You’re on a waitlist for a Home Care Package – now what?

From 1 November 2025, the Support at Home program replaced the Home Care Package program. Rules that apply under Support at Home may be different to those that applied to the Home Care Package program mentioned in this article. To learn more about the Support at Home program, visit our Topic Library or the official Support at Home website.

Congratulations! You have met the eligibility requirements of a Home Care Package (HCP) to secure a spot on the HCP waiting list.

Typically, there is a long wait for approvals for the packages – as long as six months to a year, depending on the package level approved.

As of 31 December 2022, 235,599 people had access to a HCP, with 40% of those receiving a Level 2 package.

The HCP program provides funding at four levels of care, ranging from low-level care needs (Level 1) to high-level care needs (Level 4). The services provided under the packages are tailored to the individual’s needs. Find out more about the different levels of a HCP.

In the interim, you may be eligible for entry-level support services to live independently and safely at home, through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP). Alternatively, you can connect with independent support workers through Mable and pay privately till you receive your allocated HCP.

Find out below what options are available to you as you wait for your HCP to kick in.

What to do while you wait for your Home Care Package

Pay privately for support through Mable

If you’re currently in the queue for a HCP, paying privately for your support may be an inevitable option, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. Even without a package, people looking for aged care support services can connect directly with a variety of independent support workers on the Mable platform.

Through Mable, you can connect with independent support workers who are experienced in aged care and dementia support and negotiate directly with them to choose when and where you want to receive support, and how much you want to pay for it. There are rigorous checks in place to ensure they are only permitted to provide support once they are approved under the strict processes followed by Mable. Find out what safeguards Mable has in place.

Given that you’re likely to be paying out of pocket while you’re waiting for your HCP to become available, it’s important to make sure your money is going a long way. Want to compare home care package costs with private costs? Explore this article on HCP fees and charges.

When your HCP funding becomes available and you’ve found an Approved Provider to host your package, you can simply let Mable know by updating your account and payment details.

The platform is designed to provide clients with as much choice, personalisation and independence as possible by allowing clients to post jobs, select their preferred support workers and negotiate payments.

Find a Home Care Package provider

You don’t have to wait till you receive your funding to find a HCP provider. You can start looking for a HCP provider any time you like, even before you are approved for a HCP. That way, you have plenty of time to learn about how they operate and compare the costs. When your package is approved, you’ll be ready to sign up and begin.

Find out how to choose a HCP provider, what questions to ask them and how you can self-manage your HCP through your existing provider.

How mable clients self-manage their aged care support needs

Two Mable clients, Isabel and Manuel, both receive HCP funding and self-manage their support. Before signing up to Mable, they had been cared for by more than 100 different support workers through a previous provider. Today, they get 37 hours of support a week from a team of four independent support workers they connected with via Mable.

Satish is a privately paying aged care client who uses the Mable platform. He chose to bypass the year-long delay that came with waiting for a HCP and utilised a traditional provider for his support needs. As he was paying privately, the bills started to add up with Satish’s service provider. He soon discovered Mable could meet his support needs at a much lower cost and he could build a support team around him.

Mable gave Satish the independence to choose his own workers and nursing staff and the opportunity to build lasting relationships with his dedicated support workers.

Privately paying for your support means you can enjoy the autonomy (your choice and control) that some service providers may not offer. If you’re looking for an alternative support option while you wait for your HCP, or if you’re considering a different support system, Mable’s flexibility and affordability can help you regain your independence.

FAQs

The basic daily fee, payable by you, gets added to the government subsidy to boost the funds available in your HCP budget. Not all providers will ask you to pay the basic daily fee but it will mean you have less funds in your budget to pay for the services you need. It’s important that when deciding on a provider, you are satisfied with whether you pay or don’t pay the basic daily fee. Learn more about HCP fees and charges.

Simply put, there are more Australians than ever who want to explore the option of living at home for as long as possible, which has led to a sharp increase in the demand for HCPs. The development, exacerbated by acute workforce shortages and complexities in the way the HCP program funding works, is causing delay in HCPs being released. However, the government released 40,000 packages in 2021-22, and plans to release another 40,000 packages over 2022-23, which will hopefully shorten wait times.

Unfortunately, no. With current and upcoming reforms to the aged care sector, it’s hoped that the wait times for a HCP will be reduced, but there’s no way for an applicant to speed up the process.

What you can do, in the meantime, is start searching for a home care service provider, so that when you’re allocated a HCP, you can begin using your funding right away.

How self-management of a Home Care Package works

From 1 November 2025, the Support at Home program replaced the Home Care Package program. Rules that apply under Support at Home may be different to those that applied to the Home Care Package program mentioned in this article. To learn more about the Support at Home program, visit our Topic Library or the official Support at Home website.

Everyone who is approved for a government funded Home Care Package (HCP) is given the option to self-manage it. This option gives you greater choice and control, more hours of support and better value, overall.

Why self-manage your Home Care Package?

Before the policy of Consumer Directed Care was fully introduced in 2017, having a HCP meant you had to stick with your aged care provider with sometimes limited choices. This meant accepting their staff and available support options, according to their rosters.

With consumer directed care, from February 2017 onwards, HCP funding was allocated to the person rather than to the aged care provider. This meant that for the first time, people could exercise ‘self-management’ of their package, i.e., choose their own service providers and health professionals, potentially save on administration fees and decide – through platforms like Mable – who would support them, when and at what rates.

By choosing to self-manage your HCP, you can get more hours of support out of your package. By choosing Mable, you pay lower administration fees, which means more of your package is available for you to spend on support. Find out more about self-managing your HCP through Mable.

What is a self-managed Home Care Package?

Self-managing your HCP means you have complete control and choice over how you use your HCP funding. This includes:

  • Choosing the people who support you
  • Choosing what services you want from the people who support you
  • Choosing when (what time, how many hours, etc.) you want those services.

You might want someone who:

  • Lives nearby and knows your neighbourhood
  • Who speaks your language
  • Shares your interests
  • Can meet your scheduling requirements
  • Any other preferences you might have.

This choice is crucial, not only to determine the quality of support you receive, but also the value you can get out of your package. Greater value means more hours of support for you or your family member, something that can directly impact quality of life.

How to ‘self-manage’ your Home Care Package with Mable

Mable has been playing a leading role in supporting consumers rights to self manage their HCP for several years. People with a HCP who use Mable to book their team of support workers, are using what we describe as a ‘self-managed HCP’.

Self-managing means you and your family can book independent support workers in your area yourself. You find a worker you like, agree on an hourly rate, the services they provide and the days and times they provide support.

You still need an Approved Home Care Provider to host your package, but by self-managing your package, we can introduce you to our Approved Provider Partners, such as HomeMade, who offer a lower administrative fee, freeing up more funding for you to spend on your services.

Learn more about connecting with support when you are self-managing your HCP via Mable.

Benefits of self-managing your Home Care Package with Mable

For some clients, choosing Mable is about the freedom of selecting your own support workers and deciding when they will come into your home to support you. For others, it’s about the peace of mind it provides about the safety and wellbeing of their loved ones. But for most clients, the overwhelming benefit is the additional support it provides through the unprecedented value that Mable and our partner providers can deliver.

Find out how self-managing their HCP helped Mable clients Helen and Graham.

Start self-managing your Home Care Package with Mable

If you’ve just received a HCP, here are the steps you can take to get started with Mable:

Step 1: Sign up for free to the platform, and start searching for independent support workers in your local area. If you know someone in your community who you would like to engage to provide you with support, you can bring them along too.

Step 2: Call our customer support team on 1300 736 573 to find out which partner providers are in your local area. We’ll also explain how their fees work.

Step 3: Contact support workers directly to get to know them better. Agree the hourly rate you wish to pay, and the hours and services that work for you both. Many workers on the platform will offer a meet-and-greet for free, so you can meet in person to find out if you’re a good fit.

Step 4: Our approved Home Care Provider partners will host your package and we’ll send invoices to them directly on your behalf after timesheets have been approved on Mable, so you don’t have to worry about it.

FAQs

Yes, you can! We see Mable as a community-based solution for people to find care and support, especially in rural and regional areas, creating not only jobs, but also connected communities. Just let us know who they are and we will fast track them through our onboarding process which includes NDIS Worker Screening Checks, references and qualifications (if applicable). Once they’re approved, you can engage them through the platform and they’ll be covered by insurance.

You can’t generally engage a family member but you may be able to in certain cases, for example, in a remote community. You could discuss this with your case manager.

Please note, the NDIS Worker Screening Check has replaced police checks as a mandatory requirement for support workers on Mable.

Signing up for Mable is entirely free for clients, allowing them to start searching for, and communicating with support workers immediately.

While support workers can sign up for free, they cannot be approved to work on Mable without obtaining an NDIS Worker Screening Check (which includes ID verification). These are applied for and conducted by each state separately, so refer to our NDIS Worker Screening Check page for prices and requirements your state.

The NDIS Worker Screening Check has replaced police checks as a mandatory requirement for all support workers on Mable. New support workers signing up to Mable require an NDIS Worker Screening Check.

Each support worker sets their own hourly rates, within our $39 minimum hourly rate and the NDIS price cap (when applicable), which are clearly displayed on their profiles. Before booking a support worker, they and the clients must discuss and agree on the rate and schedule.

The cost structure is transparent, whereby clients pay the agreed rate plus a 7.95% client platform fee, while workers receive the agreed rate minus a 10% support engagement fee. No fees are charged until a client books a support worker and the services are delivered. Payments are made online and can be easily tracked through support hours in your Mable account. For more detailed information about Mable's pricing, you can visit our Pricing page.

We are an online platform, so you do need to create a profile and select workers on your computer or mobile device. If you are not comfortable doing this on your own, you might decide to host your package with a provider who can provide you with a little extra case management – and they can help you to select and schedule your workers via Mable.

This term has been in aged care for some time. Case managers are also known as coordinators or client advisors. The case manager works with a family to develop an individualised care plan, based on what the personal needs while ageing. The case manager allows the family to put that plan into action and stays in contact as circumstances change. In a complex case, the case manager might be in touch regularly. For families who are comfortable self-managing, it might only be a couple of times a year.

Service providers still have a duty of care to the client, to make sure the client is acting reasonably in the choices they’re making. Different providers have different levels of risk tolerance when it comes to putting the consumer at the centre and allowing them to make their own choices. And they are still responsible for developing an individualised care plan, whether or not you are self-managing.

We are a platform that enables you to connect with independent support workers and case managers who can develop a care plan with you. Some of those might be available through home care providers but increasingly we’re seeing independent case managers, people with a case management background willing to be independent advisors to consumers around their aged care needs and how to get the best out of their funding.

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Sign up to Mable

I want to find support:

For myself, a client or on behalf of a friend or family member.

I want to provide support:

As a support worker, nurse, allied health professional, gardener or cleaner.