A monthly care management activity
At least one direct care management activity each month for every participant, of at least 15 minutes, by phone, video, or in person. Documented, not assumed.
Aged Care Act 2024 · Support at Home
Every participant. Every month. Documented.
The Support at Home program requires at least one direct care management activity every month for each active participant — a real conversation of at least 15 minutes, documented, with escalation where a person needs a human. CAREPLANS AI helps providers carry that monthly contact at scale, with an audit-ready record for every participant.
100%
Of participants, every month
15 min
Minimum direct activity
Audit-ready
Documented & timestamped
The monthly activity, in practice
Each participant- Confirm identity and consent to proceed
- Check wellbeing, safety, and changes in condition
- Review service concerns, unmet needs, and barriers
- Surface loneliness, grief, distress, or carer strain
- Document the contact, attempt, refusal, or supporter contact
- Escalate red-flag concerns through the agreed pathway
Aged Care Act 2024 aligned
Audit-ready documentation
Consented, recorded check-ins
Human-reviewed escalation
Australian data hosting
What the Act now requires of providers
The rights-based footing of the Aged Care Act 2024 is matched by a higher operational bar, and much of it lands on the provider, every month, for every participant.
Evidence, participant by participant
Each month must close with every participant marked completed, attempted, refused, unreachable, supporter-contacted, or escalated. The record is the proof.
Accountability is real
Exposure runs through provider obligations, reportable-incident failures, and serious duty failures, with civil penalties scaling into the millions for the most serious breaches.
The capacity problem
A structural capacity problem
Reaching every participant each month, and documenting it, is not a question of goodwill for an already stretched workforce. The arithmetic is unforgiving.
100%
Monthly coverage expected
15 min
Minimum per activity
24 hrs
Priority 1 incident clock
4 Aug
Next quarterly report (2026)
Monthly contact, carried by Mary
CAREPLANS AI uses Mary, an empathic aged care voice powered by Kate, to hold warm monthly check-ins, turn each into a consented, documented, auditable care management record, and escalate to a nurse or chaplain the moment a person needs one — relieving the workforce of the volume while keeping a human accountable for the judgement.
Warm monthly check-ins at scale
Natural voice calls that genuinely engage the participant or their registered supporter, every month, without burning out the workforce.
Audit-ready documentation
Every contact, attempt, refusal, and escalation recorded and timestamped, so each month closes with defensible evidence per participant.
Consented, human-reviewed escalation
Distress, risk, and unmet need are surfaced for trained staff. Care decisions and incident classification stay with people, not the AI.
Exception tracking before month-end
Failed-contact tracking and a live completion dashboard catch the participants who would otherwise slip through unrecorded.
ObligationDue
Quarterly Financial Report (Q4 2025–26)
1 Apr – 30 Jun 2026
4 Aug 2026
Aged Care Financial Report (ACFR)
Annual (1 Jul – 30 Jun)
31 Oct
Provider Operations Collection Form
Annual operations
31 Oct
Priority 1 reportable incident
On becoming aware
24 hours
Priority 2 reportable incident
On becoming aware
30 days
Indicative dates for review. Confirm against the Department schedule before relying on them. Penalty-unit values re-index on 1 July 2026.
Where automation helps, and where a human must stay
There is no blanket prohibition on AI-assisted calling for Support at Home, and it can close the capacity gap. The safest position is that technology assists care management rather than replacing accountable human oversight. CAREPLANS AI is built that way.
Technology should
- Carry the recurring monthly conversation and reminders
- Draft notes and summaries for human review
- Flag risk and sentiment for a trained person to act on
- Disclose recording and AI assistance at the start of a call
A human must
- Own care decisions and safety escalation
- Classify and report reportable incidents
- Review distress, abuse, or deterioration signals
- Approve any AI-generated note before it enters the record
Support at Home monthly contact — your questions
What is the monthly contact requirement under Support at Home?
Under the Aged Care Act 2024 and the Support at Home program, registered providers must deliver care management to every participant. In practice this means at least one direct care management activity every month for each active participant receiving ongoing services. The Support at Home program manual describes this as a direct care management activity of at least 15 minutes, documented, with escalation where a person needs a human.
Does a 15-minute phone call meet the monthly care management requirement?
A phone call can satisfy it, but the requirement is a direct care management activity of at least 15 minutes, not a 'phone call' specifically. It means genuinely communicating or meeting with the participant or their registered supporter — by phone, video, or in person — to monitor needs and risks, support the participant, document the activity, and identify any escalation. A newsletter, an SMS blast, or an unattended voicemail does not count.
Who counts toward the monthly contact population?
The working denominator is active Support at Home participants receiving ongoing services, including self-managed participants, because mandatory care management still applies. It should not be applied to every older person or patient known to an organisation. Residential aged care residents sit on a separate pathway with their own care and reporting obligations and should not be blended with Support at Home without confirmation.
What are the reporting deadlines for Support at Home providers?
Providers must keep records and submit regular financial and operations reporting. The Quarterly Financial Report for Q4 2025 to 26 (covering 1 April to 30 June 2026) is due 4 August 2026. The annual Aged Care Financial Report and the Provider Operations Collection Form are both due 31 October each year. Reportable incidents carry their own clocks: Priority 1 within 24 hours and Priority 2 within 30 days.
Can AI or automated calls be used for the monthly care management contact?
There is no blanket prohibition on automated or AI-assisted calling, and it can help close the capacity gap. However the safest regulatory position is that technology assists care management rather than replaces accountable human oversight. A fully automated call should not be treated as the sole evidence of monthly care management without disclosure, consent and privacy controls, human review of risk, and clear escalation pathways.
What are the penalties for not meeting Support at Home care management obligations?
There is no simple fine per missed call. Exposure is through breach of provider obligations, conditions of registration, reportable-incident failures, false or misleading information, or serious provider duty failures. Civil penalties scale in penalty units: a serious provider duty failure causing death or serious injury can attract up to 4,800 penalty units, around $1.58 million at the current $330 penalty unit. The penalty unit re-indexes on 1 July 2026, so figures should be recalculated for matters after that date.
How can a provider deliver monthly contact for every participant at scale?
The gap is a structural capacity problem, not a motivation problem. Moving from a low contact base to full monthly coverage can mean a many-fold increase in completed, documented contacts. A delegated, supervised model — using technology to carry the recurring conversation and documentation while keeping a human accountable for judgement and escalation — is the practical way to reach every participant each month with a defensible record.
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Ready to reach every participant, every month?
See how CAREPLANS AI helps Support at Home providers deliver and document monthly care management at scale, under the new Aged Care Act.
Further reading: our requirement-by-requirement compliance map and the Support at Home readiness briefing.