Certainty for older Australians and aged care providers on CHSP
Media event date: 20 August 2026 Date published: 20 August 2026 Media type: Media release General public The Australian Government will extend the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) to 30 June 2029 – giving 830,000 older Australians certainty about the services they use every day and supporting providers to continue critical aged care services. CHSP is the entry point for many older Australians to aged care.
It provides supports like cleaning, shopping, meals on wheels, transport, home maintenance, social support and allied health. By extending these contracts, we are providing security for providers, including councils across Australia to continue providing these services. Local councils and other providers have cited uncertainty as their reason for withdrawing from CHSP.
That excuse no longer exists. Councils’ contracts will continue without interruption until 2029 and older people in those communities are entitled to expect their services will continue. This extension will support around 1,300 providers to deliver CHSP services, including state and local governments, not for profit organisations and community groups.
Many of them operate in regional, rural and remote communities where they are the only provider available. Almost 40 per cent of CHSP clients live outside the major cities. The Australian Government believes CHSP should remain a standalone program, rather than rolling it into Support at Home.
We’ll use this extension to strengthen the program so it better delivers for older Australians. We want the CHSP program to be sustainable and better integrated with Support at Home to deliver a holistic home care program and will begin consultation this year on a long-term future for the program, including how block funding can be continued, ensuring fair and equitable contributions to the costs of home care and how early intervention services can reduce pressure across the system.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Mark Butler MP “I know how much this program means to older Australians, their families and communities. “We have listened to the feedback people have given us about CHSP, and we’re giving providers and older Australians the certainty they need to continue while the future of the program is developed." Quotes attributable to Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, the Hon Sam Rae MP "830,000 older Australians rely on these services – today we’re giving them the certainty they need that their care will not change while we plan for the future of CHSP.
"We said we would listen before we made decisions about the future of this program. Providers told us they needed certainty to keep their doors open, and older people told us they wanted continuity – and we’ll continue to listen as we deliver the program people want into the future. "Block funded, community based services do something Support at Home was never designed to do - they keep people well and independent before they need more intensive support.
There is a continuing role for that system and we are going to design it properly, with the people who deliver it and the people who use it." The Hon Mark Butler MP The Hon Sam Rae MP Accessibility We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders both past and present. © Commonwealth of Australia