Paying for the room: lump sum, daily or both
The room is usually the biggest single cost of an aged care home, and the language around it can feel like a foreign tongue. RAD, DAP, retention, indexation. These guides put it in everyday words. They cover the ways a room can be paid for, how the daily amount is worked out, and what comes back to the family later. They also explain why the daily amount can rise, and what room prices usually look like. Every rate shown comes from the current official figures and carries the date it applies from.
RAD, DAP or a combination: how paying for the room works
The three ways to pay for a room in an aged care home, how the daily payment is worked out, and what the retention rule means for a lump sum.
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Is the daily payment just interest? What you get back and what you don't
The daily accommodation payment is worked out like interest and none of it comes back, but a lump sum has costs too. What each way of paying returns to the family.
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The retention rule: how much of a lump sum the home keeps, and for how long
For people entering care from 1 November 2025, the home keeps part of a refundable lump sum each year for up to five years. How retention works and who it applies to.
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Why the daily payment goes up: indexation in March and September
For most people moving into care from 1 November 2025, the daily payment for the room rises twice a year with prices. Who it applies to and how to check the new amount.
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Room prices: maximums, what's typical near you, and whether they can be negotiated
Every aged care home publishes a maximum price for each room and can't charge more, but it can agree to less. How prices are capped and how to ask about a lower one.
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