CHSP transition to SaH timeline still uncertain
Speaking at the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee last week, department representatives reiterated that CHSP will not transition into SaH until 1 July 2027 but said there is no confirmed milestone plan yet.
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing continues to be vague on when the Commonwealth Home Support Program will transition into Support at Home.
CHSP is designed to be entry-level support for older people requiring help to stay independently at home, and includes services like transport, meal delivery, social support and nursing care.
But as raised during the August Greens-led Senate Inquiry into the impact of delaying the start date of the new Support at Home program, many CHSP providers are now supporting people with more complex needs than CHSP is designed for due to the home care package system backlog.
During last week’s Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, department representatives reiterated that CHSP will not roll into the new Support at Home program earlier than 1 July 2027 and that all current services remain operational, but did not confirm what the timeline and milestone plan is.
Representatives also noted that while CHSP funding will continue, the government has not made an announcement on the form that it will continue in beyond its intention to not transition to SaH prior to 1 July 2027.
The department said details on how the 800,000 people currently supported through CHSP will be transitioned to a SaH package are also still to be determined, and that at this stage no modelling has been done on what the impact of closing CHSP will be on wait times for a package. Currently 121,909 people on the national priority list are waiting for a package at their approved level.
But representatives said some modelling has been done on package wait times for the 320,000 people who will have transitioned from an HCP to SaH by 31 October, and on the additional 63,000 packages to be released by 1 July 2026 – which department representatives explained is the promised additional 83,000 packages minus the 20,000 being rolled out for 1 November.
This modelling also includes the additional 30,000 packages that will be funded each year for the next decade, with representatives indicating that the current government commitment is a three-month wait time by the end of the second year of SaH.
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