Support at Home Level 3: Funding, Services and Who It Suits
Level 3 is a step up for participants who need help most days. The annual budget of $22,536.81 (effective 1 July 2026) is paid as a quarterly budget of roughly $5,634.
Who Support at Home Level 3 Suits
Older Australians needing daily or near-daily help across multiple service types. Often the right level when family carers can no longer manage the bulk of day-to-day support.
What Services Level 3 Typically Funds
- Daily or alternate-day personal care visits
- Weekly cleaning plus deeper monthly cleans
- Regular meal preparation and grocery support
- Social support, transport and allied health on a fortnightly to weekly rhythm
At Level 3 a participant might have a personal-care worker visit five mornings a week, a weekly cleaner, and a fortnightly physiotherapy session. Care management at the standard 10% of the quarterly budget pays for an aged-care coordinator to keep services aligned.
What Level 3 Means for Your Money
Level 3 pays an annual budget of $22,536.81, split into four quarterly budgets of about $5,634. Here is how that money actually behaves once the plan is running.
- Care management: about $563 of each $5,634 quarterly budget (10%) is set aside to pay your provider to coordinate services. That leaves roughly $5,071 a quarter for hands-on support.
- Rollover: you can carry over the higher of $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly budget (here $1,000) into the next quarter. Anything unspent above that is returned to the system, so an underspend at this level can quietly cost you money.
- Your contribution: Clinical Care is free for everyone. For Independence and Everyday Living services you pay a share of the published rate based on your pension status, with full age pensioners paying the least and self-funded retirees the most. From 1 October 2026, personal care becomes fully government funded.
- Watch the hourly rate: because your contribution is a share of the rate, a provider charging above the published rate means you pay 100% of the gap. On a budget this size, a small rate rise accelerates your burn and can leave you short before quarter end.
Check Whether Level 3 Still Fits
Needs change. If your parent's care plan keeps running short or family is filling more gaps than a year ago, it may be time to review the level.
Frequently Asked Questions
Older Australians needing daily or near-daily help across multiple service types. Often the right level when family carers can no longer manage the bulk of day-to-day support.
Support at Home Level 3 provides $22,536.81 per year, effective 1 November 2025. That is paid as a quarterly budget of roughly $5,634, with 10% of each quarter set aside for care management.
Request a support plan review through My Aged Care on 1800 200 422. The Wayly Classification Self-Check helps you decide if a review is worth requesting, and the Wayly Letters & Follow-ups tool drafts the formal letter to send.