Support at Home replaced the old package queue with a Priority System. After your My Aged Care assessment, you’re given a priority rating — Urgent, High, Medium, or Standard — based on your safety, health, and living situation.

Urgent: funding typically starts within about a month
High: around 1.5–2.5 months
Medium and Standard: currently longer, and the Government is working to bring all wait times down to 3 months by 2027

If your full funding isn’t available straight away, most people are started on an interim budget (around 60% of your approved level) so you can begin receiving essential services while you wait for the remainder.

Because wait times change regularly, we recommend checking current estimates at myagedcare.gov.au, or asking us — we track this closely for our clients.

There are two ways to find information on your place in the national priority system and your expected wait time:

Logging into your Online Account.
Calling My Aged Care on 1800 200 422.

You will receive a letter advising you to get ready.

You will get this letter around three months before you receive your first package. Take this time to find an aged care provider that’s right for you. Look into the costs and arrange visits with them. If you’ve already found a provider, contact them now to confirm they have availability for you in coming months.

Read more about what to consider before choosing a Home Care Package provider.

You will receive a letter confirming you have been assigned a package.

This letter includes your referral code, which your chosen provider uses to see your assessment information, support plan, and package level. See more information about referral codes below.

You have 56 days from the date of your letter to enter into a Home Care Agreement with your chosen provider. If you do not enter into a Home Care Agreement within that period, your package will expire. It will then be allocated to the next person on the national priority system.

If you can’t find a suitable provider during this time, you can call My Aged Care and ask for an extension of 28 days.

Read more on our Connecting with Home Care Package providers page.

A referral code is your unique reference number for receiving services. You give the referral code to your chosen provider. If you lose your code, you can log in to your My Aged Care Online Account to see it. With the code, a provider can view your client record, accept the referral, and start organising services for you.

If you aren’t eligible for a Home Care Package, you will receive a letter from your assessor that will tell you why.

There are other options available.

• You may be eligible for other government-funded aged care services. If you are, your letter will include a support plan outlining this information.
• If you’re not eligible for other services, you may want to look at aged care providers that aren’t government-funded.
• If you are under 65 years old, you may want to explore your eligibility with the National Disability and Insurance Scheme (NDIS). You can do this through an NDIS Access Request. Call NDIS on 1800 800 110 (toll-free) for more information.