After weeks of uncertainty over its future that threatened continuity of care for hundreds of thousands of older Australians, the Albanese federal government has confirmed it will extend the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) through June 2029, and will keep the program separate from the broader Support At Home initiative long-term. The announcement was made jointly Thursday by federal Health Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care Minister Sam Rae, bringing much-needed clarity to service providers and the 830,000 senior Australians who rely on the CHSP for daily living support.
The CHSP is a subsidized, government-contracted service that caters to seniors who need partial assistance to remain living independently in their own homes. It covers essential daily support ranging from domestic cleaning and grocery shopping to medical transport and community social connection activities. Senator Rae emphasized that for most seniors beginning their journey into aged care support, the CHSP acts as a critical first entry point into the national aged care system.
“Providers told us they needed certainty. And, importantly, all the people told us that they needed continuity of care,” Senator Rae said of the decision to extend funding and lock in the program’s independent status beyond 2029. Prior to the announcement, widespread uncertainty about a potential full merger into the Support At Home program had pushed a number of providers – including multiple local councils across the country – to begin withdrawing from the CHSP. Around 1,300 providers currently deliver CHSP services across Australia, with nearly 40 percent of program clients residing in regional and rural areas outside major metropolitan centers.
The federal government plans to open a new round of public and sector consultation during the extended funding period to refine the CHSP’s long-term operating framework, following confirmation it will remain separate from Support At Home. Industry peak body Ageing Australia quickly welcomed the announcement, with chief executive Tom Symondson noting that the removal of uncertainty would prevent widespread service closures and cuts that many providers had already begun planning for.
“Without it, many have been forced to consider closure or service reductions. I hope that much of that can be avoided with today’s announcement,” Symondson said. He added that the extension period must be used to address longstanding flaws in the program, including outdated contracts and insufficient funding levels that have left many communities without adequate support. “It’s critical that we use this time to look at existing contracts and make sure they’re sufficient to provide the support needed for local communities. Many are outdated with woefully inadequate funding to deliver for the needs of the community, which must be urgently addressed,” he said.
Alongside the CHSP extension announcement, Senator Rae also defended the federal government’s controversial integrated assessment tool, an algorithm-driven decision-making system that has faced crossbench opposition and passed a disapproval motion in the Senate in recent months. Rae argued that the tool, which has been added to the national aged care assessment system, delivers more equitable and efficient assessment outcomes, and has successfully reduced wait times and improved accuracy for applicants. The government has since introduced reforms to give seniors the right to appeal algorithm-generated decisions to a human reviewer, and Rae acknowledged further improvements can be made to the prioritization process.
While Rae noted that the broader single assessment system that includes the tool was a formal recommendation of the aged care royal commission, he confirmed the algorithmic tool itself was never explicitly recommended by the royal commission inquiry.