Support at Home

Our prices

These are the prices we charged people for Support at Home services in July and August 2026. We publish them every two months so you can see what we charge before you agree to anything.

Provider

Local Guardians Pty Ltd

Provider ID

5125

Period covered

1 July to 31 August 2026

Next update

By 30 October 2026

How we price

One simple price

  1. You choose the worker or business that delivers your service. We pay them their rate.
  2. We add 10 per cent to that rate. That covers arranging the service, checking the worker’s insurance and clearances, paying the invoice and keeping your records straight.
  3. The total is the one price you pay. There are no separate booking fees, exit fees or administration fees on top.

 

Because you choose the worker, the price follows their rate. That is why we show a range as well as the most common price. Care management is funded separately by the government and is not charged on top of your service prices.

Service type 1 of 12

Allied health and therapy

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Allied health assistance

$126.50

$126.00 to $165.00

Podiatry

Prices for this service vary widely. The range is the better guide.

$214.50

per hour

$104.00 to $198.00

Social work

Only a small number of these services were delivered in this period.

$132.00

per hour

$132.00 to $132.00

Speech pathology

$95.45

per hour

$95.00 to $130.00

Diet or nutrition

Prices for this service vary widely. The range is the better guide.

$196.90

per hour

$45.00 to $196.00

Physiotherapy

$207.00

per hour

$132.00 to $207.00

Psychology

Only a small number of these services were delivered in this period.

$278.30

per hour

$278.00 to $286.00

Exercise physiology

$174.30

per hour

$63.00 to $175.00

Occupational therapy

$220.00

per hour

$195.00 to $242.00

Counselling or psychotherapy

Only a small number of these services were delivered in this period.

$132.00

per hour

$74.00 to $113.00

Nutrition supports

Only a small number of these services were delivered in this period.

$49.50

per hour

$23.00 to $117.00

Service type 2 of 12

Care management

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Home support care management

$154.00

per hour

$138.00 to $154.00

Service type 3 of 12

Domestic assistance

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

General house cleaning

$66.00

per hour

$65.00 to $83.00

Laundry services

$71.50

per hour

$55.00 to $77.00

Shopping assistance

$66.00

per hour

$65.00 to $94.00

Service type 4 of 12

Home maintenance and repairs

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Gardening

$66.00

per hour

$66.00 to $110.00

Assistance with home maintenance and repairs

$92.40

per hour

$68.00 to $97.00

Service type 5 of 12

Home or community general respite

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Flexible respite

$110.00

per hour

$79.00 to $187.00

Community and centre based respite

$71.50

per hour

$71.00 to $408.00

Service type 6 of 12

Meals

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Meal delivery

Covers both meals supplied and help preparing meals. Ask us for a quote.

$75.45

per delivery

Varies

Meal preparation

$55.00

per hour

$55.00 to $83.00

Service type 7 of 12

Nursing care

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Registered nurse clinical care

$181.50

per hour

$110.00 to $184.00

Enrolled nurse clinical care

$127.00

per hour

$127.00 to $130.00

Nursing assistant clinical care

$186.10

per hour

$186.00 to $187.00

Service type 8 of 12

Personal care

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Assistance with self-care and activities of daily living

$71.50

per hour

$66.00 to $93.00

Assistance with the self-administration of medication

$81.90

per hour

$80.00 to $101.00

Continence management (non-clinical)

Charged per item, not per hour. Ask us for a quote.

$1.10

per hour

Varies

Service type 9 of 12

Restorative care management

Not delivered this period

We did not deliver this service in July or August 2026, so there is no price to publish. Contact us if you need it.

Service type 10 of 12

Social support and community engagement

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Group social support

$44.00

per hour

$44.00 to $80.00

Individual social support

$71.25

per hour

$70.00 to $96.00

Accompanied activities

$66.00

per hour

$66.00 to $86.00

Cultural support

$67.25

per hour

$67.00 to $68.00

Digital education and support

$61.60

per hour

$61.00 to $73.00

Assistance to maintain personal affairs

$80.95

per hour

$71.00 to $81.00

Service type 11 of 12

Therapeutic service for independent living

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Acupuncture

$88.00

per hour

$88.00 to $138.00

Chiropractics

$72.40

per hour

$72.00 to $107.00

Remedial massage

$165.00

per hour

$129.00 to $165.00

Osteopathy

$112.20

per hour

$112.00 to $127.00

Service type 12 of 12

Transport

Service

Most common price

Most charges fall between

Direct transport

Charged per kilometre travelled. Some trips are charged as a flat fare.

$1.10

per kilometre

$1.00 to $72.00

How to read this page

Most common price is the price we charged most often during standard business hours over the two months. This is the figure the Aged Care Rules 2025 require us to publish, under section 166-1005.

Most charges fall between shows the middle half of what people actually paid. Half of all charges sat inside that range, a quarter sat below it and a quarter above.

Prices include GST where GST applies. Work outside standard business hours, on weekends and on public holidays is charged at the worker’s own higher rate plus our 10 per cent, so it is not included in the figures above.

These are prices, not quotes. Before you agree to a service we will tell you the exact price for your worker in writing, and it will be in your service agreement.

Published 17 September 2026. Covers 1 July to 31 August 2026.

All registered Support at Home providers have the same fee structure:
– Care Management is capped at 10% of the funding set by the government.
– All other administration costs are included in the unit prices of services.
This means the only pricing difference between providers is the unit cost of each service, like nursing or personal support, where most funding is spent.
Local Guardians is different because we’re an independent provider. We don’t employ carers or set fixed service prices. Instead, our clients self-manage and choose their own carers at the best market rate, with a flat 10% administration fee added to the service cost.

Fees

Care Management Fee - 10%

Under Support at Home, the government keeps 10% of each participant’s care funding for Care Management. This amount pays the provider’s Care Managers for the time they bill when planning, checking, and adjusting care to meet each person’s needs and follow government rules. If not all of the 10% is billed and it isn’t used to support other participants’ care management, the government keeps what’s left.

The 10% also works a bit like insurance – care management is a mandatory government defined service, and everyone must receive it. Some people will need more support than others, and when that happens, the provider must still deliver the care management required, even if the time spent goes beyond what can be paid for.

Self Management Administration Fee

Because we don’t employ care staff or earn a margin from care services we add a 10% Administration Fee to each service provider invoice. This covers the costs associated with being a Registered Provider – things like quality, compliance, governance, payment processing and support. None of this can be covered by Care Management billing and is what keeps Local Guardians running behind the scenes.

 

Important: You only pay this fee when you receive services. If you’re not using your funding in a particular period, there are no fees charged.

 

The good news? Choosing your own third party service providers means you can still save money. Here’s how:

 

As an example, a traditional ‘full service’ provider (who has their own care workforce) might charge $90/hour for a support worker. With us, you can engage a support worker of your choice for $50/hour + our admin fee ($5), totaling $55/hour. That’s $35 less per hour – resulting in significantly more care hours from the same budget.

Your Wallet Explained

Under the Support at Home program, personal contributions are only applied when services are actually used. This is fairer than the previous system, where a fixed fee was charged regularly regardless of service use.

 

To support timely payment of your service providers, a Wallet is maintained with a minimum balance (generally around two weeks of expected personal contributions), held safely in trust. If the balance falls below this level, it is automatically topped up by direct debit. Any unspent balance always remains your money and is fully refundable if you leave.

 

Because contributions are triggered when invoices are received and claimed (which may be after the service date), amounts can vary from month to month. The Wallet helps smooth these timing differences, reduces unexpected bills, and ensures providers can be paid promptly alongside government funding.

 

Importantly, each time a top-up notification is issued, you retain visibility and decision-making over contribution-attracting expenses, as these are directly linked to the services you choose to use.

 

Read our blog: /understanding-support-at-home-and-personal-contributions/

At Local Guardians, we're here to empower you with caring, responsive, and personalised support — helping you get the most out of your home care funding.

Trusted by Clients

Families value practical help, responsive advisors, and a model that gives them more control.

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Sandra Carmody profile picture
Sandra Carmody
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Our Care Advisor, Debbie, has been very helpful and extremely patient! She also has a good sense of humour and has so far, been a delight to deal with.
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Doreen Collins profile picture
Doreen Collins
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Doreen Buckley Laura has been professional and ever so helpful at all times. She has made rhe transition to Lical Guardians so easy for me. She responds to my queries immediately and is quite frankly the best coordinator I have had and this is my 3rd provider. Thank you Laura. You are amazing Aug 12th 2026 I am happy for Laura but sad for us, her clients, about her upcoming maternity leave. Laura is the best service person I have encountered ever. She is professional, patient, super helpful, responds to all queries immediately and is always understanding when I make errors and so willing to help with everything. She is what every company and group would want in a service employee. Thank you Laura for.all your help guidance and support these last few months. Best of Luck as you embark on maternity leave and may the birth of your new Bub bring lots of joy and happiness
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Heulwen Carroll profile picture
Heulwen Carroll
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We do not have any issues with Local Guardians. We self manage the package. Debbie Ellicott is my current go to person in this organisation.They do seem to have quite a high turnover of staff. Whilst contact with Debbie I can only give her positives and no negatives. Their software could be a lot more user friendly I think.
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Anastasia Vasiliou profile picture
Anastasia Vasiliou
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Debbie Ellicott Is a very capable and experienced care advisor. Her knowledge in Aged care has greatly benefited us to navigate through the complex process. She is very quick to give advice and support and is very accommodating with her time and expert knowledge. She responds to all our calls and emails promptly. We highly recommend her and feel so privileged to have her support us at Local Guardians.
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Eleanor Bell profile picture
Eleanor Bell
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Very happy with their service
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Leslie Heilikmann profile picture
Leslie Heilikmann
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Efficient agency
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Ian Corbett profile picture
Ian Corbett
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Local Guardians have been fantastic to deal with. Extremely helpful and insightful. Karen Denny has been a lifesaver helping me through the difficult task of understanding how Aged Care Hope Packages work and all the legal requirements
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Gary Bevern profile picture
Gary Bevern
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The assistance that Karen Denny has provided me has been excellent. I wish her well in her forthcoming retirement. Gary Bevern.
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Rachel Wagner profile picture
Rachel Wagner
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Laura has been very efficient; respectful and informative.
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Leone profile picture
Leone
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I've only tried one provider so there's nothing with which to compare Local Guardians. However, I have no complaints with my self managed package. Karen gets back to me promptly if I need some bureaucratic thing cleared up and the new changes in November were no problem. I'd recommend this provider.

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