Restorative Care Pathway

The Restorative Care Pathway is an Australian government-funded program that delivers a short, goal-focused program of care designed to help people to regain their independence, strength and mobility so that they can continue to live safely at home for longer.

The program provides up to $6000 over a 16 week period to deliver focused, intensive support.

The Restorative Care Pathway provides short‑term, goal‑focused support to help you regain or maintain your independence, strength and mobility after a fall, illness or health change.

You’ll work with a restorative care partner to set personal goals and receive the right mix of supports—such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy or nursing—to help you recover, rebuild confidence and manage daily activities safely.

By actively working towards your goals, restorative care services can help delay the need for higher levels of ongoing support and support you to keep living independently at home for longer.

When your Restorative Care Pathway funding is approved, you will be able to access the approved services that are detailed in your My Aged Care assessment or in your support plan.

Restorative Care Pathway services are aligned with the Support at Home service list, and organised into 3 categories:

• Clinical support including nursing, allied health, nutrition care
• Independence support including social support, personal care, transport and respite care
• Everyday living support including cleaning, laundry, garden and home maintenance, meal preparation

Depending on your circumstances you may also be approved for assistive technology and home modifications, which includes things like mobility aids, and small modifications in your home to support you to live independently at home.

Your restorative care partner will work with you to create your care plan and help you to decide what services to use to achieve your goals, to make the most of your funding.

From 1 November 2025, the Australian Government replaced the Short‑Term Restorative Care (STRC) program with the Restorative Care Pathway under the new Support at Home program.

The new Restorative Care Pathway builds on STRC, with added flexibility and support to help you regain strength, confidence and independence at home.

What’s new:

• Support has increased from up to 8 weeks to up to 16 weeks
• You can access up to two restorative care episodes in a 12‑month period
• Each episode includes up to $6,000 in funding, with the option to apply for additional funding if needed
• You may also access separate funding for assistive technology or minor home modifications
• Small contributions may apply for some services, depending on your circumstances

Yes, you can receive Restorative Care while continuing to get support through Support at Home or the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP). However, your services must all be delivered by the same Support at Home provider. This means you can’t use one provider for your ongoing services and a different provider for Restorative Care.

If your current provider doesn’t offer Restorative Care, you’ll need to change providers for both your Restorative Care and your ongoing home care services. You can also apply for Restorative Care Pathway funding if you’re not currently receiving any other government-funded home care or ongoing support. When your Restorative Care funding is assigned you will have 56 days to choose a provider, so if you are new to home care services or need to find a new provider it’s worth doing some research while you’re waiting for your funding to be assigned.

As an integrated healthcare organisation, Australian Unity provides a complete range of Support at Home, CHSP, and Restorative Care Pathway services. This allows us to deliver coordinated care that’s tailored to your individual needs.

We can answer any questions you have and guide you through the process to apply for an organise care. Just give us a call on 1300 160 170 or contact us online and we’ll call you back.

You won’t be eligible if you:

• are eligible for, or have recently received End‑of‑Life Pathway funding or palliative care
• have already received two episodes of Restorative Care funding in the past 12 months, or have accessed Restorative Care within the last 90 days
• are staying in hospital (or a similar setting) and are receiving, or eligible to receive, care through the Transition Care Programme
• live permanently in residential aged care.