We don’t know whether the proposal to merge CHSP into Support at Home packages is still government policy.
For aged care providers, folding CHSP into Support at Home threatens the future of meals, transport, social support, home maintenance, allied health, respite, volunteering, local knowledge and the early support that helps older Australians remain independent. They know that pushing these practical, community-based supports into the complex and inflexible Support at Home program will undermine the services that keep people independent.
CHSP provides the practical assistance that helps people continue living at home before life becomes harder than it needs to be. More than 800,000 older Australians rely on it each year, although most would struggle to tell you what CHSP stands for. They know about meals on wheels, community transport or the local organisation that keeps them connected to their community. They know the service, they just don't know the acronym.
The underlying question about the future of CHSP is surprisingly straightforward. What is the best way to help older Australians stay independent for as long as possible while keeping the aged care system affordable as demand continues to grow?
That question sits at the heart of the work of the CHSP Alliance, a rapidly growing coalition of providers, researchers, individuals and community organisations. The Alliance argues that Australia is at risk of losing something very important.
Much of the current aged care reform discussion focuses on people who need significant levels of support. People whose needs are visible, urgent and expensive. But most older people do not wake up one morning needing a large aged care package, the journey is usually gradual. Someone stops driving, shopping becomes more difficult or a partner dies and social connections begin to shrink. Confidence drops, mobility becomes harder and everyday tasks start taking more effort than they once did. Individually, these changes may seem minor. Together, they can slowly undermine a person's ability to remain independent.
This is where CHSP and Support at Home serve different purposes.
Different purposes, different supports
Support at Home is designed for people who need a more substantial level of ongoing assistance. It is built around individual budgets, care planning and a more structured approach to support. For many older Australians, that will be exactly the right solution.
CHSP sits much earlier in the picture. It provides relatively small amounts of practical support that help people continue doing the things they are already doing. Transport to medical appointments, meal delivery services, allied health support, social groups, help around the house and simple home modifications may not sound particularly significant on their own, but together they create something the Alliance sees as essential: a genuine front door or gateway to the aged care system.
A genuine front door
The gateway idea matters because not everybody entering aged care needs the same thing. Some people need a small amount of support and may continue living independently for years. Others will eventually require Support at Home. Some will ultimately move into residential care. A well-designed system should make it easy for people to enter, easy to access the right level of support and easy to move between services as their circumstances change.
The Alliance would like to see this gateway role more closely connected to general practice. GPs are often the first people to notice when an older patient is beginning to struggle. They see the missed appointments, the increasing isolation, the decline in mobility and the subtle signs that everyday life is becoming more difficult.
The Alliance wants doctors to be able to connect older people with local CHSP services much earlier, before those issues become more serious. That would allow many people to access practical support without first navigating the more complex assessment processes and long waiting lists associated with higher levels of care.
The logic is simple. If someone receives transport before they stop attending appointments, meals before nutrition becomes a problem, social support before isolation takes hold, or a handrail before a fall occurs, they are likely to have a better experience and the system is likely to avoid a much larger expense later.
Community infrastructure matters
And CHSP does a lot more than fund services for individuals, it also helps sustain local community infrastructure. Across the country, thousands of volunteers contribute their time through programs such as Meals on Wheels, community transport and social support services. Those volunteers are not just reducing costs, they are strengthening the connections that help older people remain part of their communities rather than becoming disconnected from them.
This is really important when things go wrong. In a bushfire, heatwave or local emergency, CHSP's value is not just the service list. It is the local provider who knows which older people live alone, who no longer drives, who is frail and who may need someone to knock on the door. Those connections are built quietly over years. They are impossible to price, but very easy to miss when they are gone.
That is why the Alliance talks so often about prevention, community connection and early intervention. The discussion is no longer simply about whether CHSP should survive. The more important question is how CHSP, Support at Home, GPs and local communities should work together as Australia prepares for a rapidly ageing population.
Ultimately, the Alliance's argument is not that Australia must choose between CHSP and Support at Home. It is that the system needs both. Support at Home provides more intensive support when people need it. CHSP provides an accessible entry point that helps people stay independent for longer.
We still don’t know whether the proposal to fold CHSP into Support at Home packages is on the table or off. It was always a bad idea, leaving it unresolved has only made it look worse.