Support at Home Compliance: What Aged Care Providers Need to Get Right in 2026
Compliance
April 4, 2026
Why regulated care providers must move beyond audit cycles and build real-time compliance systems.
Nine months into the Support at Home (SaH) program, the reality has proven more complex than anyone anticipated. Parliamentary pressure is mounting, with 21 federal MPs calling for urgent changes to service categorisation and fee structures. Providers are grappling with new assessment pathways, evolving price caps, and a regulatory environment that's still taking shape. Whether you're a home care provider transitioning from the old system or building new SaH services, understanding your compliance obligations is critical — and the margin for error is shrinking.
Where Support at Home Stands Right Now
The Support at Home program replaced the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) and Home Care Packages from 1 July 2025, consolidating Australia's home-based aged care into a single system. The intent was sound: simpler access, better funding alignment, and person-centred care. But the early months have exposed significant friction points.
The Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) — the algorithm-driven system used to determine care needs — has drawn widespread criticism. Older Australians and their families report being assessed at lower support levels than they received under the previous system, despite the legislated "no worse off" principle. Meanwhile, the 10 per cent cap on case management fees is being cited as a driver of increased service prices elsewhere, creating cost-shifting that regulators are watching closely.
For providers, this isn't just a policy debate. Every assessment outcome, every service agreement, and every fee structure you implement carries compliance implications under the new Aged Care Act. Providers who built their compliance frameworks around the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards need to ensure those frameworks extend fully to their home care operations.
Your Key Compliance Obligations Under Support at Home
The SaH program doesn't exist in a compliance vacuum — it sits within the broader regulatory architecture of the new Aged Care Act. That means providers delivering home-based services must meet the same quality and safety standards as residential providers, adapted for the home environment.
Core obligations include:
Service agreements — Every participant must have a written agreement that clearly outlines the services to be provided, associated fees, and the participant's rights under the Statement of Rights
Clinical governance — Providers must maintain clinical governance frameworks appropriate to the services they deliver, including medication management, wound care, and allied health in the home
Incident reporting — The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) applies to home care, and providers must report Priority 1 and Priority 2 incidents within the required timeframes
Workforce screening — All workers entering a participant's home must hold valid police checks and, where applicable, NDIS Worker Screening Clearances
Pricing transparency — Fee schedules must comply with published price caps and be communicated clearly to participants before services commence
Providers already managing SIRS reporting obligations in residential care will find the home care requirements similar in structure but different in execution — particularly around incident detection in uncontrolled environments.
The Assessment Challenge: What Providers Can and Cannot Control
One of the most contentious aspects of SaH is the Integrated Assessment Tool. The government has defended the IAT as an evidence-based, consistent methodology. Critics — including the 21 MPs who signed the recent joint letter to Minister Sam Rae — argue it's producing assessments that fail to capture the real-world care needs of older Australians.
Providers don't control the assessment outcome, but they do have compliance responsibilities around how they respond to it. If a participant's assessed support level appears insufficient for their actual needs, providers should:
Document the gap between assessed needs and observed needs with clinical evidence
Support participants through the reassessment and review process
Maintain duty of care — a low assessment does not relieve you of your obligation to deliver safe, quality care
Escalate systemic issues through appropriate channels, including the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
This is a space where thorough documentation becomes your strongest compliance asset. Providers who maintain detailed, real-time records of care delivery and participant outcomes are far better positioned to demonstrate compliance during audits — and to advocate effectively for their participants. Our guide to preparing for ACQS 2025 audits covers the documentation standards the Commission expects.
Fee Structures and Financial Compliance
Pricing under Support at Home is one of the areas generating the most provider anxiety — and the most regulatory scrutiny. The government has introduced price caps on certain service categories, but the details continue to evolve, and the 10 per cent case management cap has created unintended consequences.
From a compliance perspective, providers must ensure:
All fees are disclosed in writing before services commence, including any co-contributions
Fee structures do not exceed published price caps for capped services
No cross-subsidisation between service categories that could constitute a breach of pricing rules
Invoicing is transparent, itemised, and reconcilable against the participant's service agreement
Providers should also be aware that the government is actively monitoring fee movements. Reports of fee increases — particularly in personal care and domestic assistance — are likely to trigger targeted compliance activity. If your pricing model has changed since SaH commenced, now is the time to audit it for compliance exposure.
The financial governance expectations are consistent with the broader framework we outlined in our guide to building a governance model that actually works — accountability, transparency, and defensible decision-making.
Workforce Compliance in the Home Environment
Delivering care in someone's home creates unique workforce compliance challenges that don't exist in a facility setting. There's no nurse manager down the corridor. No centralised medication room. No CCTV in common areas. Workers operate with a degree of autonomy that demands robust systems and training.
Key workforce compliance areas under SaH include:
Screening and credentials — Valid police checks, working with vulnerable people checks, and professional registration where required. Credentials must be current, not just checked at hire
Competency and training — Workers must be competent to deliver the specific services in the participant's care plan, particularly clinical and allied health services
Supervision — Even in a distributed workforce model, providers must demonstrate adequate clinical supervision and support structures
Code of Conduct — Every worker must understand and comply with the Aged Care Code of Conduct, and providers must have processes for managing breaches
The reality is that workforce compliance in home care is harder to evidence than in residential settings. Without centralised systems to track credentials, training, and supervision, compliance gaps accumulate silently — until an audit or incident exposes them. Technology that automates credential tracking, training reminders, and supervision records isn't a luxury in this environment; it's a risk management essential.
Quality and Continuous Improvement Obligations
The Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards apply equally to home care services, and that includes the expectation of continuous improvement. Providers must demonstrate that they're not just meeting minimum standards but actively working to improve outcomes for participants.
Under SaH, continuous improvement should focus on:
Participant experience — Regular feedback collection and demonstrable action on that feedback
Clinical outcomes — Tracking and improving outcomes for participants receiving clinical services at home
Complaints management — A responsive, transparent complaints process that treats complaints as improvement data, not problems to be managed
Incident trending — Analysing SIRS data and near-misses to identify systemic risks before they escalate
Providers who have already established continuous improvement frameworks for their residential services have a strong foundation to build on. The principles are the same — the application just needs to be adapted for the decentralised nature of home-based care.
Practical Steps to Strengthen Your SaH Compliance Position
With the regulatory environment still settling, providers who take a proactive approach to compliance now will be in the strongest position as the system matures. Here's where to focus:
Audit your service agreements — Ensure every active participant has a compliant, up-to-date agreement that reflects current pricing and service arrangements
Review your fee schedule — Cross-reference against published price caps and ensure full transparency in participant communications
Strengthen documentation practices — Move from retrospective paperwork to real-time, evidence-based recording of care delivery
Invest in workforce systems — Automate credential tracking, training compliance, and supervision records to close gaps before they become findings
Build your QI evidence base — Start collecting and analysing quality data now, even if reporting requirements are still being refined
Engage with the Commission — Attend webinars, review regulatory bulletins, and participate in consultations. Providers who engage early are better prepared
The providers who will thrive under Support at Home are those who treat compliance as a continuous practice, not a periodic exercise. As the Commission's assessment and monitoring activity ramps up through 2026, the gap between providers with robust systems and those relying on manual processes will become increasingly visible.
Written by
James Driscoll
Writer
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