Take a three-physio practice in Melbourne's north. Its NDIS caseload is solid but lumpy, private clients drop off over winter, and the principal keeps hearing that aged care demand is growing — yet the thought of becoming a registered aged care provider, with all the audit obligations that carries, has kept the idea in the too-hard basket for a year. Then a self-managing Support at Home client asks whether the practice can do her home visits.
This example is illustrative, created to show how the local partner model works in practice.
If that sounds familiar, the opportunity is more accessible than you might think. Since Support at Home replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025, allied health sits squarely in the funded service list — and you don't need to become a registered provider to deliver it.
Clinical supports are fully funded — which makes referrals easy
The Support at Home service list has three categories: clinical supports, independence supports and everyday living supports. Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry and other allied health sit in the clinical category — and clinical supports are fully government funded, with no client contribution.
That matters commercially. When a client pays nothing out of pocket for a session, the friction on referrals all but disappears. There's no awkward conversation about gap fees, no client rationing sessions to protect their wallet. If the service is in the care plan, it happens.
A steady caseload alongside NDIS and private work
Australia's ageing population and government policy both favour care delivered at home, so demand for in-home allied health is structural, not cyclical. For a practice, Support at Home clients behave differently from one-off private referrals: they tend to need ongoing programs — falls prevention, mobility maintenance, post-hospital reablement — reviewed and continued quarter after quarter, in line with the scheme's quarterly budgets.
That makes aged care a genuine third leg for the practice: NDIS, private and Support at Home, each smoothing the peaks and troughs of the others.
Registering yourself vs working through a registered provider
Under the new Aged Care Act and strengthened Quality Standards (both commenced 1 November 2025), providers must be registered with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in the relevant registration categories — and registered providers carry the compliance and audit obligations.
For most practices, that's a heavy lift for what starts as a handful of clients. The alternative is the local partner model: you deliver services to Support at Home participants by working through a registered provider that carries the provider obligations. Partner with Care is that registered backbone — we handle the claiming, compliance and government-facing work, while you keep your brand, your client relationships and your pricing power. There's no registration queue and no audit risk sitting on your practice. You can read how the arrangement works at become a partner.
Why self-management works in your favour: Support at Home clients who self-manage choose their own workers and suppliers. That means a practice with a strong local reputation gets chosen directly — by name — rather than waiting on a provider's internal rostering team to send work your way.
Mobile and home-visit models fit naturally
Support at Home is, by definition, care delivered where the client lives. Practices that already run mobile services can plug aged care clients straight into existing rounds; clinic-based practices often start with one clinician doing a home-visit day per week and grow from there. Either way, the clinical work is yours — assessment, treatment, notes, outcomes — while the funding administration runs through the partnership.
New partners are typically live in around two weeks once documents are complete, and established providers can activate clients in hours. If you're weighing it up, our why us page sets out what we carry so you don't have to.