These do not care about the Support at Home queue. We read the rules of all 307 to work out which ones you can use now.
347 days is the median wait, from first applying to My Aged Care through to services actually starting. Nothing below waits for it.
307 is the whole country. Nobody qualifies for all of it. Answer the questions below and this becomes a list of what applies to your family.
Where does the person you care for live?
Half of this is state-run, so the postcode changes the list more than anything else. Use your own if this is your package.
We do not store it. It only changes the list.
Not sure? Say so. We will show it anyway. You can rule it out in one phone call, which is cheaper than never seeing it.
Where to begin
A list of 52 things is its own kind of unhelpful.
So here is where we would start, and why. Each card has the number to ring and the full detail, right here. Everything else is below, and you can cut it whichever way matches your situation.
If you only make one call this week
Substitute care organised by your local Carer Gateway provider, callable about 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, when you become sick or injured and can no longer continue to care, if a suitable service…
Days
Carer Gateway emergency respite · Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, delivered through regional Carer Gateway providers
Substitute care organised by your local Carer Gateway provider, callable about 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, when you become sick or injured and can no longer continue to care, if a suitable service is available in your area.
Who can get it
Triggered by the carer becoming sick or injured and unable to continue caring, subject to a suitable service being available locally
How to apply
Call 1800 422 737 at any time
Speak to your local Carer Gateway service provider, who talks through options and books emergency respite care where available
(Recommended, not mandatory) prepare an emergency care plan and carer emergency card in advance, downloadable from the site, so someone can take over quickly in a real crisis
How we know
Using Carer Gateway services will not affect any supports and services delivered through My Aged Care, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), or any other carer services or carer payments you may be receiving.
Up to 10 Medicare-subsidised individual psychology sessions a year for you, the carer, in your own right, through a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your own GP.
Weeks
Better Access – Mental Health Treatment Plan (the carer's own entitlement) · Services Australia (Medicare) / Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Who can get it, and how to apply
Up to 10 Medicare-subsidised individual psychology sessions a year for you, the carer, in your own right, through a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your own GP. It is not automatic: your GP must assess you as having a clinical condition that needs at least a moderate level of support. Strain from the caring role is a common and genuine basis for that diagnosis. Completely separate from anything to do with the care of the person you look after.
Who can get it
The carer must have a clinically diagnosed mental disorder requiring at least a moderate level of support, and be assessed by their own usual GP (or a GP/PMP at the practice they're enrolled with for MyMedicare) as likely to benefit from a structured approach to managing it. This is a real clinical threshold, not an automatic carer entitlement – but chronic caregiving stress commonly does meet it.
The initial referral is capped at 6 individual services; the GP reviews and can refer for the remaining services up to the 10-service calendar-year cap. Unused referred services carry over to the next year but count against that year's limit.
Eligible treating providers include clinical psychologists, registered psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers (in addition to the GP/PMP who prepares the plan).
How to apply
The CARER (not the parent) books their own GP appointment.
Describe the toll the caring role is taking – the GP will assess for a diagnosable condition (commonly an adjustment disorder, anxiety or depression) requiring at least a moderate level of support.
If eligible, GP writes a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP) and refers to a psychologist, occupational therapist, or social worker.
First course of up to 6 sessions, GP review, then further sessions if needed up to the 10-session calendar-year cap.
How we know
MHTP services under the Better Access initiative are available to eligible: patients in the community; private in-patients, including residents of a Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) being discharged from hospital.
Cost: co-payment: schedule fee for a standard registered-psychologist individual session (item 80100) is $84.65 with an 85% Medicare benefit ($72.00 rebate, ~$12.65 gap at schedule-fee rates), but most psychologists charge above the schedule fee in practice – a plain-English, consumer-facing gap-fee range was not found and should not be assumed
A free comprehensive hearing assessment and, if clinically appropriate, a fully subsidised hearing aid at no cost (hundreds of models available), plus fitting and ongoing services, for eligible…
Days
Hearing Services Program · Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, delivered through Hearing Australia and accredited private hearing services providers
A free comprehensive hearing assessment and, if clinically appropriate, a fully subsidised hearing aid at no cost (hundreds of models available), plus fitting and ongoing services, for eligible pensioners, DVA cardholders and current ADF members. Both fully and partially subsidised devices are equally effective at amplifying sound – the difference is mainly extra non-essential features.
Who can get it
Australian citizen/permanent resident (or Norfolk Island resident), aged 21+, and a Pensioner Concession Card holder (or their spouse).
DVA Gold Card holder (any condition) or DVA White Card holder for hearing-specific conditions (or their spouse); also open to current ADF members and people referred by an Inclusive Employment Australia provider.
A Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (common among self-funded retirees) does NOT on its own confer eligibility – a frequent point of confusion.
People who don't meet voucher-scheme criteria may still qualify for Community Service Obligations (CSO) specialist services if they have a cognitive impairment such as dementia that makes it difficult to complete a hearing assessment or manage hearing loss/goals.
How to apply
Apply online (a few minutes): provide full name, date of birth, eligibility number (Centrelink or DVA reference), and contact details – the system confirms success immediately
Alternatively apply through a hearing service provider, who can check/confirm eligibility on the spot
Or apply by post/email using the paper form – processing takes 3-4 weeks
Once confirmed, a welcome pack (info booklet + local provider list) is sent by email or post (post can take up to 2 weeks)
Book a hearing assessment with your chosen provider; if a hearing aid is recommended, the provider fits a fully subsidised model as an offered option, or you may choose a partially subsidised one and pay the gap
How we know
If you are a NDIS participant and meet the eligibility requirements for the Hearing Services Program, you: can access hearing support through the Hearing Services Program (not the NDIS) ... If you are a veteran eligible for Hearing Services Program services and devices, you can access additional hearing support from the DVA, including: assistive listening devices; tinnitus treatment.
Cost: free for fully subsidised hearing devices; an optional maintenance agreement is about $50/year; partially subsidised (premium-feature) devices carry a 'gap' cost the client pays, which can be substantial
$1,200.90 a fortnight · Carer Payment. It is means tested, with real conditions attached, so many families do not qualify. The ones who do are usually the last to find out, and that is the reason this line is here.
Both the carer and the person being cared for must be Australian residents and both must pass an income and assets test.
You must provide constant daily care, roughly equal to a normal working day, that stops you working full time, to someone needing care for at least 6 months (or who is at the end of their life).
The care recipient must have a disability/medical condition likely to last at least 6 months (or be terminal) and need constant care in their own home.
A carer can do up to 100 hours of paid work/self-employment in a rolling 4-week period without losing Carer Payment.
You can take up to 63 days of respite/break from caring per calendar year without it affecting your Carer Payment; you must tell Services Australia within 14 days of taking a break, and going over 63 days may see the payment suspended or cancelled.
If you get a Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) payment, you may not be able to get Carer Payment.
How to apply
Claim via Centrelink online account (myGov), by phone (Disability, sickness and carers line, 132 717), or in person at a service centre
Provide details of the care recipient's daily activities/care needs
The care recipient's treating doctor completes a medical form supporting their care needs
Provide supporting documents for income/assets tests for both carer and care recipient
How we know
Receiving a Carer Payment does not stop your loved one from accessing Support at Home. In fact, many families use both systems together to build a sustainable care routine.
29 of the 52 things you can claim are for the carer, not the person being cared for.
The part nobody mentions
Some of this is for you, not them.
Almost every assessment asks about the person you care for. Very few ask about you. So most carers never find out that Carer Payment, counselling and emergency respite are theirs to claim, in their own name.
Funded help while you wait
Australia-wide · 12 of 52 shown · checked 28 July 2026 · vera.guide/while-you-wait
Everything you can claim
What you get, how long it takes, what the wait does to it.
The scheme's name comes last. "Community Aids and Equipment Program" means nothing to anyone. "A shower chair, at no cost" means something. Open any card for who can get it and how to apply.
35 of these 52 cost nothing.
We flag the ones that are means tested, and the ones that ask you to pay something.
Showing 52 of 52
Who
Cost
Showing 52 of 52 programmes.
Substitute care organised by your local Carer Gateway provider, callable about 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, when you become sick or injured and can no longer continue to care, if a suitable service is available in your area.
Days For you
Waiting for a package does not affect this.
Carer Gateway emergency respite
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, delivered through regional Carer Gateway providers · Australia-wide
Triggered by the carer becoming sick or injured and unable to continue caring, subject to a suitable service being available locally
How to apply
Call 1800 422 737 at any time
Speak to your local Carer Gateway service provider, who talks through options and books emergency respite care where available
(Recommended, not mandatory) prepare an emergency care plan and carer emergency card in advance, downloadable from the site, so someone can take over quickly in a real crisis
How we know
Using Carer Gateway services will not affect any supports and services delivered through My Aged Care, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), or any other carer services or carer payments you may be receiving.
A free comprehensive hearing assessment and, if clinically appropriate, a fully subsidised hearing aid at no cost (hundreds of models available), plus fitting and ongoing services, for eligible pensioners, DVA cardholders and current ADF members. Both fully and partially subsidised devices are equally effective at amplifying sound – the difference is mainly extra non-essential features.
Days
Waiting for a package does not affect this.
Hearing Services Program
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, delivered through Hearing Australia and accredited private hearing services providers · Australia-wide
Australian citizen/permanent resident (or Norfolk Island resident), aged 21+, and a Pensioner Concession Card holder (or their spouse).
DVA Gold Card holder (any condition) or DVA White Card holder for hearing-specific conditions (or their spouse); also open to current ADF members and people referred by an Inclusive Employment Australia provider.
A Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (common among self-funded retirees) does NOT on its own confer eligibility – a frequent point of confusion.
People who don't meet voucher-scheme criteria may still qualify for Community Service Obligations (CSO) specialist services if they have a cognitive impairment such as dementia that makes it difficult to complete a hearing assessment or manage hearing loss/goals.
How to apply
Apply online (a few minutes): provide full name, date of birth, eligibility number (Centrelink or DVA reference), and contact details – the system confirms success immediately
Alternatively apply through a hearing service provider, who can check/confirm eligibility on the spot
Or apply by post/email using the paper form – processing takes 3-4 weeks
Once confirmed, a welcome pack (info booklet + local provider list) is sent by email or post (post can take up to 2 weeks)
Book a hearing assessment with your chosen provider; if a hearing aid is recommended, the provider fits a fully subsidised model as an offered option, or you may choose a partially subsidised one and pay the gap
How we know
If you are a NDIS participant and meet the eligibility requirements for the Hearing Services Program, you: can access hearing support through the Hearing Services Program (not the NDIS) ... If you are a veteran eligible for Hearing Services Program services and devices, you can access additional hearing support from the DVA, including: assistive listening devices; tinnitus treatment.
Cost: free for fully subsidised hearing devices; an optional maintenance agreement is about $50/year; partially subsidised (premium-feature) devices carry a 'gap' cost the client pays, which can be substantial
Free 24/7 emotional support, expert information and system navigation help (including how My Aged Care, NDIS, Carer Gateway and DBMAS fit together) for anyone touched by dementia.
Days For you
Waiting for a package does not affect this.
National Dementia Helpline
Funded by the Australian Government, delivered by Dementia Australia (National Dementia Support Program) · Australia-wide
Open to anyone living with dementia, caring for someone with dementia, working with people with dementia, or simply concerned about their own or someone else's memory/thinking/mood – no diagnosis or aged care assessment required.
How to apply
Call any time, or use live chat or email (helpline@dementia.org.au).
Up to 10 Medicare-subsidised individual psychology sessions a year for you, the carer, in your own right, through a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your own GP. It is not automatic: your GP must assess you as having a clinical condition that needs at least a moderate level of support. Strain from the caring role is a common and genuine basis for that diagnosis. Completely separate from anything to do with the care of the person you look after.
Weeks For you Has a cost
This is based on a concession card and age, not on aged care. The wait does not change it.
Better Access – Mental Health Treatment Plan (the carer's own entitlement)
Services Australia (Medicare) / Department of Health, Disability and Ageing · Australia-wide
The carer must have a clinically diagnosed mental disorder requiring at least a moderate level of support, and be assessed by their own usual GP (or a GP/PMP at the practice they're enrolled with for MyMedicare) as likely to benefit from a structured approach to managing it. This is a real clinical threshold, not an automatic carer entitlement – but chronic caregiving stress commonly does meet it.
The initial referral is capped at 6 individual services; the GP reviews and can refer for the remaining services up to the 10-service calendar-year cap. Unused referred services carry over to the next year but count against that year's limit.
Eligible treating providers include clinical psychologists, registered psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers (in addition to the GP/PMP who prepares the plan).
How to apply
The CARER (not the parent) books their own GP appointment.
Describe the toll the caring role is taking – the GP will assess for a diagnosable condition (commonly an adjustment disorder, anxiety or depression) requiring at least a moderate level of support.
If eligible, GP writes a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP) and refers to a psychologist, occupational therapist, or social worker.
First course of up to 6 sessions, GP review, then further sessions if needed up to the 10-session calendar-year cap.
How we know
MHTP services under the Better Access initiative are available to eligible: patients in the community; private in-patients, including residents of a Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) being discharged from hospital.
Cost: co-payment: schedule fee for a standard registered-psychologist individual session (item 80100) is $84.65 with an 85% Medicare benefit ($72.00 rebate, ~$12.65 gap at schedule-fee rates), but most psychologists charge above the schedule fee in practice – a plain-English, consumer-facing gap-fee range was not found and should not be assumed
Both the carer and the person being cared for must be Australian residents and both must pass an income and assets test.
You must provide constant daily care, roughly equal to a normal working day, that stops you working full time, to someone needing care for at least 6 months (or who is at the end of their life).
The care recipient must have a disability/medical condition likely to last at least 6 months (or be terminal) and need constant care in their own home.
A carer can do up to 100 hours of paid work/self-employment in a rolling 4-week period without losing Carer Payment.
You can take up to 63 days of respite/break from caring per calendar year without it affecting your Carer Payment; you must tell Services Australia within 14 days of taking a break, and going over 63 days may see the payment suspended or cancelled.
If you get a Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) payment, you may not be able to get Carer Payment.
How to apply
Claim via Centrelink online account (myGov), by phone (Disability, sickness and carers line, 132 717), or in person at a service centre
Provide details of the care recipient's daily activities/care needs
The care recipient's treating doctor completes a medical form supporting their care needs
Provide supporting documents for income/assets tests for both carer and care recipient
How we know
Receiving a Carer Payment does not stop your loved one from accessing Support at Home. In fact, many families use both systems together to build a sustainable care routine.
Short-term, goal-based nursing, allied health and personal care after a hospital stay, delivered at home or in a residential setting, to help someone recover strength before deciding on longer-term aged care.
Weeks Has a cost
Waiting for a package does not affect this.
Transition Care Programme
Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (delivered via approved Transition Care providers) · Australia-wide
Must be an older person who is a patient in a public or private hospital, has been told they're ready to leave, and would benefit from short-term services – assessed in hospital, not applied for from home.
How to apply
While still in hospital, ask hospital staff to arrange an assessment for transition care, or call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422.
An assessor visits in hospital to assess for transition care.
If approved, you connect with a transition care provider who assists with leaving hospital and coordinates care in an aged care home, at home, in the community, or a mix, depending on your recovery needs.
How we know
If you are receiving transition care in your own home, you will also be able to continue to access your Support at Home services. In this situation your transition care and Support at Home service providers are required to discuss your care so there is no duplication of services. ... If you receive home support through the Commonwealth Home Support Program, you can get transition care services at the same time. ... However, you cannot access transition care while receiving either respite care or restorative care.
Cost: co-payment, capped by the government at 17.5% of the single age pension per day at home/in the community ($13.75/day) or 85% of the single age pension per day in a residential setting ($66.80/day); access is never conditional on ability to pay
Entry-level practical help – domestic assistance/cleaning, meals, transport, social support, minor home maintenance, personal care, respite – delivered by local subsidised providers while an ongoing Support at Home budget is still in the queue.
Months Has a cost
This one splits. If the person you care for was already getting this help, it keeps going while you wait. If they are starting fresh, only a much narrower version is available. Worth asking which applies to you.
Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) – interim/bridging access while waiting for Support at Home
Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (delivered via local CHSP providers, entry via My Aged Care Regional Assessment Service) · Australia-wide
A person who was ALREADY a CHSP client before being approved for Support at Home can keep using their CHSP services (not just equipment) while waiting for their ongoing Support at Home budget or AT-HM scheme funding, until that ongoing funding is actually accepted.
A person who was NEVER a CHSP client and is simply approved-for/waiting-on Support at Home (our exact reader) is NOT entitled to broad CHSP services. They are only entitled to CHSP in five narrow circumstances: (1) a pre-existing CHSP social support group (not applicable if they've never been a CHSP client), (2) hoarding/squalor support, (3) certain respite types, (4) short-term 'urgent services' where there is immediate risk to health or safety, and (5) vision advisory services. Ordinary domestic assistance, meals, personal care or transport are NOT available through this route for a brand-new applicant just because they are waiting.
New (never-CHSP) equipment, products, or home-adjustment needs are explicitly excluded from the interim bridge, even under the urgent-services route.
The narrow 'urgent services' bridge exists specifically for significant risk of harm, and can start even before a full aged care needs assessment is complete – referred only by My Aged Care, an Aged Care Specialist Officer, or the assessment organisation (a family cannot self-refer directly to a provider).
How to apply
If already a CHSP client: no action needed to keep existing services – they continue automatically until Support at Home ongoing funding is accepted.
If never a CHSP client and facing a genuine, immediate risk to health or safety while waiting: call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 and describe the specific safety risk – referral to a provider for urgent services can only be made by My Aged Care's contact centre, an Aged Care Specialist Officer, or the assessment organisation, not by self-referral.
An aged care needs assessment is still required afterwards, even if urgent services already started; ongoing CHSP access requires a separate approval.
How we know
Where a Support at Home participant has an urgent and immediate health or safety need, and their individualised budget has been fully allocated or they are waiting for their budget allocation, some additional CHSP services can be accessed on a short-term basis. These instances must be time limited, monitored and reviewed.
Cost: co-payment – Support at Home participants accessing CHSP under these circumstances pay the same CHSP client contribution fees as any other CHSP client, and cannot use their Support at Home budget to cover it
Free professional counselling – in person, phone or video – for the person with dementia, their carer, or the whole family, for up to six sessions per referral.
Months For you
We could not confirm how the wait affects this. Worth asking when you call. 1800 100 500
Dementia Australia Counselling (National Dementia Support Program)
Funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, delivered by Dementia Australia · Australia-wide
Serves individuals, families and couples at all stages of a dementia journey – no explicit diagnosis-confirmation, aged care package, or means test found.
How to apply
Call the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500 any time to be referred to a counsellor, or use live chat.
How we know
We could not get this one in the scheme's own words. The rule may not be published anywhere, or the page would not load for us. How the wait affects it is the thing to ask about when you ring.
A written, GP-coordinated management plan for a chronic condition that unlocks Medicare-subsidised allied health visits and simplifies referrals – created and reviewed in a single GP appointment, no waiting list.
Months Has a cost
Waiting for a package does not affect this.
GP Chronic Condition Management Plan (GPCCMP)
Services Australia (Medicare) / Department of Health, Disability and Ageing · Australia-wide
Patient has (or is likely to have) at least one medical condition present for 6+ months, or a terminal condition – no fixed list of qualifying conditions, it's GP judgement.
Patients registered with MyMedicare must get their GPCCMP and reviews through the practice they're registered with, to support continuity of care.
Only a GP or prescribed medical practitioner (not a specialist or consultant physician) can prepare the plan; hospital in-patients are not eligible.
How to apply
Book a standard-length GP appointment (existing GP or any bulk-billing practice).
Ask the GP directly for a 'GP Chronic Condition Management Plan' for the parent's condition(s).
GP writes the plan in the same or a follow-up appointment and can refer straight to allied health from it (no longer needs to consult two other providers first, unlike the old GPMP/TCA system).
How we know
Patients living in residential aged care who have a multidisciplinary care plan can also access these services.
An in-depth, once-a-year GP health check for the parent covering physical function, cognition, medications, home safety and social support – the single best entry point for the GP to notice problems and write referrals, fully bulk-billable.
MonthsSame appointment. Has a cost
We could not confirm how the wait affects this. Worth asking when you call.
Health Assessment for people aged 75 years and older
Patient must be aged 75 or over (not means-tested, no illness required).
How to apply
Book a longer GP appointment and ask for 'the over-75 health assessment'.
Assessment can include a practice nurse for parts of the workup, and can be done as a home visit if the patient can't get to the clinic.
GP gives a written report with recommendations and referrals afterwards.
How we know
We could not get this one in the scheme's own words. The rule may not be published anywhere, or the page would not load for us. How the wait affects it is the thing to ask about when you ring.
Cost: co-payment: usually bulk-billed given the high schedule fee; ask the practice to confirm before booking
A credentialed pharmacist visits the parent at home, reviews every medication for interactions/duplication/adherence problems, and reports back to the GP with a written plan – free to the patient, GP-referred, no aged-care package needed.
Months
Waiting for a package does not affect this.
Home Medicines Review (HMR)
Services Australia (Medicare) / Pharmacy Programs Administrator · Australia-wide
Patient has a current Medicare or DVA card, lives in the community (not residential aged care – that's the separate RMMR), and the GP identifies a clinical need such as a complex medication regimen or unmet therapeutic goals. No fixed minimum number of medications required.
How to apply
Ask the GP to refer for a Home Medicines Review.
GP refers to a community pharmacy or an accredited/credentialed pharmacist of the family's choosing.
Pharmacist visits the home, then sends a written report to the GP within a set turnaround.
How we know
From 1 July 2027, patients will require an active GP chronic condition management plan (reviewed within 18 months) to access this service.
Available to anyone who receives government-funded residential aged care or a Home Care Package (Support at Home) – AND, confirmed directly by My Aged Care, this explicitly extends to people approved and still waiting in the queue, not only people already receiving services.
How to apply
Contact My Aged Care on 1800 200 422, or your local participating community organisation directly, to request a referral.
Older people can also self-refer.
How we know
This includes people who are approved and waiting for an aged care home or in the National Priority System for a Home Care Package.
Printing gives you the 12 you are looking at now, with every phone number and every eligibility list already open. The link keeps your postcode and your answers, so you can send it to family or open it again tomorrow.
The other half
What about the package itself?
This page is everything funded outside the aged care system. The other half is the levers inside Support at Home: the Restorative Care Pathway, the equipment and home modifications scheme, and the 56 day service agreement deadline that starts the moment funding lands.
Rates move Most payments are indexed in March and September. We re-check. Confirm yours on the day.
Some rules are unpublished Many of these schemes publish no processing time at all. We say so rather than guess.
We are not the government Best effort, quoted from the source, and it will not always be right.
Where a scheme states in its own words how it treats people who are waiting, we quote it and link the page we read it on. Open any card's "Who can get it, and how to apply" to see it. Where a scheme says nothing, we say that instead of guessing, because the rules turned out to contradict each other often enough that guessing would be dishonest. Checked 28 July 2026.