aged care providers are encouraged to participate in the 2025 Support at Home cost collection, to inform price cap recommendations. EOI is open now. Read more and register.

Senate Review of Support at Home
The Senate Review on Support at Home is accepting written submissions until 31 July 2026. Key areas for the review include access to services, impact of co-payment contributions; impact of pricing on consumers; financial hardship arrangements; the impact on residential aged care and hospitals; impact on those transitioning from Home Care Packages; thin markets; impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; impact on culturally and linguistically diverse communities. View the submissions and make your own submission.

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