Four appointments in three weeks, plus the Thursday shop and a grandson's footy presentation he wasn't going to miss. Ross counted them on the back of an envelope. At 79 he'd stopped driving after his eyes let him down, and the taxis were adding up fast. The bus doesn't run near the specialist's rooms, and asking his neighbour for the fourth lift in a fortnight felt like too much. He wondered whether his Support at Home budget was supposed to help with exactly this.
Ross's story is an illustrative scenario, created to show how Support at Home works in practice. It is not a real client testimonial.
It is. Under Support at Home, which replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025, transport is a recognised service on the government list, and staying mobile is exactly what it's there to protect.
Transport is an independence support
The service list has three categories: clinical supports, independence supports and everyday living supports. Transport is an independence support, sitting alongside personal care and social support. The name is the point. It's there to help you keep doing the things that keep you independent: getting to the specialist, doing your own shopping, showing up to the outings that make a week feel like a life rather than a waiting room.
Contributions can apply here
This is where transport differs from clinical care. Clinical supports like nursing and physiotherapy are fully funded with no contribution. Independence supports, transport included, can involve a participant contribution. How much depends on your means, for example whether you receive the Age Pension and your broader circumstances. A full pensioner and a self-funded retiree can pay different rates for the same trip. Your exact figure comes from Services Australia's means assessment, so no article can quote your number. For yours, check with My Aged Care on 1800 200 422, then ask your provider to show you what it means per trip before you book.
What transport actually covers
For Ross, the useful part is how broad "transport" is. It's not only medical appointments, though those are the obvious ones. Funded transport can also cover getting to the shops so he keeps choosing his own groceries, and getting to social outings and community activities so he stays connected. That last one matters more than it looks: isolation is a genuine health risk, which is why social access sits in the same independence category. The footy presentation is closer to the point of the funding than it might first seem.
Before you book: transport being on the list doesn't make it automatic. It has to be in your care plan, and you'll want to know your contribution. Ask your provider two things: "is transport in my plan, and what's my contribution per trip?" With Partner with Care, routine questions get an instant answer and complex ones get a same-day answer from a real person, before you commit.
Your care plan sets the shape of it
The list says transport can be funded. Your care plan, built from your aged care assessment through My Aged Care (1800 200 422), says how it works for you: how it's arranged, and how it fits with the rest of your supports. If Ross's needs grow, more appointments, less confidence on foot, he asks for a review rather than quietly going without. Worth checking too: some people are eligible for separate community or state transport schemes, so ask your provider before booking so your budget isn't paying for something another program would.
Self-managing keeps the choices yours
As a registered Support at Home provider, Partner with Care handles the claiming and compliance in the background. Because you self-manage, you have a say in how your transport is arranged and who provides it, and your budget is live on screen, so you see the funding and any contribution before each trip rather than after. Ross stopped rationing his outings against the taxi meter. He got to his appointments, did his own shop, and made the footy presentation, with the costs visible the whole way.