The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has confirmed that Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) grant funding will be extended for another two years, to 30 June 2029. For the Care Providers delivering CHSP services, and the older people who rely on them, it’s a meaningful piece of certainty in a sector that’s used to change arriving quickly.
Why this matters
CHSP provides entry-level support that helps older people live independently and safely at home, things like domestic assistance, transport, social support and home maintenance. The Department has described it as a valued program and essential to aged care in Australia, while also acknowledging that improvement is needed to meet the demands of an ageing population.
That combination, an extension alongside an acknowledgement that change is still needed, is worth sitting with. The extension buys time and stability. It doesn’t mean the program will stay the same.
What’s coming next
The Department has flagged that consultation will begin this year on a long-term design for a block-funded, entry-level program. The stated goals for that design are to:
- Be sustainable and better integrated with Support at Home
- Ensure fair and equitable contributions to home care costs
- Support early intervention services that reduce pressure on the broader system
None of this is finalised. But it gives Care Providers a reasonable sense of the direction: closer alignment with Support at Home, a sharper focus on cost contributions, and an emphasis on early intervention over crisis response.
What Care Providers can do now
- Use the runway. Two years of confirmed funding is a chance to plan ahead rather than react, particularly if you’ve been holding off on decisions pending clarity about CHSP’s future.
- Stay across the consultation. The Department has invited providers to subscribe to its newsletters and mailing lists to participate in consultation and stay up to date as the long-term design takes shape.
- Keep an eye on integration with Support at Home. Given the stated direction toward closer alignment between the two programs, it’s worth understanding how your current reporting and compliance processes would adapt if that integration progresses.
- Read the open letter. Ministers Mark Butler and Sam Rae have published an open letter setting out the reasoning behind the extension, which is worth a read for the full policy context.
Whatever shape the long-term design eventually takes, providers with clean, adaptable reporting and compliance systems will be better placed to adjust when it arrives. If you’d like to talk through how your current setup would handle changes to CHSP or its integration with Support at Home, our team is happy to help you think it through.
