A restorative care pathway episode is the most densely documented short piece of work in Support at Home. You have up to 16 weeks, a unit of funding the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing puts at around $6,000, a participant who must actively take part, and a goal plan that must prove the outcome you claimed. There are no leave provisions, so week one scoping decides whether the file reads as a funded clinical episode or as ordinary home support billed against short-term money.
Key Takeaways
- Around $6,000 per episode for up to 16 weeks, separate from ongoing Support at Home funding, with a second unit available to eligible participants taking an episode to around $12,000.
- Two non-consecutive episodes are possible with at least three months between them. The Aged Care Rules 2025 cap the maximum period of effect at 112 days.
- The goal plan replaces the care plan, and a restorative care partner holding relevant health qualifications must develop it with the participant and the multidisciplinary team.
- Exclusions are hard: the End-of-Life Pathway, two units of funding in the last 12 months, receiving or being eligible for transition care, and permanent residential aged care.
- Restorative care management is claimed against the pathway funding account, not through the 10 per cent quarterly deduction used on ongoing services.
What the Pathway Funds, and What It Does Not
The Department's guidance on the Restorative Care Pathway describes intensive allied health and nursing services aimed at maintaining or regaining function and preventing further decline. The Aged Care Rules 2025 are harder: services for this classification level must comprise a multidisciplinary package of early intervention care designed to optimise functioning and independence and slow or reverse functional decline, to help delay the person's need for ongoing funded aged care services.
The Rules also fix the minimum composition. An episode must include home support restorative care management plus other services in line with the participant's access approval, which may include allied health and therapy and nursing care. A roster of domestic assistance with an exercise sheet attached does not meet that description. Scope the episode around the allied health disciplines involved and the nursing input, then add supporting services only where they serve a documented goal. Assistive technology and home modifications (AT-HM) funding may also be approved, excluding high tier home modifications.
Scoping a 16 Week Episode You Can Actually Deliver
Sixteen weeks means 16 consecutive weeks. The Department is explicit that there are no options to temporarily stop services on this pathway, regardless of personal circumstances, and the Rules cap the maximum period of effect at 112 days. A hospital admission in week six does not pause the clock.
The take-up date decides whether you have an episode at all
Services must start before the take-up date, 56 days from the approval date. A participant can request a further 28 days from My Aged Care, giving 84 days. If services do not start in time the funding is withdrawn and the person needs a reassessment. Check the date in the Aged Care Provider Portal or calculate it from the Notice of Decision, and treat it as a dated task with a named owner.
When a second unit of funding is defensible
An additional unit is requested through a Support Plan Review and decided on written evidence: confirmation from a medical practitioner, registered nurse, allied health practitioner or the restorative care partner that extra funding is needed to achieve the goal plan outcomes, supported by the goal plan, clinical assessment outcomes and the individualised budget. Where the participant already receives ongoing services, you must also show that adjusting those services would not achieve the outcome. A participant who uses a second unit inside one episode waits 12 months before another.
The Goal Plan Is the Artefact the Audit Turns On
The goal plan replaces the care plan and still includes the same elements. Under the Rules the provider must ensure the restorative care partner develops the care and services plan, must consider exit planning as part of it, and must ensure the plan complements any ongoing services the participant is accessing. That partner must hold relevant health qualifications, which makes this a clinical delegation, not an administrative one.
Content requirements come from two directions. The Rules require the plan to set out services with their frequency and their volume or duration, and when it will be reviewed. Outcome 3.1 of the strengthened Quality Standards on assessment and planning requires plans that are individualised, current, reflect assessment outcomes, record risks and management strategies, are accessible to the person, and are used by workers.
That leaves one gap worth closing. Neither the Rules nor the Department name a baseline measure as a standalone obligation, but you cannot evidence that function was regained without recording what it was on day one. Write the measured starting position beside each goal in the units the discipline uses, and keep that measure for the review and the exit. Where goal plan documentation varies between clinicians, a rehabilitation and restorative care policy template standardises it, and it pairs with the way goals of care are defined across your clinical governance framework. You must also give the participant a copy of their goal plan and exit plan.
Who You Cannot Take Onto the Pathway
A person cannot access the pathway if they are receiving or eligible for the End-of-Life Pathway, have received two units of funding in the last 12 months, are receiving or are eligible to receive transition care, or are receiving permanent residential aged care. Eligibility rather than receipt disqualifies on transition care, so be clear internally on where transition care fits relative to this pathway. The approval sits with the assessor, but the check is yours to document before the start notification.
Transitioned STRC Clients and the Six Month Approval Window
Short-Term Restorative Care closed as a program when Support at Home commenced on 1 November 2025 and is not open to new entrants. Participants mid-episode continue with their provider, with services aligned to the Support at Home service list and the AT-HM list.
The group needing active management is the one with an approval but no episode. Older people who held an active STRC approval and had not started an episode before 1 November 2025 can use it to access the restorative care pathway, but it stays valid only for six months from the original STRC approval date. After that they need a reassessment. The Department's guide for STRC providers transitioning to the pathway confirms this cohort was approved for medium AT-HM tiers of $2,000 each, and that the goal plan replaces the old flexible care agreement while a service agreement and budget are still required.
The Money Trail an Auditor Will Follow
Restorative care management is claimed against the participant's restorative care pathway funding account, and the Department states there is no cap on what can be claimed for it. The amount must be agreed with the participant, proportionate and in their best interests, against an agreed individualised budget. That differs from ongoing services, where the Department deducts 10 per cent of the quarterly budget to fund care management. Do not let a template built for ongoing care management carry that language into a goal plan.
Two other 10 per cent figures sit nearby and are routinely conflated. The AT-HM administration charge is capped at the lower of 10 per cent of the item or bundle cost, or $500. The third-party worker overhead of up to 10 per cent applies where a self-managing participant sources their own worker, and must sit inside the final service price rather than appear as a standalone fee.
Clinical supports such as nursing and allied health are fully funded and you cannot ask a participant to contribute to them. Independence and everyday living services attract contributions based on an income and assets assessment, so a contribution appearing against a physiotherapy line is a visible error.
Evidencing the Clinical Outcome at Exit
Exit planning starts at the beginning of the episode, not in week fifteen. The exit plan should set out episode start and end dates, the goals and whether they were achieved, services received, any AT-HM items provided, the team's recommendations and the participant's functional requirements. Where ongoing services or a higher level of support is needed, document it and request a Support Plan Review. An honest unmet goal, with the measure and the reason, is stronger evidence of a well-run episode than a file where every goal was met and nothing was measured.
Your Goal Plan Carries the Whole Episode
Everything that makes a restorative episode defensible is in the goal plan or traceable to it: the clinical rationale, the service pattern, the review points, the second-unit evidence and the outcome at exit. Build it in week one with the participant and the team, and the 16 weeks document themselves.
Related Resources
- Rehabilitation and Restorative Care Policy
- Falls Prevention and Management Policy Template
- Assistive Technology and Equipment Management Policy Template
- Record Keeping Policy Template
- AT-HM Scheme Compliance for Support at Home Providers
- Governa Policy Mapping to Standards
- Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a participant receive restorative care and ongoing Support at Home services at the same time?
Yes. Pathway funding is separate from ongoing funding, and the Rules require the restorative plan to complement any ongoing services. Departmental participant material notes only one provider can deliver a person's Support at Home services, so someone whose provider does not offer the pathway would need to change providers for both.
Does the goal plan replace the service agreement as well as the care plan?
No. It replaces the care plan only. A service agreement and an individualised budget are still required, and the Rules set separate service agreement requirements including a 14 day cooling-off provision.
Who can act as a restorative care partner?
The Rules require an aged care worker of the provider who holds relevant health qualifications. The Department adds that they need skills and knowledge for clinical coordination and oversight across short intensive periods of care, plus the ability to support complex goal planning.
Can a provider still take on new Short-Term Restorative Care clients?
No. STRC ended as a program when Support at Home commenced. The only live STRC artefact is an unused approval, usable for six months from the original approval date before a reassessment is needed.
