Charmaine is 73. She has severe arthritis in her hands and elsewhere, spinal stenosis, and lives with strong, constant pain that often keeps her awake at night. She has always prided herself on her independence. That’s why, when she joined the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP), she asked for only the bare minimum:

1.5 hours of cleaning per week for $19.50, and
1.5 hours of gardening per month for $39.
“That’s all I asked for,” Charmaine says. “Even though I probably need more help, I wanted to retain as much independence as possible.”

When she first rang My Aged Care, public servants helped her, found a provider, and got her started. She trusted the process. She never had to shop around. She felt safe, supported, and seen.

But today, Charmaine’s social media feed is “bombarded with posts from dozens of providers spruiking their services and associated (enormous) costs.” She knows they’re advertising Home Care Packages — because CHSP hasn’t been destroyed yet — but she also knows the government intends to align both systems under Support at Home.

And so she tested it. She clicked on a few of the providers’ posts.

What she found terrified her.

“My cleaning has skyrocketed to $165, of which my contribution would be $130 and the Commonwealth’s would be $35. Under CHSP I pay $19.50 and under Support at Home I pay $130.”
Then she asks the question every older Australian is now asking:

“On what planet do Labor politicians live? How can they possibly think this is fair or reasonable?”
Charmaine knows she will be “grandfathered” for a time. But even her provider has hinted this will end. And then? She will be forced to give up the tiny bit of support that allows her to stay independent.

“Even this piddling amount of support will be taken away because I won't be able to afford the massive hike in fees.”
She has run the numbers. After 2027, she expects to pay an extra $5,000–$6,000 per year on top of what she pays now. Her super pension is the same as the aged pension, but unlike pensioners she does not qualify for discounts. She pays full price for everything. Her pension is already maxed out.

“My super has nothing left over for these massive fee hikes. In effect the Labor Government will be abandoning me. And that’s hard to take when you are old and in pain for much of the day.”
She sees what is happening:

“It seems to me the government has embarked on a diabolical program to drive self-funded retirees off the public purse and into the private sector.”
If these changes go ahead, Charmaine says many older people will simply walk away from government services entirely — forced to hire teenagers, neighbours, or strangers from Taskmaster or social media.

“No doubt many aged people will abandon their programs. And that will mean finding time and energy to hunt for help — through newspapers or digital apps — which is a lot of bother for some of us oldies who are not always in the best of health.”
She feels betrayed.

“Most of us have worked hard, scrimped and saved while raising our families and built a little nest egg. Now the Labor Government wants to take away what little support they are giving us. It feels like we are being thrown on the scrap heap.”
She can’t understand why a successful 40-year-old program, begun by the Hawke Government and used by 800,000 Australians, is being dismantled.

“Why ‘fix’ a program that is not broken? Unless the government has another agenda — which is to reduce the aged care budget by deliberately imposing hardship on large portions of the aged population.”
Charmaine is afraid of the future. And she is angry — not for herself alone, but for every older Australian who will not cope with these changes.

Her message is simple:

Stop the massive co-payments. Don’t destroy CHSP. Don’t abandon older people