Australia’s ageing population, with a preference for aged care at home, mean accelerating demand for government-funded home-based aged care programs. This situation highlights a necessity for program design that efficiently uses limited government funding and workforce resources, whilst also delivering well-targeted support, aligned to the needs of people requiring the care. To aid such program design, we aimed to generate detailed new knowledge about the characteristics, care and support needs of Victorians requiring home-based aged care. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, three studies addressed the research aim. Two quantitative studies used population-based aged care assessment data for Victorians approved for a Home Care Package (HCP) between January 2018-June 2022 (n=94,975). One analysed the range and prevalence of socio-demographic characteristics, care and support needs within the study population; the second used latent class analysis to identify care and support needs profiles for the population. The third, a qualitative study, involved interviews with fifteen Victorian HCP program workers to explore their perceptions of their HCP clients’ needs. Findings were integrated to establish overall research findings. The population demonstrated: significant socio-demographic and psychosocial diversity; wide-ranging, often advanced care and support needs; and a requirement for tailored care management. Implications of these findings will be presented. For example, in response to the population’s advanced care and support needs, careful consideration of workforce capacity to meet such needs is recommended. This implication, amongst others, should be further researched to provide evidence-based guidance for efficient, effective home-based aged care design and workforce planning for older Australians.