Home Care Package Levels 1-4 Explained
The Home Care Package Program is a great initiative that’s designed to help older Australians live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. It does this by providing funded access to a wide range of support services tailored to each person’s needs. Each level of Home Care Package has a different amount of funding, which is used to subsidise home care services from an approved provider.
The 4 levels of Home Care Packages
There are 4 different levels of funding based on how much assistance someone needs:
- Level 1: Basic assistance
- Level 2: Low-level care
- Level 3: Intermediate care
- Level 4: High-level care
The Home Care Package Program is all about making life easier, safer and more comfortable, while helping people stay connected to their community and enjoy their independence. Now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty and take a much closer look at each level.
Level 1 Home Care Package
A Level 1 Home Care Package is designed to support people who need only very basic assistance at home. The amount of funding per year for this level is $10,931.75. People with a level 1 package are still independent and able to perform most day-to-day tasks on their own. Some of the common services used are:
- Domestic assistance
- Social support
- Meal preparation
- Shopping
- Transport
- Personal care
You can expect 3 to 4.5 hours of support per fortnight, depending on your provider’s fees. Most of the customers we speak to choose to use this for weekly household cleaning and fortnightly or monthly gardening duties.
Level 2 Home Care Package
A Level 2 Home Care Package is aimed at supporting people who have low-level care needs. The amount of funding per year at this level is $19,224.55. People with a level 2 package require a little more care but are still able to perform a lot of tasks around the home themselves. Services for a level 2 care recipient may include:
- Personal care
- Domestic assistance
- Loan of basic care equipment
- Social support
- Meal preparation
- Shopping
- Transport
- Basic home and garden maintenance
- Some nursing care
This amount of funding will give you approximately 5.5 to 8 hours of care and support fortnightly, depending on your provider’s fees.
Level 3 Home Care Package
A Level 3 Home Care Package supports people who need quite a bit more help in order to remain safely in their home. Funding for level 3 packages sits at $41,847.25 per year. Generally, those with a level 3 package will access more personal care, nursing or allied health support than those with lower-level packages. This funding can be used for:
- Personal care
- Domestic assistance
- Household assistance
- Assistance with aids and appliances
- Social support
- Meal preparation
- Medication management
- Nursing support
- Allied health support
- Shopping
- Transport
- Support with changes to memory and/or behaviour
This mount of funding will give you approximately 12.5 to 18 hours of support per fortnight, depending on provider fees.
Level 4 Home Care Package
A Level 4 Home Care Package is intended to support people who require high-level care. People at this level receive $63,440.65 worth of funding per year. People with high-level or complex care needs may be eligible to receive comprehensive assistance with:
- Personal care (showering/dressing etc)
- Domestic assistance (laundry/cleaning etc)
- Assistance with aids and appliances
- Social support
- Meal preparation
- Medication management
- Nursing care
- Allied health support
- Shopping
- Transport
- Support with changes to memory and/or behaviour
This top level of funding works out to be between 18.5 to 25 hours of care per fortnight, depending on provider fees.
Understanding Wait Times and Funding Use
Unfortunately, Home Care Package wait times can be much longer for level 3 and 4 packages. But, if you’ve been approved for levels 3 or 4, you might be offered a lower-level package while you wait for yours to become available. TIP: We encourage you to make full use of the funds provided in your lower-level package. This demonstrates that you genuinely need a higher level of care. If you’re not using all the available support, it might seem like your care needs aren’t as high.
To make the most of your funding, it’s vital you find the right home care provider. But this can be tricky without expert help. The options can feel overwhelming, and understanding the system is the first step to getting the support you need.
