Aged care runs on initials. They turn up in letters, on statements, in phone calls and in documents you are asked to sign, usually with no explanation attached. Nobody hands you a glossary.
So here are the five that matter most. Between them they cover how you get assessed and which program your help comes from, which is most of what you need to follow a conversation about your own care. Each one tells you what the letters stand for, where you will meet them, and what they mean for you.
One note before we start. The system changed on 1 November 2025, so some older initials are still in circulation alongside the new ones. Where that matters, it is flagged.
ACAT
Aged Care Assessment Team. This was one of the two bodies that used to assess people for aged care assessment, alongside the Regional Assessment Service, or RAS. You will still hear both names constantly.
Here is the thing worth knowing: neither exists any more. They were replaced by the Single Assessment System on 9 December 2024. There is now one assessment pathway, and the person who visits you is called an aged care assessor.
So if someone tells you that you are "waiting on your ACAT", they mean your aged care assessment. The old word has simply outlived the old system, which happens a lot in this sector. You have not missed a step.
SaH
Support at Home. This is the current government program for care in your own home. It replaced the Home Care Packages Program on 1 November 2025.
Under Support at Home you are approved for a classification, numbered from 1 to 8, and that classification sets the size of your quarterly budget. A higher number means a bigger budget, not a different list of services. Everyone can access the same three categories of support: clinical care such as nursing, independence services such as personal care and transport, and everyday living services such as cleaning and gardening.
What you can actually use it for is set by your support plan rather than by the number itself, so that is the document to read.
HCP
Home Care Package. This is the program Support at Home replaced, and it closed to new approvals on 1 November 2025.
Packages came in four levels rather than eight classifications, and the two scales do not line up. A level 4 package is not the same thing as a classification 4. If you were on a package before the change, you kept funding equivalent to your old level rather than being moved onto the new scale, which is why you may still hear your old level number used about you.
The practical advice: if someone quotes you a "level", ask which scale they mean. It is a reasonable question and it saves a lot of confusion later.
CHSP
Commonwealth Home Support Program. This is entry-level help for people who need a hand rather than a coordinated budget: some cleaning, help with the shopping, transport, social support.
CHSP works differently from Support at Home, and this is the part that surprises people. It is funded in blocks through grants to providers rather than as a personal budget attached to you, so there is no individual allocation and no tier you are placed on. You receive services rather than managing an amount.
It is also not going anywhere soon. Its grant funding has been extended to 30 June 2029, so if you are receiving CHSP services now, they are funded well into the future.
AT-HM
Assistive Technology and Home Modifications. This is a separate pot of funding inside Support at Home, for equipment and for changes to your home. Think walking frames, shower chairs and non-slip mats on the equipment side, and handrails, ramps and bathroom modifications on the building side.
The important word is separate. Using your AT-HM funding does not eat into your quarterly budget for cleaning or personal care. It is assessed and allocated on its own, through its own queue, which is why it sometimes arrives before anything else does.
It also covers more than the item. Where a prescription from a health professional is needed, that is included, and for home modifications it covers the work around the job: trades, installation, building approvals, council fees. Those costs can easily exceed the price of the ramp itself.
Where to check your own numbers
The amounts attached to these programs move with indexation, and they do not all move on the same day. The eight Support at Home classification budgets are indexed on 1 July each year. The lifetime cap on what you contribute is indexed on 20 March and 20 September, along with the pension rates and thresholds that feed into your assessment. An amount you were quoted last year will have moved.
Our Support at Home contributions calculator will give you an estimate of your own share. Your Notice of Decision and your statements are the record of what applies to you. My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 can read your record back to you, and providers are required to publish their prices on My Aged Care and on their own website, so you can compare before you choose.
And if you are holding a letter full of initials and would rather have someone talk you through it, that is what we are here for. Our help is free to you, one-on-one, and there is no script.
