The higher everyday living fee: what it is and whether you have to pay it

Many aged care homes offer extras on top of their standard services. Since 1 November 2025, these are charged through a higher everyday living fee. Families often ask whether they have to pay it. The short answer: no, it's always optional.

What it can cover

The fee can be charged for everyday services that are of a higher standard than the home must provide, or that aren't on the list of standard services at all. Examples include:

• a wider menu, or wine with meals;
• pay TV, Wi-Fi or a newspaper;
• a hairdresser or outings.

It can't be used for anything to do with the room, such as a bigger or better room. That's part of the room price.

It's never compulsory

• Your parent chooses which extras, if any, they want.
• An extras agreement can't be made or charged before your parent moves in.
• Extras can't be a condition of getting a room or holding one.
• The extras agreement has to be its own document, apart from the agreements for care and the room, and can only be made once the service agreement is signed.

If a home tells you extras are compulsory, ask for that in writing and point to the rules. You can raise it with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, which has been looking into how these fees are charged.

How it's agreed

For ongoing extras, there must be a written agreement. It sets out each service, its price, how often it's provided and to what standard. One-off extras, such as a coffee at the café, can be agreed on the spot.

Homes set their own prices for extras, without government approval. But once a price is agreed for your parent, it can only go up once a year, by indexation. A home can still charge new residents a higher price.

Bundles of extras are allowed, but your parent doesn't have to accept one. A bundle can't cost more than the services your parent can actually use would cost separately, and each service must be available on its own.

Your parent's protections

• A 28-day cooling-off period after signing, to cancel or change without a fee.
• Cancelling later, with four weeks' notice, if your parent no longer wants or can't use a service.
• A yearly review, to check your parent still wants and can use each service.
• No paying for what can't be used. The department's guidance says people shouldn't be asked to pay for a service they can't or won't use.

Our guide to stopping or changing extras explains how to cancel, and what to do if your parent has been charged for things they can't use.

Residents who moved in before November 2025

• The older "extra service" and "additional service" fee arrangements can't be started any more, and existing ones can only continue until 31 October 2026.
• From 1 November 2026, a resident who got a higher-standard service free before 1 November 2025 can't be charged for it while the home still offers it to others.

Where to get help

• The home should explain every extra on your parent's statement.
• OPAN's free advocates can help you raise concerns.
• The Commission takes complaints about fees and agreements.

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