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.

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

Assistive Technology (AT) and Home Modifications (HM) Claims

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

1. Commonwealth Unspent (CU) funds
2. Home Modifications (HM) funding
3. The requested funding source (AT or HM)

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

Ongoing, Restorative Care (RC) and End-of-Life (EOL) Claims

When a claim is submitted against Ongoing funding or other short-term funding types such as Restorative Care (RC) or End-of-Life (EOL), Services Australia applies a different funding priority:

1. The requested funding source (Ongoing, RC or EOL)
2. Commonwealth Unspent (CU) funds
3. Home Modifications (HM) funding

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

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.