Support at Home Thin Markets Grants: Are Providers Overlooking Eligible Digital Investments?
The 2026-27 Thin Markets grants may offer eligible aged care providers an opportunity to strengthen digital capabilities that support more efficient and sustainable home care.
For many home care providers, improving service delivery requires investment beyond frontline care.
Workforce shortages, geographic distances, fragmented systems and administrative complexity can make delivering services particularly challenging in rural, remote and specialised markets. Digital technology can help address these pressures, but investment often competes with immediate operational priorities.
The Australian Government's Support at Home Thin Markets 2026-27 (Round 3) grants provide an opportunity worth examining.
Although the grants are not specifically designed for digital transformation, the guidelines explicitly include certain business systems, ICT hardware and software, and workforce training expenditure.
For eligible providers, this raises an important question: Could targeted digital investment help address the operational challenges that make delivering home care difficult?
Understanding the Funding Opportunity
The Australian Government has allocated up to $311.4 million to support the availability of quality and safe Support at Home services in thin markets.
Applications close at 2:00 pm Canberra time on 26 November 2026.
Two funding streams are available:
Stream One - Rural, remote and specialised services: For eligible providers delivering Support at Home services in Modified Monash Model (MMM) 3-7 locations and/or to participants requiring recognised specialised services.
Stream Two - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services: For eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations and qualifying not-for-profit or government providers.
Applicants must already deliver Support at Home services and meet the applicable registration and stream-specific eligibility requirements.
Importantly, this is a demand-driven, eligibility-based grant, not a competitive technology investment program.
Funding is calculated using the provider's existing eligible participants, applicable daily loadings and a 365-day period. Eligible applications are funded in the order approved, subject to available funding.
The grant period is 12 months from execution of the grant agreement.
This distinction matters: providers are not applying for a technology project budget. They are applying for funding determined by their eligible service delivery circumstances.
What Technology Expenditure May Qualify?
Section 5.3 of the official Grant Opportunity Guidelines identifies several potentially eligible expenditure categories:
Business systems, audit and compliance costs.
ICT hardware and software, including computers, tablets and Wi-Fi equipment for client support.
Workforce training, professional development and supervision.
Administrative and operating costs directly related to eligible service delivery.
These provisions recognise that sustainable home care depends on supporting capabilities, not only direct care activities.
However, the inclusion of ICT expenditure does not mean every technology initiative qualifies.
Grant funds must support appropriate business expenses directly related to delivering eligible Support at Home services. Exclusions include unrelated activities, retrospective expenditure, major capital works and costs already funded through other government arrangements.
The guidelines also exclude the costs of preparing the grant application.
Providers should assess proposed expenditure against the complete guidelines rather than assume that a technology purchase or software implementation is automatically eligible.
Where Digital Investment Could Make a Difference
For providers operating in thin markets, the strongest opportunities may involve improving existing operational capabilities rather than introducing entirely new platforms.
Consider three examples.
Workforce scheduling and coordination. A regional provider managing geographically dispersed services may experience inefficient travel, scheduling conflicts and difficulties responding to changing participant needs. Improving workforce scheduling and coordination could support more reliable service delivery and better utilisation of limited workforce capacity.
Mobile workforce capability. Providing frontline staff with appropriate digital access to care information, service instructions and reporting tools may reduce administrative duplication and improve communication between care teams and coordinators.
Service management and information flows. Improving how care management, workforce systems and operational reporting work together may strengthen visibility of service delivery, reduce manual reconciliation and support more timely decisions.
These are examples of potentially relevant digital investments, not pre-approved expenditure categories. Their eligibility depends on the provider's circumstances, the proposed costs and the direct connection to qualifying Support at Home services.
The broader opportunity is to identify digital improvements that address genuine service delivery constraints.
Funding Eligibility Is Not the Same as Investment Value
A proposed technology investment may meet the grant's expenditure requirements without necessarily representing the best use of available funding.
For example, purchasing tablets for frontline workers may be worthwhile, but devices alone will not resolve fragmented workflows or poor information quality.
Similarly, new scheduling software may deliver limited benefits if existing workforce allocation practices and service coordination processes remain unchanged.
Providers should therefore consider five questions before committing to an investment:
What operational problem are we addressing? Identify its impact on service availability, workforce capacity or efficiency.
Which digital capability offers the greatest improvement? Consider existing systems before introducing new technology.
Does the expenditure meet the funding conditions? Establish the direct relationship to eligible Support at Home service delivery.
What will implementation and ongoing operation require? Assess integration, workforce adoption, supplier dependencies and recurring costs.
How will we measure the benefits? Identify practical outcomes such as reduced administration, improved scheduling or increased service capacity.
These questions help distinguish between spending available funding and making a sustainable investment.
They are particularly important because the grant period is limited, while the operational consequences of technology decisions may extend well beyond it.
Making the Most of the Opportunity
The Thin Markets grants provide eligible providers with an opportunity to address some of the additional costs associated with delivering Support at Home services.
The explicit inclusion of business systems, ICT hardware and software, and workforce training makes the opportunity particularly relevant to providers considering targeted digital improvements.
However, the starting point should be the service delivery challenge, not the availability of funding.
Providers should identify where existing processes or systems constrain service delivery, determine which improvements could make a measurable difference and assess whether those investments meet the grant conditions.
The question is not simply whether technology expenditure is eligible. It is whether the proposed investment will strengthen service delivery and remain valuable after the funding period ends.
NEED HELP ASSESSING YOUR DIGITAL INVESTMENT OPTIONS?
The Support at Home Thin Markets Round 3 grants close on 26 November 2026.
For eligible providers, this is an opportunity to consider whether targeted digital investment could improve workforce effectiveness, service coordination and operational sustainability.
eHomeCare provides independent digital investment advisory services, helping aged care providers identify priority opportunities, assess technology options and evaluate how proposed expenditure aligns with funding conditions and measurable service delivery outcomes.
We help providers make informed investment decisions, independent of technology suppliers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hubert van Dalen is the founder of eHomeCare, an independent digital strategy, governance and technology advisory business supporting Australian aged care and disability providers. His work focuses on helping organisations make informed technology decisions and translate digital investments into meaningful operational and care outcomes.
REFERENCES
Australian Government, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2026). Support at Home Thin Markets 2026-27 (Round 3): Grant Opportunity Guidelines. GO8502, particularly Sections 3-5.
Australian Government, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2026). Support at Home Thin Markets 2026-27 (Round 3): Frequently Asked Questions, Version 2.
Australian Government. GrantConnect - Support at Home Thin Markets 2026-27 (Round 3). Grant Opportunity GO8502.
Comments