Support at Home: What it means for your marketing.

The Support at Home program came into effect on 1 November 2025, replacing the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme. With the Commonwealth Home Support Programme not expected to transition until at least 1 July 2027, providers continue to navigate a complex reform environment where significant operational, funding and service delivery changes are still unfolding.

Operationally, much of the sector's attention has understandably been focused on compliance, systems, workforce and service delivery. But as providers move beyond implementation, another challenge is emerging: whether their market positioning still reflects the environment they are now operating in. The assumptions, messages and points of differentiation that worked under the previous model may not be enough in a more consumer-driven and increasingly competitive market.

The competitive landscape has changed

The home care market has expanded significantly over the past decade. According to AIHW data, the number of people accessing home care increased from approximately 71,900 in 2017 to around 275,000 in 2024. The sector that providers are now marketing into is not the same sector it was five years ago. The consumer base has grown substantially, expectations have evolved and competition has intensified accordingly.

Under the new program, annual funding classifications range from approximately $11,000 for Classification 1 to around $78,000 for Classification 8, compared with approximately $11,000 to $63,000 under the previous Home Care Package model. The higher classification ceiling means there is real commercial upside for providers who can position themselves credibly for higher-acuity, higher-value consumers. But only if the marketing supports that positioning.

At 30 June 2024, there were 909 providers delivering home care across Australia through 2,364 services. That is a crowded market, and it is about to become more competitive as the new program settles in and older Australians and their families become more practised at comparing their options. The providers who have not yet revisited their positioning are already behind.

In a market with 909 providers, differentiation isn't optional. Most look and sound the same. That's the opportunity.

Pricing is now public

From 1 July 2026, price caps apply across Support at Home services and every provider must publish a full price schedule. For the first time, older Australians and their families can put three or four providers side by side and see exactly what each one charges.

That sharpens the marketing question considerably. When someone can compare your pricing directly, the reason to choose you can no longer sit inside a quote or a first phone call. It has to be clear before they ever make contact. And "person-centred care", the phrase almost every provider reaches for, does not do that work. In this market it is the minimum, not the difference.

More change is close behind. From 1 October 2026, personal care, including help with showering, dressing and continence, moves from the Independence category into Clinical Supports and becomes fully government funded, with no participant contribution. Clinical care is already fully funded. As more of the essentials are covered for everyone, price does less of the deciding and positioning does more. What families weigh up is increasingly who they trust, who explains things clearly, and who feels like the right fit.

Common marketing challenges emerging under Support at Home

I've spoken with a number of home care providers since the transition. The most common marketing challenges I'm hearing are: collateral and digital presence built for the Home Care Packages model and not updated to reflect the new program, the new pricing structure or the new consumer questions; messaging that explains services but doesn't clearly articulate why a consumer should choose them over another provider; language and formats that don't match how older Australians and their families actually make decisions; and consumer-facing content that doesn't address the practical questions families are asking — what will this actually cost, what can I get, how do I compare providers, what happens if I want to change.

What good looks like

Providers who are navigating this well have gone back to their positioning and asked the honest question: why would someone choose us over the other providers available to them in this area? They've built their answer around real differentiators, not generic claims about person-centred care that every provider also makes. For a closer look at how this plays out across the broader home care category, see my Support at Home sector page.

They've updated their consumer-facing communications to reflect the new program clearly and accessibly. That means plain English explanations of what's available, what it costs and how the process works.

They've gone back to their positioning and asked the honest question: why would someone choose us over the other providers available to them in this area?

And they've thought carefully about how different audiences need different things from their communications: older Australians making their own decisions, adult children helping their parents, and GPs and allied health professionals providing referrals.

Where to start

If your organisation hasn't yet revisited its positioning and marketing in light of Support at Home, now is the time. The providers that move on this in the next six to twelve months will be better placed than those who wait until the competitive pressure is undeniable.

A good starting point is an honest assessment of how your current marketing would land with a family comparing you to three other providers. Is your point of difference clear? Is your pricing communicated in a way that builds rather than damages trust? Does your website answer the questions they're actually asking? For a real-world example, see how one regional provider discovered it wasn't a sales problem.

If you're not sure, that's usually the signal that it's time to take a closer look.

Sources: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2025), Support at Home program; DoHAC (2026), Support at Home personal care contribution change; DoHAC (2026), Support at Home pricing arrangements; AIHW (2024), People using aged care, GEN Aged Care Data; DoHAC (2024), Support at Home classifications.