Fully Managed Vs. Self-Managed Home Care: Comparing the $105 And $65 Hourly Rates

You sit down with your new pricing for the year. You read the hourly rate. You read it again. And a quiet question creeps in: Am I paying more than I need to?

It’s a fair question – and right now, a common one. With many providers updating their prices for the new financial year, a lot of older Australians are taking a proper look at what their care actually costs.

If you’ve already read our guide to the 1 July price changes and what they really mean, you’ll know the honest takeaway:This isn’t a moment to panic, but it is a good moment to review. So let’s review one option that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough – self-managed home care.

The Number That Stops People in Their Tracks

Here’s a comparison worth sitting with.

On a fully-managed arrangement, a support worker can cost around $105 an hour. On the other hand, self-managed, for that same kind of support, comes in closer to $65 an hour.

That’s a difference of $40 an hour – almost 40%, and for the same pair of helping hands at your door.

It feels too big to be real, so let’s explain where the gap comes from. It isn’t a cheaper worker, and it isn’t lesser care. It’s the layers sitting on top of the worker’s rate.

On a fully-managed package, your provider arranges everything for you – the rostering, the paperwork, the coordination – and the cost of all that is built into the hourly price you pay.

When you self-manage, you take on more of that organising yourself, so far less is loaded on top.

Ultimately, more of your funding goes where you actually want it: Toward your care.

Lower Prices Mean Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs, Too

This is where it gets real for your budget, especially if you’re a full pensioner.

Under Support at Home, you contribute a percentage toward some of your services, and the rate depends on the type of service and your means.

For everyday living services – think cleaning, gardening, domestic help, for example, full pensioners contribute 17.5% of the cost (you can read how each charge is worked out in our guide to decoding your Support at Home fees).

Here’s the part that matters: that 17.5% is a slice of the price of the service. So when the price is lower, your slice is smaller too – automatically. You don’t have to do anything clever for it; a lower self-managed price simply means a smaller out-of-pocket share for the very same help.

For something like a weekly cleaner, that can be the difference between a comfortable fortnight and a tight one – money that stays in your pocket, for the same clean floors and the same tidy garden.

Choose Who Comes Into Your Home

Money isn’t the whole story, though – and for a lot of people, it isn’t even the main one.

When someone helps you shower, or moves through your kitchen, or sits with you for an hour, that’s not a transaction. It’s trust. And one of the quiet gifts of self-managing is that you get a real say in who that person is.

Self-management means you can choose your own support workers, and often, keep the ones you already know and like. Found someone whose visits you genuinely look forward to? You may be able to bring them with you. Here, it’s important to note that there is a little admin to it – the worker needs to be registered and eligible, but it’s far more possible than most people realise.

When pursuing the self-managed route, you’re better positioned to choose who comes into your home, and just how frequently the visit. With a fully-managed package, you can express your requests but it’s not always guaranteed.

The Honest Fine Print

We’d never give you the upside without the full picture, so here’s the honest version.

• It’s lower fees, not no fees: A care management fee of around 10% of your budget still applies under Support at Home, even when you self-manage. The savings come from stripping out the heavier provider loadings on top – not from paying nothing.
• Personal care is about to change: From 1 October 2026, personal care becomes fully government-funded – no out-of-pocket cost for approved personal care, no matter who manages it. After that date, a lower self-managed rate on personal care won’t cut your out-of-pocket (there won’t be one), but it still stretches your budget further, which means more hours of help. The out-of-pocket savings really shine on everyday living services like cleaning, which aren’t fully funded.
• It asks a little more of you: Self-managing means taking on some of the organising – booking workers, keeping track of your budget. Plenty of people love the control. For others, fully-managed is the right fit, and that’s completely okay.

So… Is Self-Managed Home Care Right for You?

Maybe. Maybe not – and that’s the honest answer.

The point isn’t to switch because a calendar told you to, or because a number looked big. The point is to make a calm, informed choice about fit and value. If you’re comfortable with a bit more hands-on involvement, want more of your funding spent on actual care, and like the idea of choosing your own people – self-managed home care is well worth a look. If you’d rather someone else handle every detail, fully-managed might still be your best fit.

While you’ve got your new pricing open, it’s simply a good question to ask: am I on fully-managed when self-managed would stretch my funding further? If you’re weighing it up alongside a possible move, our guide on how to switch aged care providers walks you through it step by step.

To further explore the main differences between Fully Managed and Self-Managed, please explore our in-depth guide here.

You Don’t Have to Work This Out Alone

Comparing rates, contributions and management options can feel like a lot – and you shouldn’t have to decode it by yourself. If you’d like a hand seeing what self-managed home care could look like for your situation (or just a calm second opinion on whether it’s worth it for you), that’s exactly what CareAbout is here for.

Simply call our team at 13 13 00, and we’ll walk you through your options – no cost, no pressure, just peace of mind.