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Commonwealth Unspent Funds and Budget Priority Rules

When a provider submits a claim, Services Australia validates the claim and determines which participant funding account should be used based on the program rules. This includes the management of Commonwealth unspent funds for participants who transitioned from the Home Care Packages (HCP) Program.

As a result:

  • Users cannot define or select the use of Commonwealth unspent funds.
  • Services Australia manages Commonwealth unspent funds according to the Support at Home budget priority rules.

Budget Priority Rules

The funding source used for a claim depends on the type of service being claimed. 

Each Support at Home funding source has a predefined budget claiming sequence.

When a claim is submitted, Services Australia checks the available funding in the order shown as follows.  If the first budget has insufficient funds, Services Australia automatically moves to the next available budget according to the priority sequence.

1. Assistive Technology – Specified Needs (AS) Claims

When a claim is submitted for Assistive Technology – Specified Needs (AS), Services Australia applies the following budget priority:

  1. Commonwealth Unspent (CU) funds
  2. Home Care Account (HC)
  3. Assistive Technology – Specified Needs (AS)

This ensures any available Commonwealth unspent funds are used before dedicated AS funding is accessed.

2.  Assistive Technology (AT) Claims

When a claim is submitted for Assistive Technology (AT), Services Australia applies the following budget priority:

  1. Commonwealth Unspent (CU) funds
  2. Home Care Account (HC)
  3. Assistive Technology (AT)

This ensures any available Commonwealth unspent funds are used before dedicated AT funding is accessed.

3. Home Modifications (HM) Claims

When a claim is submitted for Home Modifications (HM), Services Australia applies the following budget priority:

  1. Commonwealth Unspent (CU) funds
  2. Home Care Account (HC)
  3. Home Modifications (HM)

This ensures any available Commonwealth unspent funds are used before dedicated HM funding is accessed.

4.  Restorative Care Pathway (RC) Claims

When a claim is submitted for short-term funding types such as Restorative Care (RC), Services Australia applies a different funding priority:

  1. Restorative Care (RC)
  2. Commonwealth Unspent (CU) funds
  3. Home Care Account (HC)

In this scenario, the participant's approved funding is used first before any available Commonwealth unspent funds.

5. End-of-Life (EL) Claims

When a claim is submitted for short-term funding like End-of-Life (EL), Services Australia applies the following funding priority:

  1. End of Life Pathway (EL)
  2. Commonwealth Unspent (CU) funds
  3. Home Care Account (HC)

In this scenario, the participant's approved funding is used first before any available Commonwealth unspent funds.

6. Home Support Ongoing (ON) Claims

When a claim is submitted against Ongoing funding , Services Australia applies the following funding priority:

  1. Home Support Ongoing (ON) 
  2. Commonwealth Unspent (CU) funds
  3. Home Care Account (HC)

In this scenario, the participant's approved funding is used first before any available Commonwealth unspent funds.

7. Care Management (CM)

Care Management has a dedicated funding account.

  1. Care Management(CM)

In this scenario, no fallback budgets are defined for this funding type.

Why Users Cannot Override the Funding Order

The order in which funding is consumed is not configurable by providers or quickclaim users. It is part of the Support at Home payment rules administered by Services Australia.

Quickclaim can identify the funding source selected by the user and submit the claim accordingly, but the final determination of which participant funding account is used is made by Services Australia during claim validation and payment processing.