Loss of Access under new Support at Home Program

Better Access Australia, has raised our concerns about the Government’s exclusion of access to Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) and Dose Administration Aids (DAAs) under the new Support at Home Program (SAH) and has queryied the lawful basis for these exclusions.

The Government committed to no one being worse off under the move from the Home Care Package (HCP) program to the SAH program.

Under the old HCP program older Australians could claim the cost of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and dose administration aids (DAA) where that care support was not funded through other programs. Flexible budgets and bundled care optimised support for remaining in the home.

But under the new SAH arrangements the Government has taken the opportunity to restrict access to these products through its new operational guidelines.

Some patients have then been referred to the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme for CGM subsidy applications, but blood measurement devices are SPECIFICALLY excluded.

Better Access Australia, has questioned the legal basis on which the Government has excluded non-NDSS funded CGM and non-CPA funded DAAs from the new SCP package or AT-HM program. Their exclusion appears beyond the legal remit Parliament has given to administer both programs.

The Need for ongoing access to CGM under new SAH Arrangements

59% of Australians living with T2D diabetes are aged over 65. T2D is degenerative and can lead to development of renal disease including the need for dialysis and transplant, cardiovascular disease, ocular disease and circulatory disease leading to amputations.

The highest cost contributor to potential preventable hospitalisations in 2023-24 was diabetes ($962M). 90% of all diabetes-related hospitalisations (primary or secondary diagnosis) are related to T2D.

CGM is clinically proven to improve the time a person’s blood glucose levels stay in a healthy range.xii Alerts can be sent to not only the wearer, but to family members and carers when blood sugar levels are outside the targeted range and medication may be needed.

Loss of CGM access is the very definition of being ‘worse off’ under the new SAH arrangements. The premise of excluding CGM under the new SAH and AT-HM because it is “already funded” is wrong not only in spirit but appears wrong in law and is doing harm to the health of older Australians.

The Need for ongoing access to DAAs under new SAH Arrangements

DAAs as a core eligible service so must the SAH program. Medication misadventure is consistently argued as leading to avoidable hospitalisations. In November 2025 the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in HealthCare released a new Framework for medication management recognising that ‘[e]ach year in Australia, 250,000 hospital admissions are due to medication-related errors, at a cost of about $1.4 billion’.

Excluding DAAs from the SAH program appears not to be lawful and is inconsistent with the Government’s own framework for improving medication management for older Australians as per the previous HCP rules.

Better Access Australia’s letter to The Hon. Sam Rae MP, Minister for Aged Care and Seniors.

Department’s response to Better Access Australia’s.

Better Access Australia is keen to see the health of older Australians respected and valued under the new SAH arrangements just as it originally was under the HCP arrangements. NO WORSE OFF should not be about ‘clever definitions’ it should be about genuine healthcare and social services access. When it is easier to get a sewing machine or an ipad funded than a DAA service and CGM, we have to ask ourselves, what is going on and can we do better?

So what’s next?

Better Access Australia will be forwarding our concerns to the Parliamentary Inquiry, and writing to the Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation seeking a ruling on the lawful basis of these exclusion.