What the 2026 Funding Boost Means for Your Support at Home

As of this new financial year (July 2026), Support at Home participants are granted increased funding per allocation level, as well as returned access to the Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS).

It’s no secret. The cost of living in Australia is only getting more expensive, and finding relief or support when needed, can often feel like an impossible task. We don’t always talk about this stress, but it’s always there – in the back of our minds when we’re working out whether the budget stretches far enough, whether we can afford the help we actually need…or if this year will be tighter than the last.

Fortunately, today, we’ve got some good news. As of 1 July 2026, the allocated funding for Support at Home participants has increased, while the valuable continence payment, that was formerly taken away, has now been handed back.

Here, let’s walk through what these increases mean for you – gently, and in simple terms.

What’s Changed From 1 July 2026

Two things, side by side:

• Each Support at Home funding level has slightly increased; the Australian Government’s yearly adjustment to help keep funding better aligned with the rising cost of care.
• The Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS) is available again; while formerly taken away, the CAPS scheme is now back, and available to eligible participants of the Support at Home and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) programs – worth $739.40 a year, paid straight to you.

Neither of these asks anything of you today. But both are worth understanding, because they affect real money in your budget and real products on your shelf.

Your Support at Home Funding Has Gone Up

Here’s the reassuring part first: You don’t need to fill in a form, ring anyone, or do a single thing. The increase is applied automatically to your budget from 1 July 2026.

The figures below are the equivalent daily funding amounts from the government’s Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements for Support at Home. Your budget is actually worked out as a yearly amount and released each quarter – so think of these daily figures as a clear, like-for-like way to see what’s changed, rather than a number that lands in your account each morning.

Support at Home Classifications: Before and After

The Same Amounts, Shown by the Year

If it’s easier to picture your funding as a yearly total rather than a daily one, here’s exactly the same change – set out per year. Your budget is worked out as a yearly amount and paid to your provider in four instalments across the year.

Yearly totals are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Restorative and End-of-Life Care Pathways

Two specialist pathways have gone up as well. The Restorative Care Pathway funds short-term, goal-focused care (up to 16 weeks) to help someone get back on their feet after a setback. The End-of-Life Pathway provides extra funding for people with three months or less to live who wish to stay at home, surrounded by what’s familiar.

If You Moved Across From A Home Care Package

If you transitioned from a Home Care Package when Support at Home began on 1 November 2025, nothing about your level has changed – your funding still matches the package you had. And like everyone else, your daily funding has risen this financial year. You also keep any unspent Home Care Package funds you brought with you, and you can still put those towards your Support at Home services.

And here’s the same thing as a yearly total:

*Yearly totals are rounded to the nearest dollar.

What This Actually Means for You

Let’s be honest – a rise of a dollar or two a day isn’t going to change your life overnight. But it’s not nothing, either.

Across a year, those small daily lifts add up: A little more room for the cleaner, the physio, the lift to an appointment, the help that keeps you steady and independent. For the higher classifications, we’re talking hundreds of extra dollars over the year – quietly working in the background, so you can keep doing the everyday things that matter to you.

The Other Big News: CAPS Is Back

This next part matters, because it was taken away – and now it’s been given back.

The Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS) helps with the cost of continence products. For a lot of people, managing incontinence is simply part of daily life, and the products aren’t cheap. That’s why losing this payment stung.

When the new Aged Care Act (2025) took effect last November, the government stopped approving CAPS for people on Support at Home and CHSP. From February 2026, those who’d relied on it could no longer access it. After strong advocacy from the sector, including Continence Health Australia, the government has reversed that decision. From 1 July 2026, if you’re on Support at Home or the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, you can access CAPS once again.

What CAPS Is Worth Now

From 1 July 2026, the CAPS payment is $739.40 a year – a genuine help towards the household budget, and towards the dignity and comfort that come with having what you need on hand.

How CAPS Works

Here’s the part people find surprising, in the best way: CAPS is separate from your Support at Home or CHSP funding, and it’s paid directly to you – not to your provider.

• You apply for CAPS on its own, outside of your Support at Home or CHSP budget.
• If you’re approved, Services Australia pays the money straight into your bank account.
• You then buy your continence products wherever suits you – the supermarket, the pharmacy, or online.
• You can choose to receive it as one yearly payment (in July) or split across two (July and January).

Who Can Get CAPS

To be eligible, you’ll generally need to:

• Be an Australian resident with a current Medicare card;
• Be aged four or older when you apply, and;
• Have a permanent and severe bladder or bowel condition caused by an eligible neurological or other eligible condition.

CAPS doesn’t cover incontinence that’s temporary, treatable, or night-time bedwetting only. You can check the full eligibility rules on the Services Australia website – and if you’re unsure whether you qualify, it’s always worth asking rather than assuming you don’t.

How to Apply for CAPS

It’s more straightforward than it sounds:

• First, ask a registered health professional (your GP, or a nurse continence specialist) to complete the health report section of the CAPS application.
• If you’re applying for yourself and your Medicare account is linked to myGov, you can apply online or through the myGov app.
• If you’re applying on behalf of someone else, you’ll complete the full paper application form.

You’ll find the complete program details on the government’s Continence Aids Payment Scheme page.

Why This Matters

It’s worth noting this is the government’s second change of heart on continence care for older people in a matter of months. The earlier decision to remove co-contributions for essential personal care, which includes continence support, comes into effect from 1 October 2026.

Two backflips in one area is a lot. But rather than dwell on the wobble, here’s the thing worth holding onto: the payment is back, the funding has grown, and older Australians aren’t being asked to navigate an essential health need on their own. That’s a good outcome – and it happened because people spoke up.

Feeling Unsure? That’s Completely Normal

Aged care changes quickly, and no one expects you to keep every rule, rate and reversal straight in your head (after all, none of us can). If you’re wondering how the new Support at Home funding affects your budget, or whether CAPS might be for you or someone you love, you don’t have to work it out alone – that’s why CareAbout exists.

If you’d like to have a chat, simply call us below. We’ll help you make sense of it all, with no jargon, no pressure – just a clearer path forward.