Shared budgets, shared risks: why pooled funding could test the limits of home care reform

As aged care reforms take shape, the Department of Health and Aged Care is turning its attention to one of the system’s most persistent challenges: how to make limited home care funds go further while maintaining flexibility and choice. Its latest experiment, the Support at Home pooled funding trial, could offer a glimpse into a more collaborative future for community-based care.

A new kind of shared care economy

Launching in 2026, the pooled funding trial will test whether older Australians can combine part of their Support at Home budgets to access services collectively rather than individually. Participation will be voluntary, but the idea is simple: when people in similar settings face similar needs, shared solutions might make better use of every dollar.

The Department is particularly interested in how this might work for:

• Culturally aligned communities that already share traditions and networks
• Residents of retirement villages or co-located housing, where proximity enables coordination
• Small rural or remote towns, where workforce shortages make flexible service delivery essential

Instead of each person booking their own cleaner, transport or activities, pooled budgets could fund on-call carers, shared transport services, or regular group activities. It’s a model designed to increase responsiveness and social connection while easing the administrative load on individuals.

Learning from the UK’s early experiments

The concept isn’t entirely new. England’s social care system has long allowed recipients of personal budgets to pool their funds with others to achieve shared goals. While uptake has been limited, the examples that have worked are powerful.

In Slough, for instance, 25 older adults from diverse backgrounds each contributed £100 from their care budgets to fund cultural outings. Together, they created experiences such as temple visits, Bollywood films and community expos. These initiatives have shown that shared spending can spark belonging as much as efficiency.

But even in the UK, success has depended on careful coordination. Groups need support to set up governance structures, maintain trust, and ensure fairness in how funds are used. Without guidance, pooled budgets can falter under the weight of administration and competing expectations.

Potential and pitfalls

If the idea of a shared care economy feels ambitious, that’s because it is. Pooling budgets asks people to collaborate not just socially but financially, something that works best when there’s a shared sense of purpose. The Australian model, however, gives providers a central role in managing the funds, which could address some of the operational hurdles seen overseas.

The opportunity is clear. Pooled funding could:

• Help providers design more flexible and community-oriented service models
• Allow smaller budgets to stretch further in thinly resourced areas
• Support culturally tailored programs that reflect community values and preferences
  

Yet the trial’s success will depend on how it balances collective benefit with individual choice, a tension at the heart of consumer-directed care.

From personal budgets to shared purpose

For years, aged care leaders have spoken about moving from transactional service delivery to models that build connection and belonging. Pooled funding could be one way of doing just that. By reframing budgets as tools for community rather than isolation, the trial challenges traditional notions of what individualised care looks like.

If it works, the lessons could ripple across the system, informing how providers design group programs, how funding models reward innovation, and how older Australians engage with the services around them.

Have your say

The Department is seeking input from Support at Home providers through a series of workshops in November, ahead of the trial’s design phase. Those unable to attend can still provide written feedback via the consultation portal.

Australia’s aged care reform agenda has been criticised for its pace, but experiments like this show a willingness to think differently. Whether pooled funding becomes a cornerstone or a footnote will depend on what happens next, but it’s a conversation worth having.

Providers can register their interest by 5:00pm AEDT on 5 November via the Department of Health consultation page.