Home care package cleaning: what changed under Support at Home

Yes, government-funded home care can include cleaning, but it now runs through Support at Home, not Home Care Packages. Cleaning sits under everyday living, as a service My Aged Care calls domestic assistance, and your Support at Home provider arranges it. A cleaning company that is not a registered aged care provider can only be paid from your budget if your provider engages it as an associated provider.

Below is what changed, what the service covers in the government’s own words, and the questions worth asking. Every program fact here comes from My Aged Care or the Australian Government health department’s website, health.gov.au, checked on 11 November 2026.

What changed from Home Care Packages

My Aged Care says the Support at Home program was introduced in November 2025, replacing the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-term Restorative Care Programme.

The main differences for someone who wants help with cleaning:

• Services are grouped into three types. My Aged Care lists clinical supports, independence, and everyday living, “such as cleaning, gardening, shopping and meal preparation”.
• Funding comes as a classification and a quarterly budget. There are 8 ongoing funding classifications. If you were approved for a Home Care Package on or before 31 October 2025, you receive a transitioned classification equivalent to your approved package level.
• Part of the budget goes to care management. For ongoing services, 10% of your quarterly budget goes towards care management, allocated to your provider.
• Contributions depend on the type of service. You make no contribution for clinical supports. My Aged Care says you make the highest contributions for everyday living services such as cleaning and gardening.
• Some people are protected. If you were receiving or approved for a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024, My Aged Care says you are no worse off under Support at Home.
• Providers set their own prices. All Support at Home providers must publish their full price list of services online, and you can compare them with the Find a provider tool.

Your actual contribution rates are worked out through an income and assets assessment. This guide does not quote prices or hourly figures, because they vary by provider and change over time.

What domestic assistance covers, in My Aged Care’s words

My Aged Care describes domestic assistance as “Help with general cleaning, shopping, laundry and other jobs around your home.” It lists the service as including general house cleaning, laundry services and shopping assistance. Its examples include taking out the rubbish, vacuuming, watering plants, and loading and unloading the washing machine, folding and ironing.

The same page lists what the service does not include: “general expenses, such as professional cleaning services, pest control, dry cleaning, pet care, or your shopping costs.”

That line is worth reading slowly. Domestic assistance is about help with the cleaning of your home as an approved service. It is not a general allowance to spend on any cleaning bill you choose. Specific jobs such as inside windows, the oven or carpets are not named either way, so check with your provider before you assume a task is covered.

Your provider arranges it, so start there

Under Support at Home, the provider is the centre of everything. My Aged Care explains the steps:

1. You are assessed, and if approved, you get a letter setting out the services and funding you are approved for.
2. When your funding comes through, you choose a provider.
3. You and your provider agree the mix of services to meet your assessed needs and budget. You can ask to change the mix at any time, and ask for a reassessment if your needs change.

Funding is allocated separately for each approved service. My Aged Care says you can start a service as soon as its funding is available and you have signed a service agreement, even while you wait for funding for other services.

So if cleaning is not happening, or not happening the way you need, the first call is to your provider.

How a cleaning company fits in: associated providers

Under the new Aged Care Act, an organisation that delivers services on behalf of a registered provider is called an associated provider. The department describes an associated provider as “an organisation that delivers services on behalf of a registered provider, like a subcontractor”. It may itself be registered, or it may work only as a subcontractor and stay unregistered.

The department gives a useful example: an organisation providing gardening to Support at Home participants on behalf of a registered provider is an associated provider, because gardening is on the aged care service list.

Two things follow:

• The registered provider stays responsible. The department says registered providers can subcontract service delivery but cannot contract out their legal responsibilities. They must make sure their associated providers comply with the requirements, including worker screening and record keeping.
• The decision is the provider’s. A cleaning company cannot bill your Support at Home budget directly. Your provider decides whether to engage a particular company, and on what terms.

Manora Cleaning is not a registered aged care provider. If you would like a cleaning company you already know to do the work through your budget, ask your provider whether it is willing to engage that company as an associated provider.

Paying privately, including while you wait

Funding wait times depend on the services you were approved for and your priority category. Many people pay a cleaner privately in the meantime, or alongside funded services for jobs that fall outside them.

A private arrangement is simply between you and the cleaner. It does not touch your Support at Home budget, and you agree the scope, timing and price directly. If funded domestic assistance starts later, tell both the cleaner and the provider so the visits do not double up.

Questions to ask your Support at Home provider

• Is domestic assistance in my approved services, and is its funding available yet?
• What exactly will your domestic assistance visits cover, and how often?
• What is your price for domestic assistance, and what will my contribution be?
• Who will come, and will it be the same person each time?
• Do you engage associated providers for cleaning? Would you consider the company I already use?
• If a task like inside windows or the oven is not covered, can I pay for it separately?

For more on cleaning for older people at home, see our aged care cleaning page. If you would like a private quote while you sort out funding, you can ask about aged care cleaning.