Three logins, one new client: following a Support at Home intake across the government systems

 A practical companion to our step-by-step guide to the My Aged Care provider portal. Written for intake coordinators and team leaders at home care providers. General information only. Rules change often, so check the date on any government guide you rely on.

Ask an intake coordinator where a new client got stuck and the answer is rarely "inside the portal". It is usually between systems: a referral accepted in one place and a start notification never lodged in another, or an exit agreed with the family but not told to Services Australia. A Support at Home provider works across three government systems, each with its own owner and login. This post follows one new participant through them and points out where the handoffs tend to slip.

The cast: who owns what

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission registers providers. To deliver and claim Support at Home you need Category 4 registration with the service type "Care management", plus any other categories for the care you provide. Category 4 involves an audit against the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards. Nothing else works until this is done.

The My Aged Care Service and Support Portal belongs to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. It is where you manage your services and prices, receive referrals, read client records and ask assessors to review support plans. Users sign in with myID linked through Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM), or with VANguard. Our glossary entry on My Aged Care explains how the public site and the provider portal relate.

The Aged Care Provider Portal, run by Services Australia, is reached through PRODA. Start notifications, claims and exit notices go here.

Two portals, two different sign-in methods. Plan for both when someone new joins the intake team.

Handoff 1: from registration to a working login

Once you are registered, the department sets up one Organisation Administrator account. The person taking that role calls the department's provider and assessor helpline on 1800 836 799 with their name, email, organisation name and ABN or ACN. They must be the first person from your organisation to log in. They then add colleagues, assign roles and manage access to both My Aged Care and GPMS.

Since 1 October 2026 every user accepts new Terms of Use at login. Without the department's written permission, those terms rule out scripts, robots, automated tools and scraping. Keep that in mind before anyone tries a browser plug-in to speed up data entry.

Handoff 2: from referral code to accepted referral

For Support at Home, a referral usually arrives as a code, issued once funding has been assigned. A family may hand it to you directly, or it may come through the contact centre or an assessor. A Team Leader retrieves the code, picks the outlet and the referral lands in Incoming referrals.

Two checks matter before accepting. First, the department's referrals guide says electronic referrals should be accepted, rejected or waitlisted within 3 calendar days. Second, the program manual warns against committing to services while the person still has in-home or residential care with another provider, until that provider's end date is confirmed. Accept only when you can deliver and the person has agreed to go ahead.

The client record also holds the Notice of Decision: the approved services, any short-term pathway, and the reasons and review rights. Read it before the first home visit, because it sets the outer limit of what you can deliver and claim.

Handoff 3: from accepted referral to the first visit

Here the work crosses from the department's system to Services Australia's, and timing is tight. The clock starts when funding is allocated. From that date the person gets 56 calendar days to enter a service agreement with you and begin receiving services, or 84 if they ask My Aged Care for the 28-day extension. After that, the funding is withdrawn.

The manual sets the order: the referral is accepted in My Aged Care before you lodge the start notification (also called the entry notice or Aged Care Entry Record) through the Aged Care Provider Portal, as early as possible and inside that same window. Lodging it is not a formality. Without a start notification in effect you are not paid subsidy, and anything claimed for that period becomes a debt.

If the person is moving across from a Home Care Package, the service agreement rules differ. Our comparison of Support at Home and Home Care Packages covers what changed for providers.

Handoff 4: when services end

Exits are another point where the systems can drift apart. The provider and participant agree the exit date. You then notify Services Australia within 28 calendar days and finalise claims within 60 days after the exit. If the person has died, also update the My Aged Care portal and call My Aged Care. When someone changes provider, the outgoing provider sends any records requested within 28 days of the request, and, within 28 days after the exit, tells the new provider what is left in the participant's quarterly and AT-HM budgets.

Keeping the three in step

A short weekly routine helps: list every accepted referral without a lodged start notification, every take-up deadline in the next fortnight, and every agreed exit not yet notified. Whoever holds the SIRS role should be known to the team too, because serious incident notices are also lodged through the My Aged Care portal. Our guide to SIRS Priority 1 and Priority 2 criteria explains the triage.

In Rostery, Support at Home statements and claims builds the Services Australia bulk file you import into the Aged Care Provider Portal. Lines with no matching approval in the Notice of Decision are left out rather than guessed. The portals themselves are still where you accept referrals and lodge notices.

Written by the Rostery team in Sydney. General information only, not legal advice. Sources: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Set up access to My Aged Care (updated 13 August 2026) and the Service and Support Portal page (Terms of Use from 1 October 2026); Service and Support Portal user guide, Manage referrals for service (June 2026); Support at Home program manual V4.4 (September 2026); Exiting the Support at Home program; Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, Support at Home service requirements. Read 8 November 2026.