Glenda typed it into her phone: "does Support at Home pay for the podiatrist?" She's 76, has managed type 2 diabetes for years, and her GP has been firm that she shouldn't be cutting her own toenails or ignoring the numb patch on her left heel. She'd been paying privately and wasn't sure her new budget could take over.
Glenda's story is an illustrative scenario, created to show how Support at Home works in practice. It is not a real client testimonial.
Yes. Under Support at Home, which replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025, podiatry is a funded service on the government service list.
Podiatry is a clinical support
The service list has three categories: clinical supports, independence supports and everyday living supports. Podiatry sits in clinical supports, with nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. It's allied health, not a beauty treatment, which is the distinction Glenda's GP was making.
Clinical supports carry no contribution
Clinical supports are fully government funded. There's no participant contribution, whether you're a full pensioner or a self-funded retiree. That's the logic across the system: the more health-critical the service, the less you're asked to chip in.
What foot care covers
Podiatry does real clinical work: checking circulation and sensation, catching diabetic foot problems before they become wounds, safely trimming nails that are thickened or hard to reach, and treating corns, calluses and pressure points that affect how comfortably Glenda walks. Sore feet are a falls risk too. The line sits at the cosmetic end: a purely aesthetic pedicure isn't clinical foot care.
Ask your provider "is podiatry in my plan, and how often does it cover?" With Partner with Care, routine questions get an instant answer and complex ones a same-day answer.
Your care plan decides the how-much
The service list says podiatry can be funded. Your care plan, built from your aged care assessment through My Aged Care (1800 200 422), says whether it's funded for you and how often. Diabetic foot care usually runs to a steady schedule, so get the frequency written in clearly. If Glenda's needs change, she asks for a review rather than stretching the visits she has. Your budget is separate from anything you access under Medicare.
Self-managing means you keep your own podiatrist
As a registered Support at Home provider, Partner with Care handles the claiming and compliance in the background. Because you self-manage, you pick the podiatrist, so if you already have one you trust you can usually keep seeing them, with your budget live on screen before each visit. Glenda kept her podiatrist and stopped paying privately for care her budget was meant to cover.