Home care franchises in Australia under Support at Home: what buyers need to know

• Home Care Package recipients moved to Support at Home with equivalent funding, and people still waiting for a package joined the Support at Home Priority System.
• Participants get one of 8 ongoing classifications worth $11,010 to $80,137 a year (as at 1 July 2026), and 10% of each budget is allocated to care management.
• Providers set their own prices, which must be reasonable and published on My Aged Care. In May 2026 the government paused price caps and announced powers for the Commission to order refunds for overcharging.
• From 1 October 2026, personal care moves into the clinical supports category, which the government funds in full, removing out-of-pocket costs for services such as showering, dressing and continence care.
• A registered provider stays responsible for services its associated providers deliver, so the franchise structure decides who carries the compliance risk.

Home care has been through its biggest reset in decades. These are the changes that shape a franchise's revenue, costs and obligations, in date order:

1. 25 November 2024: Parliament passed the Aged Care Act 2024.
2. 1 January 2025: minimum award rates rose for many aged care workers after the Fair Work Commission's aged care work value case. In the SCHADS Award, home care work split into separate aged care and disability care streams.
3. 1 October 2025: some aged care employees, including home care employees in aged care, received a further increase.
4. 1 November 2025: the new Act started, replacing the Aged Care Act 1997, and Support at Home began. From then, every provider of funded aged care must be registered with the Commission.
5. 20 May 2026: the government paused price caps for Support at Home and announced new consumer protections, including refund orders for overcharging and a quarterly national summary of prices.
6. 1 July 2026: classification budgets were indexed, as they are each 1 July.
7. 1 October 2026: personal care moves into the clinical supports contribution category, so participants no longer pay out of pocket for it.

Registration is the gate to government funding, so settle early whether your company will be registered or whether you will deliver services for a registered franchisor. The steps are:

1. Decide who will be the registered provider: your company, or the franchisor with you delivering services as its associated provider. A registered provider remains responsible for the quality, safety and compliance of services its associated providers deliver.
2. Apply to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in the categories that match your services. Support at Home providers must register in category 4 with the care management service type, plus any other service types they deliver.
3. Show suitability, capacity and capability: suitable responsible persons, financial management systems and records, an ABN and the ability to meet the general and category requirements in the Act and the Aged Care Rules 2025.
4. Use the Commission's free early engagement review, which flags major gaps before you pay the registration fee and move to formal assessment.
5. Expect an audit against the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards if you apply for categories 4, 5 or 6, and again when you renew or extend into those categories.
6. Explain any associated provider relationships in your application, and tell the Commission about changes later.
7. Keep your registration: meet its obligations and conditions, and apply to renew it before the registration period ends.

Revenue in home care is now tied to each participant's budget and to prices that regulators watch closely.

• Budgets: the 8 ongoing classifications run from $2,752.50 a quarter ($11,010.01 a year) at classification 1 to $20,034.28 a quarter ($80,137.12 a year) at classification 8, as at 1 July 2026, including 10% for care management.
• Starting services: once funding is allocated, a participant must sign a service agreement and start services within 56 days, with a 28-day extension available.
• Claims: you deliver the service first, then claim from Services Australia, which deducts any participant contribution and pays the balance from the participant's funding.
• Contributions: participants contribute to everyday living and independence services based on a Services Australia means assessment, while the government pays the full cost of clinical supports.
• Prices: you set your own, but they must be reasonable, based on your costs, and your most frequently charged prices must be published on My Aged Care.
• Carry-over: participants can carry unspent funds of up to $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly budget, whichever is greater, into the next quarter.
• Monthly statements: every participant must get one, showing services delivered, contributions paid and the remaining quarterly budget.
• Private services: you can agree extra services outside a participant's budget, which the participant pays for in full.

• Every aged care worker and responsible person, such as a CEO or board member, needs a police certificate no older than 3 years that doesn't record certain offences, or an NDIS worker screening check.
• The registered provider must assess police certificates for disqualifying offences, and workers must tell their employer immediately if their circumstances change.
• Governments are developing a national worker screening check for the care and support economy, so expect screening rules to keep changing.
• Home care workers in aged care are generally covered by the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services (SCHADS) Award, where aged care and disability home care are now separate streams.
• Budget for the higher award rates that flowed from the aged care work value case from 1 January 2025, with a further increase for some employees from 1 October 2025.
• If you plan to engage carers as contractors rather than employees, get legal advice first on whether they are really employees.
• Ask the franchisor what support it gives on workplace law, one of the questions the ACCC's information statement suggests you ask.

FranchiseScope analysed the Franchise Disclosure Register profiles of 14 home care and disability support franchisors, captured on 19 August 2026. The answers are self-reported by franchisors.

• Setup costs: the median low estimate was $72,500 (12 profiles) and the median high estimate was $200,000 (11 profiles), against $146,984 and $400,000 across all categories.
• System size: the median system reported 20 franchisees (14 profiles), compared with 9 across all profiles.
• Restraint of trade: 13 of 14 profiles (92.9%) include one, compared with 90.5% across all categories.
• Goodwill: 2 of 13 profiles (15.4%) say franchisees have any rights to goodwill they generate, compared with 10.5% overall.
• One-sided changes: 2 of 14 profiles (14.3%) let the franchisor vary the agreement on its own, compared with 27.6% overall.
• Supply restrictions and arbitration: 9 of 14 profiles (64.3%) restrict where you buy goods or services, and 6 of 10 (60%) provide for arbitration, against 70.2% and 63.8% across all categories.

Ask for an itemised estimate in the disclosure document, then test each line with current franchisees and your accountant.

• Upfront costs: franchise fee, registration fees, rostering and claiming software, training, insurance and travel or vehicle costs.
• Ramp-up: participants choose their provider and funding is allocated through a priority system, so ask current franchisees how long it took to build a client base.
• Margins: your revenue per hour is limited by what budgets can buy and by prices the department and the Commission now monitor and publish.
• Care management: 10% of each quarterly budget is allocated to it, so model your care partner costs against that pool.
• Franchise fees: ask whether royalties are charged on total revenue including government funding, and how that sits with the rule that prices reflect your costs.
• Compliance costs: audits, incident and complaints systems, financial reporting and monthly statements for every participant.

• The franchisor can't say who will be the registered provider, or suggests you can deliver funded services before registration or a formal associated provider arrangement is in place.
• Revenue projections built on prices well above those charged by other providers in your area.
• Earnings claims that aren't in the disclosure document as earnings information with a reasonable basis.
• No budget for audits, screening, training and monthly statements, which are core obligations, not optional extras.
• High turnover of franchisees in the disclosure document, or former franchisees who won't talk about their experience.
• Pressure to sign quickly. The franchisor can't sign until 14 days after you receive the disclosure document, a copy of the Code and the agreement in its final form, and must refund any payment made in that window within 14 days of your written request.

• Confirm in writing who will be the registered provider and who is responsible for quality, safety and compliance.
• Check the franchisor's and any network provider's registration details on the Commission's Provider Register.
• Model revenue from realistic classification mixes, local prices and a slow ramp-up, not from best-case client numbers.
• Price the full cost of staff at award rates, including travel time, screening and training.
• Ask how the franchisor supports audits, incident management, complaints and monthly statements.
• Read the ACCC information statement and the disclosure document, then call current and former franchisees.
• Check how royalties and marketing levies are calculated and whether they fit the reasonable pricing rules.
• Get independent legal and accounting advice before you sign.