Support Package for Older Person NZ: What NASC Actually Funds

What a Support Package Actually Contains

After a NASC needs assessment, the service coordinator drafts an Individual Service Plan (ISP) that outlines exactly what funded support your parent will receive. This isn't a cheque — it's a package of specific services, allocated in hours per week, delivered by contracted home support providers. Understanding what can be included (and what can't) helps families advocate effectively during the service coordination meeting.

NASC-funded support packages for older people in New Zealand typically include some combination of these services:

Personal care — assistance with showering, dressing, toileting, transfers (getting in and out of bed or chairs), and mobility. This is delivered by a trained support worker who visits on a scheduled basis. Hours depend on the level of need identified in the interRAI assessment.

Domestic support — help with housework, laundry, meal preparation, and grocery shopping. These are the practical household tasks that many older people can no longer manage safely but that don't require clinical skills.

Respite care — temporary relief for family caregivers. This can be delivered as in-home support (a carer comes so the family member can leave), day programmes at a community facility, or short-term residential respite stays.

Carer Support subsidy — a flexible annual budget allocated to families providing informal care. Under the 1 April 2026 Purchasing Operational Policy, this operates as a highly flexible fund — families can use it to hire private support or purchase adaptive equipment. One-off purchases exceeding $1,500 require prior NASC approval.

Community participation support — some packages may include assistance with social and community activities or engagement in day programmes designed to reduce isolation. Transport to appointments depends on the programme and approved plan.

How Hours Are Allocated

The number of funded hours in a support package isn't arbitrary — it is informed by the interRAI assessment, including the MAPLe (Method of Assigning Priority Level) score, which ranges from 1 to 5. A higher MAPLe score indicates greater risk, but it is not a stand-alone national hours formula.

Typical patterns (there is no single national hour schedule):

• Lower needs: a smaller or occasional combination of domestic and personal-care support
• Moderate needs: a combination of personal care and domestic support
• Higher needs: more frequent visits and a broader package, potentially including daily personal care and domestic support

These are generalisations. The actual allocation depends on the specific interRAI clinical indicators, the availability of informal family support, and regional funding constraints. Some regions are under significant pressure, and support packages can be leaner than the clinical indicators would justify.

Individualised Funding: Taking Control of Your Package

Standard NASC-funded services are delivered by contracted home support providers — the NASC coordinator arranges a provider, and that provider sends their workers. Families may have less choice over the provider, individual workers, and scheduling than under IF.

Individualised Funding (IF) is an alternative model that gives families more control. Instead of receiving services through a contracted provider, the funding is allocated directly to the family, who then manage the support themselves — including hiring, rostering, and paying support workers.

The key advantages:

• Continuity. Families can hire consistent workers rather than having different people rotate through
• Flexibility. Support can be scheduled when it's actually needed, not when the provider has availability
• Family members as paid carers. Under IF, eligible family members can be employed as paid support workers (see below)

IF isn't available everywhere, and it requires the family to take on employer responsibilities (contracts, ACC, tax obligations). But for families frustrated by inconsistent agency workers or rigid scheduling, it's worth exploring with the NASC coordinator.

Can a Family Member Be Paid as a Carer?

This is one of the most common questions families ask, and the answer is a qualified yes — Individualised Funding is one mechanism that may allow an eligible family member to be paid.

Under IF, an eligible family member may be employed as a paid support worker where the applicable rules allow it. The payment comes from the allocated funding, not from the family's own resources. Confirm the employment arrangement with the NASC coordinator or host provider before relying on it.

The restrictions:

• Eligibility depends on the applicable IF rules — confirm who can be employed as a paid support worker
• The worker must provide services covered by the approved support package — confirm what the funding can pay for
• Funding and employment terms should be confirmed with the NASC coordinator or host provider
• Ask how the arrangement is monitored or reviewed as your parent's needs change

For families in remote or rural areas where home support agencies have limited availability, or where a parent responds poorly to unfamiliar carers, IF with a family member as the primary worker can be a practical solution.

What Isn't Funded

Support packages don't cover everything. Common gaps that catch families off guard:

• 24-hour care at home — NASC-funded hours won't stretch to cover round-the-clock support. When needs reach that level, residential care typically becomes the funded pathway
• Transport — transport to appointments may not be included in the standard package; check the approved plan and community transport options
• Home modifications — major modifications may involve separate ACC or Enable NZ pathways; ask NASC whether the approved package or Carer Support can cover adaptive equipment
• Private care top-ups — if the funded hours aren't enough, families can pay privately for additional support, but the funded and private components are managed separately

When to Push for More

If the support package doesn't reflect your parent's actual needs, families have options. Request a meeting with the NASC service coordinator to review the ISP. Bring the daily care log you've been keeping — documented evidence of unmet needs is the strongest basis for an increase in funded hours.

If the coordinator can't or won't increase the allocation, request a formal reassessment, particularly if your parent's condition has changed since the original interRAI evaluation. You also have the right to request a peer review — an independent review by a NASC coordinator from another region.

The NZ Elder Care NASC Navigator includes templates for requesting reassessments and peer reviews, along with a structured framework for documenting unmet needs in the format that NASC coordinators respond to.

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