Support at Home goes live: what aged care providers must deliver under the new system

When we first unpacked the Aged Care Act 2024, the focus was on what providers needed to do ahead of 1 November 2025 – strengthening governance, getting audit-ready, uplifting workforce capability and preparing for Support at Home.

That transition point has now passed. With Support at Home service agreements landing in inboxes across the country, aged care providers have formally entered a new regulatory era. The question is no longer what to prepare for, it’s what to deliver now.

The finalised agreements set out the expectations providers must meet under the new rights-based system, including governance, reporting, clinical safety and workforce capability. Where the past year focused on preparing for the transition, the next year will be about operationalising it.

Jacinta Thompson, Director and Clinical Nurse Consultant at Focused Health Care, says the new service agreements are far more than a compliance exercise. 

“We are busy reviewing everything against the Aged Care Act and Aged Care Rules (2025), strengthened Quality Standards, Support at Home and associated guidelines to align internal governance frameworks with audit requirements, and assessing and reinforcing how we embed rights-based practice into daily operations,” Jacinta said. 

She notes the practical implications are extensive.

“We are also realising that the new service agreements aren’t just a compliance exercise, they fundamentally change how we structure pricing and manage informed consent, communication and risk.  We will need to build in much more time to explain the agreement to our participants to ensure their understanding and to document their consent properly.”

What compliance now looks like 

Where previous reforms introduced broad expectations, the Support at Home agreements outline detailed, auditable requirements across governance, service quality and reporting. (Aged Care Act 2024; Department of Health and Aged Care, Support at Home program).

Providers must now be able to demonstrate:

• Alignment with the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, including clearer expectations for clinical safety, workforce capability and care outcomes (Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, Strengthened Standards)
• Systems that uphold rights-based care, including dignity, fairness, accessible communication and a functional complaints pathway
• Transparent reporting, including service outcomes, incidents, quality indicators and financial accountability
• Workforce capability uplift, ensuring staff are trained in Support at Home requirements such as goal-oriented care planning and shared decision-making
• Robust data and record-keeping, aligned with the Department of Health’s shift to expanded digital reporting across 2025–2026

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner, Liz Hefren-Webb, said the new standards would “bolster transparency, accountability and long-term sustainability” across the sector.

“The new financial and prudential standards will ensure that aged care providers are not only meeting their obligations to deliver high-quality care but are also financially viable and effectively managing the funds entrusted to them,” Ms Hefren-Webb said (Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, 2025).

The next 12 months: where the real work begins

The transition period from late 2025 through 2026 is where operational change will need to accelerate.

Providers must map out:

• Governance and pricing updates
• Workforce training programs
• Digital and reporting upgrades
• System changes linked to strengthened Quality Standards
• Internal milestones that prepare teams for full rollout

Guidance from the Department of Health confirms the Support at Home reforms will scale progressively across 2026, with phased digital integration and expanded consumer safeguards. (Transitioning to Support at Home).

For most providers, this year will determine whether the organisation is audit-ready or scrambling once enforcement tightens.

Turning rights into reality on the frontline 

The Aged Care Act 2024 reframes aged care around rights, including dignity, fairness, independence and culturally safe care. Support at Home requires providers to demonstrate these rights are reflected in day-to-day practice.

Operationally, this means:

• Co-designing care plans with consumers
• Strengthening communication pathways
• Creating measurable goals
• Ensuring workers are trained to deliver individualised, rights-based care

This is not a surface-level training requirement. It represents a cultural shift in how staff document their work, navigate conflict, hold conversations with consumers and escalate concerns.

“There’s also a cultural shift required as evidencing rights-based practice impacts how staff speak, write case notes, negotiate services, manage conflicts and escalate concerns,” Jacinta said. “This can’t be achieved through superficial training modules; it’s a full organisational mindset shift.”

Leadership insight: culture over checklists

The Support at Home reforms mark a turning point for aged care leadership. Compliance alone will not be enough. Providers that embed rights, communication, capability and transparency into the fabric of their operations will be best placed to thrive.

This next chapter is about demonstrating outcomes, not intentions, and building organisations where rights-based care is not a policy statement but an everyday practice.

Leaders who approach this transition with clarity, collaboration and cultural investment will shape a stronger, more sustainable future for aged care.

Related reading: Aged Care Act 2024: how providers can prepare ahead of 1 November 2025