If you (or a loved one) need palliative care at home in Adelaide, here’s how you can set it up:

1. Contact your doctor, hospital or palliative care service and indicate you’d like home-based palliative care or end-of-life care at home. 
2. As of November 2025, the national Support at Home program includes an optional “End-of-Life Pathway” that can provide up to $25,000 over 12 weeks (potentially extendable to 16 weeks) for eligible people wanting to remain at home in their final months. 
3. Once referred and approved, a care provider (like Five Good Friends) can mobilise nurses, carers, personal care Helpers and companionship services. You can opt for services like nursing, respite, personal care and companionship so your loved one stays home, surrounded by familiar people and surroundings.

Cost depends on what services you need (basic personal care, nursing, overnight, respite, etc.), time of day, weekends and public holidays, and whether you use private pay or funding. As a rough guide:  

• Some fee schedules for home-care services across Adelaide (and Australia) show personal care or domestic support priced from around $62 per hour during standard hours. 
• Nursing or clinical care at home tends to be more expensive, starting at $160 per hour.
• Hourly rates for nursing services are typically higher (rates vary widely depending on complexity and requirements). 

Wait times depend on: demand, priority level, assessed needs and government allocations. 

• If the applicant is assessed as high priority, packages have sometimes been allocated faster. 
• Because the system is transitioning to Support at Home (starting November 2025), wait times may shift depending on funding availability and rollout speed.

Rather than navigating it alone, we recommend giving us a call. Our team can explain what timelines could look like right now and talk through your options for getting support in place sooner. 

If you require support immediately, our team at Five Good Friends can get you started with private home care and then help to transition your care once your Support at Home program starts. 

Yes — Support at Home funding (and previously Home Care Packages) can be used for respite care, as part of the suite of aged care and disability supports covered. Respite care can include things like personal care, domestic assistance, companionship, short-term relief for Adelaide carers and other support services designed to give family carers a break while ensuring the loved one’s needs are still met. 

You can read more about our pricing for Support at Home or discover fully managed and self-managed private home care options in Adelaide.