How much does aged care at home cost in 2026? Fees and contributions

The honest answer to "how much does aged care at home cost?" is: it depends on your income, your assets, and the type of help you need. But that is not a useful answer on its own, so this guide breaks it down into the parts you can actually work out.

Under Support at Home, the program that replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025, the government pays most of the cost and you contribute toward some of it. How much you contribute is the part we will untangle.

The one rule to remember: clinical care is free

Start here, because it is the simplest and most important point. Clinical care costs you nothing. Nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and other allied health are fully funded by the government for everyone, regardless of your income or assets. The official position is on the participant contributions page at health.gov.au.

So if your needs are mostly clinical, your out-of-pocket cost may be very low.

The two categories you contribute to

You pay a share of the cost for the other two service categories:

Category	Examples	Who pays the most
Independence	Personal care, showering, transport, mobility	Self-funded retirees pay more; full pensioners pay little or nothing
Everyday living	Cleaning, gardening, meals	Everyone contributes; self-funded pay the most

The logic is that everyday living tasks (cleaning, gardening) are things people pay for throughout life anyway, so participants contribute more. Independence services sit in the middle, and clinical care is free.

How your contribution is worked out

Your contribution is a percentage of the cost of each service, not a flat weekly fee. The percentage depends on which cohort you fall into:

• Full pensioners pay the smallest share.
• Part pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders pay a sliding amount based on income and assets.
• Self-funded retirees without a card pay the largest share.

As a sense of scale, a full pensioner contributes nothing toward independence services and a small share toward everyday living, while a self-funded retiree contributes nothing toward independence but up to most of the cost of everyday living (VERIFY: the broad pattern that clinical care is free for all, full pensioners pay least and self-funded retirees pay most is confirmed by My Aged Care, but the exact contribution percentages by cohort and category were not individually confirmed here; read them on the official page below). The exact percentages by cohort and category are published on the health.gov.au contributions page, and because they are detailed and means-tested, we strongly suggest reading them there or asking My Aged Care to estimate yours rather than relying on a number that may not fit your situation.

A worked feel for it

Say you are on a mid-range Support at Home level and you use:

• Weekly nursing visits (clinical care): free
• Help showering three mornings a week (independence): free for a full pensioner, a share for others
• A fortnightly cleaner (everyday living): a contribution from everyone, larger if you are self-funded

A full pensioner in this scenario might pay very little. A self-funded retiree would pay noticeably more for the cleaning, nothing for the nursing, and nothing for the personal care. That is the shape of it.

The lifetime cap

There is a ceiling on what you can be asked to contribute over your lifetime. As of 1 November 2025 the lifetime cap is $135,318.69. Once you reach it, you stop contributing. This protects people who need care for many years from open-ended costs. The cap is indexed each 20 March and 20 September, so confirm the current figure on the My Aged Care costs page.

The big change coming in October 2026

From 1 October 2026, the government will fully fund personal care services. That means showering, dressing, grooming and similar personal care will cost you nothing, no matter your income or assets. This is a significant change for anyone who needs daily personal care, and it is confirmed on the health.gov.au personal care contribution change page. If personal care is a big part of your plan, your costs are set to fall once that takes effect.

The "no worse off" guarantee

If you were getting a Home Care Package, waiting for one, or approved for one by 12 September 2024, you are covered by the "no worse off" guarantee. You will not pay more under Support at Home than you would have under the old rules. If you joined after that date, the new means-tested rules apply. We cover the transition in detail in from Home Care Packages to Support at Home.

Costs that are not part of your contribution

A few things sit outside the contribution system:

• Equipment and home modifications are funded through a separate scheme (AT-HM), not from your package budget. More in what you can spend funding on.
• Things Support at Home does not cover at all, like rent, groceries, medications and GP fees. Those stay your own responsibility, the same as they were before.

How to get your actual number

The only way to know what you will pay is to get assessed and have your means tested. Here is the path:

1. Call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 or register online.
2. Complete an aged care assessment through the Single Assessment System.
3. Services Australia carries out an income and assets assessment to set your contribution rate. You can do this through Services Australia.
4. Your support plan and budget tell you your level; your means assessment tells you your share.

It is worth getting financial advice before you commit to a plan, especially if you are self-funded. A specialist aged care financial adviser can model your contributions. See our notes on financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a daily care fee like in the old system? No flat basic daily fee in the way Home Care Packages had it. Your contribution is a percentage of the services you actually use in the independence and everyday living categories.

Will I ever pay for nursing? No. Clinical care is free for everyone under Support at Home.

What if I cannot afford my contribution? Financial hardship provisions exist. Speak to My Aged Care, and consider talking to a financial counsellor. Some charities offer free financial counselling.

Does my home count in the assets test? The family home is treated under specific rules. Get this checked by a financial adviser rather than assuming, because it can materially change your contribution.