Support at Home should not come at cost of CHSP
Meals on Wheels NSW is calling for the government to commit itself to retaining and growing CHSP while maintaining Support at Home.
Four decades since the Hawke government introduced the Home and Community Care program – the precursor to the Commonwealth Home Support Program – recently appointed Meals on Wheels NSW chief executive officer Claudia Odello is concerned it is being ignored in the aged care reforms.
MoW NSW supports the investment of additional home care packages wholeheartedly, she said, but emphasised that most people receiving help to live independently at home are accessing it via CHSP, including 834,981 people through 1,264 providers in 2023-24.
The announcement of a further 20,000 packages under the existing Home Care Packages program therefore does nothing to address the CHSP waitlist, the inadequate funding or population growth pressures, Ms Odello said. MoW NSW is instead calling on the government to commit to expanding CHSP alongside the incoming Support at Home program, which replaces the HCP program from 1 November.
“Put simply, when CHSP services reach over 800,000 Australians annually, even 83,000 packages pale into insignificance,” she said.
“We believe the smartest path forward is to retain and grow CHSP while maintaining Support at Home as an option,” Ms Odello said. “That way, government delivers real choice, stronger communities, and a system that is proven to work.”
Ms Odello said that MoW NSW has consistently raised concerns about the upcoming Support at Home reforms, including the risk of dismantling CHSP in favour of a “fragmented, fee-for-service model.”
“The idea that abolishing CHSP will somehow improve integration is, quite frankly, nonsense,” she said. “Removing CHSP would undermine trusted community organisations and volunteers who are the lifeblood of aged care at home.”
Speaking at the recent National CHSP Conference 2025, Paul Sadler also called for elements of CHSP to be preserved, encouraging delegates to write to their local MPs and advocate for the establishment of a CHSP alliance.
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