Accessing Subsidies for Supplements Under Support at Home

Did you know that the Australian Government pays supplements into the budgets of applicants accessing the Support at Home program? The supplement payments help with the cost of meeting specific care needs of individuals.

Once approved, the funding goes into the overall classification budget of the individual and doesn’t have to be spent on that specific item (e.g. oxygen supplement).

Which Supplements Are Available?

1. Oxygen supplement: This is for participants who have a medical need for continual oxygen therapy. The supplement is not payable for an emergency or for short-term illnesses, such as bronchitis.

The residential or Support at Home provider must have hired, borrowed or own the equipment used to provide the oxygen.

To apply, you will need a certificate from either a medical practitioner (doctor) or a nurse practitioner stating the older person’s oxygen requirements and continual need for the administration of oxygen.

2. Enteral feeding supplement: Providers receive this supplement when they support an older person who is prescribed enteral feeding. Enteral feeding is where a person gets nutrients through a tube in their nose, stomach or small intestine.

The supplement is not payable for dietary formulas that are taken orally, used as food supplements, or administered in addition to food by mouth.

To claim the enteral feeding supplement on behalf of a resident or Support at Home participant, providers need a doctor’s (not a dietician’s) written certification that the person has a medical need for enteral feeding.

Also required is a doctor’s or dietician’s written certification that the dietary formula prescribed is nutritionally complete, and details of the care person’s particular enteral feeding requirements, which can be in their written certification, care plan or hospital discharge papers, or dietician’s enteral feeding instructions.

3. Veterans’ supplement: This is for veterans with a mental health condition accepted by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs as related to their service. DVA and Services Australia will match information to check eligibility, so you do not need to apply for this supplement.

For carers who provide Support at Home services or residential aged care, you automatically get this supplement for eligible participants or residents. Services Australia will let you know in their payment advice to you.

4. Remote supplement: This is for participants who receive assistive technology and/or home modification funding and live in a remote area with a Modified Monash Model classification of 6 or 7. This supplement offsets the higher costs related to accessing assistive technology or home modifications in remote and very remote areas.

To be eligible for this supplement, the Support at Home participant must be allocated an AT-HM funding tier and have their primary address classified as remote or very remote. This information is captured during the participant’s aged care assessment, so a provider does not need to apply for this supplement on their participant’s behalf.

Services Australia automatically pays this supplement for eligible participants, and the supplement rate is an additional 50% of a participant’s allocated AT-HM funding tier.

Other supplements:

1. Fee reduction supplement – This supplement assists participants experiencing financial hardship who cannot pay their contributions for reasons out of their control. Services Australia assesses each application and considers things that are unique to each person.

2. Care management supplement –This supplement funds an additional 12 hours of care management activities per year (3 hours per quarter) per eligible participant. Participants are identified by Services Australia from their aged care assessment.

The following supplements only apply to participants who transitioned from the Home Care Packages Program and were receiving (or were eligible to receive) on 31 October 2025:

Dementia and Cognition Supplement
Extended Aged Care at Home – Dementia (EACH-D) top up supplement.

What Are the Supplements Worth?

1. Dementia and Cognition Supplement

Eligibility: For transitioned Home Care Package recipients who were in receipt of a Dementia and Cognition supplement on 31 October 2025.

Daily supplement rates: 11.5% of the equivalent daily funding for the participant’s classification

2. EACHD Top Up supplement

Eligibility: For transitioned Home Care Package recipients who were in receipt of a Dementia and Cognition supplement on 31 October 2025.

Daily supplement rates: 11.5% of the equivalent daily funding for the participant’s classification

3. Oxygen and Enteral feeding and Veterans’ supplements

Supplements and their daily supplement rates below:

Oxygen supplement: $15.04
Enteral feeding supplement – Bolus: $23.85
Enteral feeding supplement – Non-bolus: $26.79
Veterans’ supplement: 11.5% of the equivalent daily funding for the participant’s classification

4. Care management supplement

Eligibility: For providers delivering services to participants who are: older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, homeless or at risk of homelessness, care leavers (i.e., a person who has spent time in institutional or out of home care, including Forgotten Australians and former child migrants), veterans who are approved for the Veteran’s Supplement for aged care, or referred to Support at Home from the care finder program.

Daily supplement rates: $4.05

Does Support at Home Cover Nutritional Supplements?

The My Aged Care Support at Home program only covers prescribed nutritional supplements if you have an assessed clinical or age-related medical need. Vitamins and oral supplements are excluded from Support at Home funding, and the enteral feeding supplement explicitly doesn’t cover formulas taken by mouth or used alongside oral intake.

How to Apply for a Support at Home Supplement

The eligibility and application process varies for each supplement. Generally, providers must complete an application form on their participant’s behalf and provide supporting documentation. However, some supplements are checked for automatically at the time of your Aged Care Assessment, such as the veterans’ supplement and the remote supplement.