With the Support at Home program launching on July 1, 2025, aged care providers must take immediate action to ensure their digital systems, staff, and operational workflows are ready. A failure to prepare will result in delayed payments, compliance risks, and increased administrative burdens.

This section outlines the key steps to achieve digital readiness, with a focus on what your Client Management System (CMS) must be capable of handling.

Audit Your Current Systems

The first step is identifying gaps in your digital infrastructure. If your CMS, finance system, or rostering tools don’t integrate, automate workflows, or provide real-time visibility, you are at risk of non-compliance.

✔ Review CMS capabilities – Can it handle real-time budget tracking, service delivery automation, and compliance reporting?
✔ Assess integrations – Does it connect with My Aged Care, Services Australia, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC), and the future  Government Provider Management System (GPMS)?
✔ Check manual processes – Where are you still relying on spreadsheets, duplicate data entry, or workarounds?
✔ Test data accuracy – Are service records, financial reports, and compliance documents complete, correct, and audit-ready?

Practical Tip: Run a mock audit of your current data and reporting processes. If errors, inconsistencies, or missing information appear, your system isn’t ready for July 1.

Engage Your CMS Provider Immediately

Your CMS provider must be preparing for Support at Home reforms. If they aren’t, your organisation will be forced into costly and time-consuming system changes at the last minute.

✔ Confirm your CMS is Support at Home-ready, with updates planned before July 1, 2025.
✔ Ensure API integrations with government systems to avoid manual claims processing and data duplication.
✔ Check automation for service delivery and billing – service data must flow directly into payroll, invoicing, and compliance reporting.
✔ Validate real-time budget tracking – every client’s funding must be monitored with alerts for overspending and underspending.
✔ Ensure Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) workflows are built-in for funding approvals and tracking.

Practical Tip: Ask your CMS provider three direct questions today:

1. How are you ensuring full compliance with Support at Home requirements?
2. When will system updates be delivered and tested?
3. How will integrations with government platforms be handled?
   
   

If they don’t have clear answers, you need to reconsider your CMS strategy now.

Upgrade or Replace Outdated Systems

If your CMS, finance, rostering, or payroll systems cannot meet the Support at Home digital requirements, upgrades or replacements must be planned now.

✔ Confirm your systems have API capabilities for secure data exchange with government platforms.
✔ Ensure real-time reporting is enabled, reducing reliance on manual reconciliation or spreadsheet exports.
✔ Check workforce tracking features – staff credentials, service logs, and travel must be automatically linked to claims and payroll.
✔ Verify cloud-based access for remote staff to ensure smooth mobile and field operations.

Practical Tip: Set a decision deadline on whether to upgrade or replace your CMS. Leaving this until mid-2025 will lead to rushed transitions and operational risks.

Train Your Workforce in Digital Processes

Even the best system fails if staff don’t know how to use it properly. Training must be role-specific and ongoing to ensure all teams can work within new digital workflows.

✔ Frontline staff must know how to log services correctly, verify visits, and check client budgets.
✔ Finance teams must be able to generate reports, track compliance metrics, and automate invoicing.
✔ Managers must monitor workforce efficiency, ensure accurate reporting, and track funding allocations.

Practical Tip: Simulate real Support at Home scenarios in training sessions. Have staff log a home visit, submit it, and follow the data flow through claims and payroll to understand why accuracy matters.

Test and Validate Your Digital Readiness

Before July 2025, providers must conduct full-system tests to ensure seamless digital operations.

✔ Submit test claims through Services Australia to ensure payments process correctly.
✔ Run mock reports through ACQSC to validate compliance and quality reporting.
✔ Check client budgets in real-time, confirming all spending is tracked properly.
✔ Audit internal processes – Are errors appearing? If so, fix them now before the transition.

Practical Tip: Assign a "Digital Transition Team" to conduct monthly readiness reviews and ensure all systems, staff, and workflows are aligned before the deadline.