History
This year, 2025, marks forty years since the establishment of the Home and Community Care (HACC) Program by the Hawke Government. HACC was cost-shared 60:40 between the Federal and State Governments and administered by the States and Territories. For the first time in our history, this program provided older Australians needing ongoing care and support with an alternative to residential care. Its success demonstrated the capacity, engagement, and innovation present in local communities across the country, as non-profit voluntary organisations rose to meet the challenges of increasing longevity and disability in the late twentieth century.
CHSP is a critical lifeline for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders and Older People. It supports their ability to remain on Country/Island Home and within their communities while receiving care that respects their culture, kinship and connection to land and family. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, ageing begins earlier – more often than not, from age 50 – making entry-level aged care a vital enabler of wellbeing, dignity and cultural continuity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have always delivered care in ways grounded in reciprocity, community and collective responsibility. While HACC and CHSP programs created formal mechanisms for care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led services have long exemplified the strengths of community-based, low-barrier, relationship-driven care. These models should inform the future of CHSP design and reform.
In 2012, agreement was reached as part of the Health Reform Agreement negotiations that the Federal Government should be responsible for all aged care. From 2012-2018, the Federal Government gradually took over responsibility from the States for what was initially called the Commonwealth HACC Program. In 2015, the program became known as Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP). At the same time, the Federal Government announced its intention to merge CHSP with Home Care Packages and form a seamless in-home aged care system. This has been delayed multiple times over the succeeding decade.
In 2023-24, CHSP provided services to 834,981 older people via 1,264 funded providers. Total funding was $3.478 billion including $303 million of client contributions.
Future of CHSP
Now, CHSP faces an increasingly uncertain and precarious future due to shifting government priorities and policies. The Support at Home (S@H) Program is being introduced in November 2025, replacing Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care. This is a predominantly individual budget holder model similar to the NDIS, with thin market grants to supplement the individual budgets. The Government currently intends to merge CHSP with S@H by July 2027 at the earliest.