A wet load sits in a Capalaba washing machine because the person who used to hang it cannot lift the basket without their wrists giving out. That hour is what aged care domestic assistance is for.
The Australian Government funds it so older people can stay in the house they already know. The letter now says Support at Home. The household work is still cleaning, laundry and shopping.
If you are on an NDIS plan rather than aged care, household tasks sit in a different budget. Read NDIS domestic assistance in Brisbane instead of this page.
What the hours buy
My Aged Care describes domestic assistance as help that keeps the home liveable: grocery shopping, taking the rubbish out, mopping the kitchen, checking the food in the fridge is still safe to eat, sweeping an outdoor path. The Support at Home service list puts the same work under everyday living: general house cleaning, laundry and ironing, essential light cleaning (vacuuming, mopping, washing dishes), and shopping with you or for you.
In a Brisbane week that usually looks ordinary. A worker comes on a Thursday morning, changes the sheets, runs the vacuum through the hallway, and wipes the bathroom so the floor is not a slip risk after a shower. They may take a list to the shops in Capalaba or Morayfield, or go with you if that is the safer way to get the milk home.
The point is hygiene and safety in the rooms you use every day.
What the service list and the My Aged Care guide keep out of this line: professional jobs such as carpet steaming, window cleaning as a trade, pest control, pet care, and the cost of the groceries themselves. Garden and lawn work is a different ask. Major repairs are a different ask. If the house needs a rail or a ramp, that sits with home modifications, not with the person holding the mop.
Support at Home is the current program name
On 1 November 2025 the Support at Home program replaced the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme. If a neighbour still says "package", they mean the old scheme. The current letter talks about a support plan, a notice of decision, and a budget for approved services.
Domestic assistance sits in that plan when an assessor has agreed you need it. You can change the mix of approved services as the week changes. If needs move a long way, the provider can ask for a support plan review. None of that is a promise that a particular number of hours will be approved. The assessor writes what they see in the house.
Money on this line is usually a contribution. The Department of Health says participants contribute to everyday living and independence services, and that the amount follows an income and assets assessment. Clinical support is treated differently. From 1 October 2026 the government will fully fund personal care (showering, dressing). That change does not automatically wipe the contribution on cleaning and laundry. Check your own letter, or ask My Aged Care, before you budget as if the mopping is free.
Easy Community Services has delivered support in Greater Brisbane since 2017. Sisters Andrea and Jessica Curtis still run it. They came out of policing and corporate accounting, and they do not offer Support Coordination, because they will not sit on both sides of a funding decision. If a household needs a coordinator, that person stays independent of the people doing the housework.
CHSP is still the lighter door
Plenty of people in Brisbane are not on Support at Home yet. They are on the Commonwealth Home Support Program, which the Department still describes as entry-level help to stay at home: a few hours of cleaning, a meal, a lift to an appointment.
CHSP did not end when Support at Home started. The Department says CHSP will move across no earlier than 1 July 2027, and in August 2026 it extended CHSP grant funding to 30 June 2029 while it consults on the next design. If you already have a CHSP domestic assistance booking, keep using it until you are told otherwise in writing.
CHSP is usually for a smaller slice of help. Support at Home is for people whose assessment shows more ongoing or mixed needs. You do not pick the program off a menu. My Aged Care and the assessor put you on the one that matches what they find.
How you get it in Brisbane
Start with My Aged Care. Apply for an assessment online, or call 1800 200 422 (Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm). That 1800 number is the current government line. Older flyers sometimes printed 1300. Use 1800.
An assessor comes to the house. They ask what you can still do, what has become unsafe, and who already helps. The honest answer is the useful one. If the laundry has been sitting for four days because the basket is too heavy, say that. If you have stopped mopping because you do not trust the wet floor, say that.
After the assessment you get a notice of decision and a support plan. Those pages name the service types you can use and the budget around them. Then you choose a provider. My Aged Care's find-a-provider search is the official list. You can also contact Easy Community Services on 0474 559 083 if you want to talk through household help in Brisbane, Capalaba or Morayfield once the letter is in your hand.
A provider should write down the usual day, the usual rooms, and how they cancel when someone is unwell. A Thursday vacuum in your own hallway is a different booking from a fortnightly shop. Put both in the agreement if you want both.
If the funded hours are not enough, some families buy extra private time. That is paid out of pocket.
The part families stall on
Adult children often wait until a fall, or until the fridge tells on everyone. The person in the house often waits because managing their own kitchen still feels like the last private job.
A cleaner in the bathroom keeps the floor dry enough to use. Easy Community Services will help someone move to another provider when the fit is wrong. My Aged Care will tell you how to switch if you do not want to ask the current provider first.
Do not wait for a neighbour's wait-time story. Times move, and a number you heard in March is not a number you can plan on. Ask My Aged Care what applies to your assessment this month.
If you are not sure which system you are in
Aged care and the NDIS use some of the same household words and none of the same paperwork. If the person is under 65 and has an NDIS plan, stay on the NDIS page linked above. If they are 65 or older, or they have already moved onto aged care, this page is the one.
A few households sit in the messy middle, including people who used to have NDIS support and later entered residential aged care. Do not guess that transition from a blog. Use My Aged Care for the aged-care side, and the NDIA for any plan that is still open.
After the first visit
On a good week the named worker arrives, does the rooms on the agreement, and you can walk the hallway without holding the wall. The keys stay on your hook.
When you want the hours talked through in ordinary words, contact the team or call 0474 559 083. Bring the My Aged Care letter if you have one. If you do not have a letter yet, start on myagedcare.gov.au.
Frequently asked questions
Is aged care domestic assistance means-tested? Support at Home contributions for everyday living services follow an income and assets assessment. CHSP also has client contribution rules. My Aged Care will tell you what applies to your assessment. A provider cannot honestly quote your dollar figure before that letter exists.
How many hours will I get? Hours follow the assessor's decision and the budget on your plan. Some people have a short weekly clean. Others have a longer block that includes laundry and shopping. Nobody can promise a number from this page.
Can I change providers? Yes. You choose the provider, and you can leave if the support is not working. Read the notice period in your agreement, then tell the current provider or ask My Aged Care to help you move.
I still have a Home Care Package letter. Is it invalid? The program name changed on 1 November 2025. If you were already receiving a package, the Department moved that support into Support at Home. Keep the paperwork you have, and use the current Support at Home language with your provider from here.