If you or someone in your family relies on the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, you have probably been hearing a lot about CHSP changes lately. Some of it has been confusing. Some of it has been wrong. The simple version is this: nothing has structurally changed about CHSP since the July 2025 update. The bigger shift is the new Support at Home program, which launched on 1 November 2025, and CHSP itself will not transition to Support at Home until at least 1 July 2027.
That gives current CHSP recipients a clear runway. But there are a few practical things worth knowing now, particularly around assessments and the new Aged Care Act, that affect whether your services keep flowing without interruption. This article walks through where CHSP sits in 2026, what changed in July 2025 (so you have the full context), what hasn’t changed since, how CHSP fits into the wider aged care reform, and what to do if you want to stay on top of it all.
CHSP is still here, still funded, and still doing what it has always done: providing entry-level support so older Australians can stay living independently at home. The program has been formally extended from 1 July 2025 through to 30 June 2027, giving providers and clients a stable two-year window before the eventual move into Support at Home.
Eligibility has not changed. You can access CHSP if you are:
The services covered are also unchanged. Domestic assistance, personal care, meals, transport, social support, home maintenance, allied health, nursing, goods and equipment, and respite for carers are all still in scope. You can see how this looks in practice on our CHSP services page. CHSP is a “doing with you, not for you” program. It is designed for people who need a hand with a few specific tasks, not for those needing intensive ongoing care. If your needs are more complex, the assessor will likely refer you to Support at Home instead.
One thing many families miss: CHSP and Support at Home can overlap during transition periods or when you need a service not included in your Support at Home plan. If you have been told it is one or the other, ask your assessor to look again.
A quick recap, because this is the article that updates sits in. From 1 July 2025, CHSP introduced changes to the way fees are structured, with a stronger national framework around client contributions. The CHSP Client Contribution Framework requires every provider to have a public, written contribution policy that sets out what you will be charged and how hardship is handled. Means testing does not apply, but providers are expected to ask people who can afford to contribute to do so, while protecting those who cannot.
The framework also brought in updated national unit price ranges for the 2025 to 2027 period, with adjustments to reflect the Fair Work Commission’s wage increases for aged care nurses (from March 2025) and the 10 per cent indexation boost for meals providers (from January 2025). Providers can sit anywhere within those ranges, which is why one provider’s hourly rate for domestic assistance might differ from another’s down the road.
Eligibility rules tightened slightly to align with the broader aged care reforms, and provider transparency requirements stepped up. From a client’s point of view, the practical effect was clearer service agreements, more visible fees, and a more consistent way of being charged.
Since July 2025, no further structural CHSP changes have been introduced. The fee framework, the eligibility criteria, the service categories, and the funding guidelines all sit where they did mid-last year.
What has shifted is the surrounding regulatory environment. The new Aged Care Act 2024 commenced on 1 November 2025. This is the same date Support at Home launched, and the two events are connected. Under the new Act, every CHSP client now needs to have been assessed for aged care to keep receiving government-funded services. For most existing clients, this is automatic because they were assessed when they first signed up. But there is a group, particularly people who were grandfathered into CHSP from older programs, who may never have had a formal assessment. If that sounds like you or your parent, the safest move is to ring your provider and check. Case managers supporting clients should also flag this during their next review.
There are also reporting changes happening behind the scenes. Providers are working through Stage 2 and Stage 3 changes to the Data Exchange (DEX) reporting system, with My Aged Care ID information being captured from January 2026 and additional cost metrics rolling in from mid-2026. None of this changes what you receive or pay. It is back-of-house plumbing.
The insight worth holding onto: the biggest risk to your CHSP services right now is not a policy change. It is the assessment requirement under the new Act. People who fall through that crack are the ones at risk of disruption.
Support at Home is the new in-home aged care program that replaced Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care on 1 November 2025. It introduced eight classification levels (up from four under HCP), quarterly budgets, government-set price caps from July 2026, and three new service streams: clinical care, independence support, and everyday living.
CHSP is sitting this one out, for now. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has confirmed CHSP will transition to Support at Home no earlier than 1 July 2027. That is a deliberate staged approach. It gives the more than 1,300 CHSP providers across Australia time to adjust their systems, and it means low-intensity support for hundreds of thousands of older Australians does not get caught up in the same transition wave that hit Home Care Package recipients.
So if you are on CHSP today, here is the practical picture:
There has been some public concern about how the eventual CHSP-to-Support-at-Home transition will work. A Senate inquiry into that transition was referred in November 2025 and is reporting in mid-2026. None of this affects current CHSP services. It just means the eventual handover in 2027 is being watched closely, and details will keep evolving.
Three things worth doing this year, none of them urgent, all of them sensible:
If you have been on CHSP for a long time, particularly if you came across from a pre-2015 program, check with your provider that there is a current My Aged Care assessment on file. If there is not, request one through My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 or online. This is the single most important thing to get right under the new Aged Care Act.
Every CHSP provider must give you a written agreement covering what services you receive, what they cost, and how hardship is handled. If yours was signed years ago and never updated, ask for a refreshed copy. Our client resources page has more on what to expect from a service agreement.
CHSP is entry-level support. If you are starting to need more help (more hours, more complex care, clinical input), that is a sign to ask for a reassessment. You might be better off on a Support at Home classification, and the only way to find out is to be reassessed.
HomeFront is an approved CHSP provider delivering services across Australia. We work with older Australians, their families, and case managers to build care plans that actually match what someone needs day to day. That includes domestic assistance, meal preparation, transport, home maintenance, gardening, and social support. We also deliver DVA Household Services and Veterans’ Home Care, and support NDIS participants where there is a fit. You can see the full list of in-home support programs we offer.
If you want a clearer picture of how CHSP works for your situation, or you are not sure whether you are properly assessed under the new Aged Care Act, have a look at our CHSP services page or get in touch with our team. You can also request services directly if you already know what you need. No pressure either way.