Calls are growing to keep the Commonwealth Home Support Programmed (CHSP) beyond 2027 – and the Government still has no plan or date to fold it into Support at Home.
At Senate Estimates last Thursday (9 October), the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing confirmed CHSP will not transition before 2027, funding will continue, but the milestone plan, modelling and final design are still to come.
Health researcher Professor Kathy Eagar wrote on LinkedIn that she is “part of a growing group” urging the Government to maintain and expand CHSP:
“It is the only bit of the aged care system that has consistently delivered high quality and efficient care & support over decades… it needs to be offered as a genuine choice for people who do not want Support at Home.”
Her comments land as the Australian National Audit Office begins a “routine” review of CHSP’s effectiveness – assessing whether it meets community need and is being delivered well, the Department told The Weekly SOURCE.
CHSP’s future was also front and centre at Estimates, where Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne pressed Department officials on whether Support at Home has been funded to absorb around 800,000 CHSP clients.
Greg Pugh, First Assistant Secretary, said the Government has not set a date to roll CHSP into Support at Home and that detailed transition modelling is still being developed.
Adding industry perspective, Senior Partner Grant Corderoy told StewartBrown’s Finance Forum last week that policy has repeatedly slipped:
“They were going to combine with Home Care Packages in 2013, then 2015, 2016, 2018, ‘cross my heart’ 2020, 2022, ‘absolutely’ 2023 – now it may happen July 2027. Meanwhile home care demand has skyrocketed. We need clarity on CHSP – and to understand the flow-on for residential aged care.”
