Changing home care providers is allowed at any time, for any reason — you do not need your current provider's permission, and your funding follows you. If your provider is no longer the right fit, or never quite was, you can move. What many families do not realise is how much of the work your new provider is required to do for you, and how specific the obligations on your old provider are. This guide sets out the steps in plain English, the timeframes that actually apply under Support at Home, and what to do if a transfer stalls. If you have not chosen a new provider yet, start with our guide to choosing a home care provider.
Can you change home care providers?
Yes. Under Support at Home you can change providers at any time and for any reason, and your funding moves with you. You do not need your current provider's agreement to leave.
The Department of Health is explicit that a participant can choose to change providers for any reason — including needing services their current provider does not offer, or moving to a different location.
My Aged Care puts it simply: you have the right and the ability to change providers to suit your changing aged care needs and preferences. If you hold a Home Care Package that has not yet transitioned, the same rules below govern how your services and funds move.
How do you start the process of changing providers?
Tell your current provider as early as possible that you are changing and who your new provider is, and agree an exit date with them. That conversation is the trigger for everything that follows.
Official guidance is to have that conversation as early as possible rather than waiting until you are ready to sign with someone new. Once your current provider knows, they must work with you to agree an exit date and keep delivering your services until that date.
If you have not chosen a new provider yet, start there. My Aged Care's Find a provider tool lets you compare providers and see what they offer before you commit to anyone.
What is an exit date, and who chooses it?
The exit date is the agreed last day of service with your current provider. You and the provider agree it together, and it should not disadvantage you unnecessarily.
When an exit date is agreed, the things that are meant to be considered are your own situation, the terms of your service agreement, and the obligations Support at Home places on a provider when services cease.
The exit date is recorded in your care notes. It is also the handover point: your old provider continues your services up to that date, and your new provider's service agreement must start on or after it. That is how continuity of care is maintained across a transfer.
Does your funding move with you when you change providers?
Yes. Your funding moves with you to the new provider, including unspent funds for ongoing services. If you transitioned from a Home Care Package, the government-held portion of your unspent funds is available to your new provider immediately.
There is one important time limit, and it is about time rather than the transfer itself: if you do not enter into a service agreement with a new provider for four quarters in a row — a full year — since you last received a service, your ongoing funding will be withdrawn.
Changing providers does not put your funding at risk. Going a year without a provider does, which is why it is worth starting the search for a new provider early rather than pausing your care while you decide.
Switching, changing or transferring providers — it is the same process
Whether you call it switching, changing or transferring providers, the process is identical. The wording differs because the program has been renamed over time.
Families use several phrases for the same thing, and government pages and provider documents use them interchangeably: changing home care providers, changing aged care providers, changing home care package providers, and changing support at home providers. All of them describe one process — ending your service agreement with one provider and beginning with another, with your funding intact.
The wording shifted because the program did. Home Care Packages were replaced by Support at Home on 1 November 2025, and if you still hold a Home Care Package that has not yet transitioned, the same rules apply to you.
One phrase means something different: changing nursing homes refers to moving into residential aged care, which is a separate decision from changing the provider who supports you at home. Highfield Care provides care at home only — we do not operate a residential facility. My Aged Care's Find a provider tool covers both, and it is the right place to compare options before you decide which path you need.
Can a provider charge you for leaving?
No. A provider cannot charge an exit amount when you leave their care.
This is one of the clearest protections in the arrangements, and it applies no matter how long you have been with that provider or why you are leaving.
What you may still see at the end is ordinary financial finalisation rather than a penalty: final invoices for any contributions you owe, and a final monthly statement. How contributions themselves work is a separate question, and our guide to choosing a provider covers the fee questions worth asking before you sign with anyone.
What happens to unspent funds when you switch providers, and how long do they take?
If your provider holds unspent Home Care Package funds, the participant portion must be transferred to your new provider within 60 calendar days of the exit date. The government-held portion is available immediately.
That distinction explains why families hear very different timeframes. The government's share of unspent funds moves straight away, while the portion held by your previous provider follows once they have reconciled your account.
Your new provider must also be given your remaining budget within 28 days. That covers the total cost of services delivered before the exit date, plus any services delivered but not yet claimed — so your new provider has a working picture of your budget early, even while a final reconciliation is still running.
What is your old provider required to do?
Your current provider must agree an exit date, keep delivering your services until that date, and complete a set of specific notifications and financial steps within fixed timeframes. They cannot charge you an exit amount.
- Agree an exit date with you.
- Continue your services under your service agreement and care plan until the exit date.
- Notify Services Australia within 28 calendar days of the exit date.
- Finalise claims for services delivered no later than 60 days after the exit date.
- Issue final invoices for any participant contributions.
- Issue a final monthly statement.
- Share your remaining budget with your new provider within 28 days, including services delivered and not yet claimed.
- Provide records such as care notes to the new provider within 28 calendar days of a request.
What is your new provider required to do?
Your new provider accepts your referral, confirms the exit date with your old provider, and sets up your service agreement, care plan and budget with you.
This is the part you should not have to chase. Most of the administrative work sits with the two providers, and a new provider who knows the process will handle the portal referral, the exit-date confirmation and the notifications on your behalf.
- Accept your referral in the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal.
- Confirm the exit date with your outgoing provider.
- Enter into a service agreement with you, starting on or after the exit date.
- Receive your budget information from the outgoing provider within 28 days.
- Create your care plan and individualised budget with you.
- Apply for any supplements you are eligible for.
- Notify Services Australia within 28 calendar days of you signing the service agreement.
Changing Support at Home providers: who does what, and when
Most of the work in a switch sits with the two providers, not with you. The table sets out each step, who is responsible for it, and the timeframe it must happen in.
| Step | Who handles it | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|
| Agree an exit date | You and your current provider | Before you leave — services continue until that date |
| Accept your referral in the My Aged Care portal | Your new provider | Before your new service agreement starts |
| Sign a new service agreement | You and your new provider | Starts on or after the exit date |
| Notify Services Australia of the exit | Your old provider | Within 28 calendar days of the exit date |
| Notify Services Australia of the new agreement | Your new provider | Within 28 calendar days of signing |
| Share your remaining budget | Your old provider | Within 28 days |
| Government-held unspent funds | Services Australia | Available immediately |
| Participant portion of unspent Home Care Package funds | Your old provider | Within 60 calendar days of the exit date |
| Provide care notes and records | Your old provider | Within 28 calendar days of a request |
| Exit fee | Not permitted | A provider cannot charge you for leaving |
How do you choose a new Support at Home provider?
Compare Support at Home providers with My Aged Care's Find a provider tool, then ask each one which suburbs they cover, how soon they can start, who will actually visit, and what they charge. Providers must publish their prices, and your service agreement sets out what you will pay before services start.
Our guide on how to choose a home care provider lists the questions worth asking before you sign with anyone.
Will there be a gap in your services?
There should not be. Your current provider must keep delivering your services until the exit date, and your new provider's agreement starts on or after that date.
The rules are built around that structure: one provider's obligation ends where the other's begins. Because the exit date is agreed rather than imposed, if a particular date creates a practical problem for your care it is worth raising before it is locked in — the guidance is that it should not disadvantage you unnecessarily.
Assistive technology and home modifications need their own handover. If you have items or works in progress, both providers are expected to contact each other early, keep sourcing continuing smoothly, and transfer any outstanding claims to your new provider, if you agree.
What if you are moving house, or your provider cannot meet your needs?
Both are recognised reasons to change. If you are moving somewhere your current provider does not cover, you choose a provider who does, and My Aged Care can help with the transfer of your referral code.
The two situations the Department of Health names directly are needing services your current provider does not offer, and moving to a different location. Neither needs any justification beyond those practical facts.
If you are moving, it is worth starting the provider search before the move date, so your exit date and your new start date can line up with the change of address.
Where can you get free help if a transfer stalls?
My Aged Care can assist on 1800 200 422, and the Older Persons Advocacy Network provides free, independent advocates on 1800 700 600.
An advocate can attend meetings with you, help you understand your agreement and what each provider is required to do, and speak on your behalf — at no cost to you.
If a provider is not meeting its obligations — for example by refusing to agree an exit date, or continuing to charge you after one — the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is the body that takes those concerns.
How Highfield Care handles a switch
If you are moving to Highfield Care, we handle the provider side of the transfer — the portal referral, confirming the exit date with your current provider, and the notifications — and set your start date on or after your exit date so your care continues without a break.
We are an independent, locally run provider working across Noosa and the Sunshine Coast, and we accept both Support at Home clients and people on a Home Care Package who are transferring across.
You will keep the same, personally matched carer wherever possible. If you would like to talk through what a transfer would involve for your situation, call us on 07 5228 3612 or send an enquiry — and if you are still weighing up providers, our guide to choosing one walks through the questions worth asking first.