Home Care Package Levels And The New Support at Home Classifications

Under the Home Care Packages Program, funding came in four levels, from Level 1 for basic care needs through to Level 4 for high care needs. Each level carried a set annual amount of funding, and your level was set by an aged care assessment. Many families came to know their parent's care by that single number.

Support at Home replaced the four levels with eight classifications, from Classification 1 through to Classification 8. The extra steps give the system more room to match funding to need, with Classification 1 for the lowest support needs and Classification 8 for the highest, most complex care. The same broad idea applies: your classification sets the funding available for your care.

This is the question we hear most, and the honest answer is that there is no exact swap. The government did not publish a table mapping the old four levels onto the new eight classifications. A Level 2 package did not simply become one fixed classification for everyone.

So if you are searching for "home care package level 2 is now classification X", there is no single correct answer to find. What matters is not which new number your old level became, but that your funding was maintained across the change, which it was.

When Support at Home began on 01/11/2025, existing recipients were moved to a transitioned classification. This was set so the funding matched the Home Care Package you already had. You were not reassessed just because the program changed, and you were not dropped to a lower amount.

In plain terms: your old level was used to work out equivalent funding under the new system, and that is the funding you kept. The label changed from a level to a classification, but the money behind it was carried across.

Under Support at Home, your classification is set by an aged care assessment based on your needs. You do not choose it, and asking for a higher classification does not make the funding go up on its own. A higher classification reflects higher assessed need, not a better deal. It is a match to need, not a prize.

This is the same principle that applied to Home Care Package levels. The number reflects an assessment of what help a person needs to live safely at home.

If your circumstances or your parent's care needs have changed since the transition, you can ask for a reassessment through My Aged Care on 1800 200 422. A reassessment can lead to a new classification and different funding. You do not have to stay on a transitioned classification forever if the level of care needed has genuinely changed.

A reassessment is driven by a change in need, not by the program change itself. If nothing about the care has changed, there is no need to seek one.

If you are not sure which Support at Home classification fits your situation, Wayly's Classification Self-Check walks through the government's own criteria and gives you a plain-English read on which classification looks likely, and why. It is indicative only. Only an aged care assessor can decide an actual classification, but it can help you understand where you might sit before any conversation with My Aged Care or a provider.