Support at Home Onboarding: Referral to First Service

Support at Home onboarding takes a new participant from referral to first service visit, and the Aged Care Rules 2025 set its central deadline: the service agreement and the care and services plan must both exist on or before the participant's start day, the day you first deliver a funded service. Below is a new participant checklist in working order, with a suggested owner and record for each step, marked as requirement or good practice, as at 13 October 2026.

It covers onboarding new Support at Home participants on ongoing home support, not staff induction. Owners are suggestions, good practice marks a recommendation rather than a rule, and legal interpretation should be confirmed with your legal adviser.

Key Takeaways

Under the Rules the deadline is fixed but the sequence is not: the service agreement and the care plan are both due on or before the start day, and the Act makes both conditions of registration.
A place only takes effect if the start day falls within 56 days of allocation, or 84 days with an extension (Rules s 92A-5).
Before, or when, delivery starts you must give and explain the Statement of Rights, Code of Conduct, complaints information and privacy position (ss 155-15, 155-55, 155-60).
The Rules set no response time for a referral and no early-review date for a new plan, so those standards are good practice.

Steps 1 to 3: how do you take the referral, confirm approval and make first contact?

Step 1: Check you can deliver what was approved

The participant gives you their referral code, which opens their client record and support plan. Under the Commission's single provider model, one provider registered in Category 4 with Care management coordinates every service, so compare each approved service with your registration and associated providers, and answer fast: the participant's clock is running.

Owner: intake coordinator; a service manager decides.
Record: referral log with dates, approved against deliverable services, decision and reason.
Basis: registration is required; response speed is good practice, which you can hold in a referral management policy.

Step 2: Confirm the approval and the funding window

The program manual says the support plan summarises assessed needs, goals, classification, priority category and approved services. Funding is allocated per service, so one service can start first. Note the funding letter date, because My Aged Care counts the 56 days from it.

Owner: care partner.
Record: approval check note with dates, services, window end and a copy of the access approval.
Basis: the window and the approval copy (s 148-70(2)(c)) are requirements; the note is good practice.

Step 3: Make first contact and record consent

Establish who can sign: the participant or an active appointed decision maker, but not a registered supporter alone (see registered supporters and consent). Before, or when, delivery commences, give and explain the Statement of Rights, complaints information, the s 168 privacy protections and the Code of Conduct, plus, for home settings, an explanation of means testing, the grounds on which you may cease services, the care plan rule, monthly statements and the Service List.

Owner: care partner.
Record: first-contact note: attendees, authority sighted, supports used, items handed over with dates.
Basis: Rules requirements (ss 155-15, 155-55, 155-60); the note is good practice.

Steps 4 to 6: how do you build the plan, budget and agreement?

Step 4: Develop the care plan with the participant

Build the plan by actively engaging the participant, supporters and others involved. It must describe needs, goals and preferences, include risk and preventative care strategies, list each service's frequency and volume or duration, and state a review date. Per the Commission's Standard 3 guidance, a home provider is expected to run its own assessment, so copying the support plan is not enough.

Owner: care partner.
Record: plan version one with worker and timing preferences, and proof a copy was issued.
Basis: Rules ss 148-80 and 148-85 and the department's care plan guidance; you can anchor the process in a care plan policy template.

Step 5: Explain the individualised budget and contributions

Prepare the budget with the care plan; section 155-50 requires it in writing, prepared in partnership for an agreed period and itemised by service, showing the maximum possible contribution rate if no determination is in effect yet. Personal care carries no contribution from 1 October 2026, per My Aged Care, so check older templates (see participant contributions).

Owner: care partner; billing checks prices.
Record: budget version one showing period, contribution status and issue date.
Basis: Rules s 155-50 and the department's individualised budgets page; revisions on request fall due within 14 days.

Step 6: Agree the service agreement on or before the start day

The participant must help develop and negotiate the agreement, in plain language, with a supporter, family member or advocate present if asked (s 148-65(2)). It must include the access approval and a cooling-off right: withdrawal within 14 days of entry and before the start day cancels it, with refunds. A participant unable to sign for physical or medical reasons may agree verbally if you record it, per My Aged Care. Contents are set out in our service agreements post.

Owner: care partner drafts; the participant or decision maker signs.
Record: executed agreement, version, copy-issued proof, and a file note for any verbal agreement.
Basis: Act s 148(c) and Rules ss 148-65 and 148-70.

Steps 7 to 9: what must be ready before the first visit, and what follows it?

Step 7: Assess the home and allocate a cleared worker

Outcome 4.1a requires you to help participants mitigate environmental risks relevant to the services (Rules s 15-25). The Rules set no deadline, so assessing before the first visit is good practice (see home environment risk assessment). Section 152-20 requires each aged care worker to be cleared, with a narrow supervised exception while a check is pending (see worker screening requirements).

Owner: trained assessor or care partner; a manager accepts residual risk; the scheduler allocates.
Record: assessment with controls, roster note naming a cleared worker, screening register entry.
Basis: Outcome 4.1a and s 152-20 are requirements; timing is good practice.

Step 8: Run the first service visit

Service commencement happens on the start day, when you start delivering funded services, so make first delivery a gate: signed agreement, issued plan, information items, risk assessment and cleared worker. Agree in advance which visit counts as the start day, then notify Services Australia within 28 days of that day.

Owner: scheduler releases the booking; admin lodges the notification.
Record: visit note, start day entry, notification confirmation.
Basis: notification is a Rules requirement (s 149-15); the gate is good practice.

Step 9: Hold an early review

The plan must state its review date, and ongoing plans and agreements need review at least every 12 months. The Rules set no early-review date; the first firm touchpoint is the monthly direct care management activity (see care partner obligations). Naming an early review point is good practice.

Owner: care partner.
Record: dated care note, and new versions if anything changed.
Basis: reviews are Rules requirements (ss 148-65(6), 148-80(3), 148-85(2)); the early review is good practice.

Where does onboarding most often fail, and what will an assessor look for?

Each gap below is paired with the evidence that answers it. Keep the records for 7 years from the day each is made (ss 154-2 and 154-1300).

Services before paperwork: signature, copy-issued, first delivery and notification dates side by side.
The wrong person's consent: signatory identity and, for a decision maker, the authority sighted.
Information duties unproven: a dated record for each item in ss 155-15, 155-55 and 155-60.
A plan copied from the support plan: the participant's own goals, risks and controls, and workers who can describe it.
Budget or funding-window slips: issue date, allocation date, window end and any extension.
Risk findings that never reach the roster: controls visible on the schedule.

Governa publishes free policy templates for several of these steps. Governa Connect maps a provider's own policies to the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards.

Close every gap before the first visit

Onboarding fails at the joins between teams, not inside any single step. Write the nine steps into one intake procedure with a named owner and a dated record for each, and hold the first booking until the gate documents exist. Next, line up the allocation, agreement, plan, budget, risk assessment and first visit dates for your latest new participant on one page to see which gap appears first.

Related Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a new participant have to start Support at Home services?

The Rules give 56 days from allocation, or 84 days with an extension (s 92A-5); otherwise the place is taken to be withdrawn (Act s 92A). My Aged Care counts from the funding letter date.

Can we start services before the service agreement is signed?

Not usually. The agreement must exist on or before the start day, and the department says delivering without one breaches your registration. The 28-day exception covers only specific circumstances, such as urgent entry (Act s 71(4)).

What is the difference between a care plan and a service agreement?

The program manual describes the agreement as covering prices, terms and both parties' rights, and the care plan as a person-centred record of needs, goals and preferences. Each is a separate document with its own Rules section.

When do we tell Services Australia that a participant has started?

Within 28 days after the start day (s 149-15), through the Aged Care Provider Portal. Assistive technology and home modification starts are notified separately.

Support at Home Onboarding: From Referral to First Service Without Gaps