How to Start a Home Care Agency in Australia

Two Separate Regulators, Two Separate Client Groups

Australia doesn't have one single "home care licence." Instead, two different systems cover most of the market:

• Aged care — regulated by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC), covering services for older Australians, including government-subsidised Home Care Packages.
• NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) — regulated by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, covering disability supports for NDIS participants.

You can serve one, both, or neither — plenty of successful home care businesses start entirely private-pay and add government-funded work later.

Do You Need to Register as an Approved Provider?

Only if you want to deliver government-subsidised services directly. To deliver Home Care Packages, you must register as an approved provider with the ACQSC — described by most industry guides as the single biggest hurdle in the whole process, involving detailed evidence against the Aged Care Quality Standards. For NDIS, you can operate as an unregistered provider serving self-managed or plan-managed participants without going through full NDIS provider registration, or register formally to serve NDIA-managed participants and unlock a wider referral pool.

Step-by-Step: Setting Up the Business

1. Register your ABN and set up an appropriate business structure — most operators use a company structure for liability protection.
2. Decide your funding model: private-pay only, unregistered NDIS, registered NDIS, aged care approved provider, or a combination.
3. Arrange insurance — public liability and professional indemnity as a baseline, plus workers' compensation once you employ staff.
4. Set up worker screening — a national police check for every care worker, and an NDIS worker screening check if you'll deliver NDIS supports.
5. Confirm staff qualifications — typically a Certificate III in Individual Support at minimum, plus current First Aid and CPR certification.
6. If registering with ACQSC or NDIS Commission, prepare your evidence against the relevant Quality Standards or Practice Standards, including privacy, incident management, and record-keeping policies, before applying.

What Does It Cost?

Costs depend heavily on which path you take. Private-pay-only and unregistered NDIS businesses have the lowest barrier to entry — mainly business setup, insurance, and worker screening costs. Aged care approved provider status and full NDIS registration both involve a significantly more rigorous (and costlier, in staff time and consulting support) compliance process, so many operators start lean and add formal registration once they have a track record.

How Long Does It Take?

Private-pay or unregistered NDIS operation can start as soon as your business, insurance, and worker screening are in place — often a matter of weeks. Aged care approved provider status and full NDIS registration both take considerably longer, typically several months, given the depth of evidence required against the relevant quality standards.

Where AI Automation Fits Once You're Operating

Whichever funding model you choose, the same two problems show up once referrals start coming in: enquiry calls that go unanswered outside office hours, and support workers calling in sick with no fast way to find replacement coverage. CareRelay AI's AI Voice Agent and AI Shift Coverage Agent are built to close exactly that gap as your caseload grows.