Guides
General information only, not financial advice. We don’t make personal recommendations. For advice about your own situation, speak to a licensed financial adviser.
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The family home
How the family home affects aged care fees and the Age Pension when a parent moves into care, in plain English for families.
What happens to the family home when a parent moves into aged care
How the family home counts in the aged care means test and for the Age Pension, who is a protected person, and what changes if it's sold or rented.
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The two-year pension rule for an empty home: when it starts and when it ends
If the house sits empty after a move into care, the Age Pension can ignore it for two years. When that clock starts, what stops it early, and why fees work differently.
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Selling, renting or keeping the home: what changes for fees and the pension
Keeping the house empty, renting it out and selling it each change aged care fees and the Age Pension differently. Each choice side by side, with no right answer assumed.
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Moving in now and selling later: how the timing works
A parent can move into an aged care home before the house is sold. How the room is paid for meanwhile, what changes at settlement, and the timing points to check.
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Giving the home to family or borrowing against it: what to know first
Giving the home to a child doesn't remove it from the means test, and borrowing against it has its own costs. How the gifting rules and home equity loans work.
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Paying for the room: lump sum, daily or both
Lump sum, daily payments or a mix: how paying for a room in an aged care home works, what's refunded and what changes over time.
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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How the fees are worked out
The aged care means test explained simply: what counts, each fee on the bill, the caps on care contributions and why bills can differ.
The aged care means test, explained
How Services Australia works out what your parent pays in an aged care home: the income test, the assets test, and the fees that follow.
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Every fee in an aged care home, line by line
The basic daily fee, the room, the hotelling and non-clinical care contributions, and optional extras: what each line on the bill pays for and who pays it.
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The care contribution caps: when the non-clinical care contribution stops
The non-clinical care contribution has a lifetime dollar limit and a four-year limit, and stops at whichever comes first. How the limits work and what counts.
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Does paying a lump sum change the fees and the pension?
A refundable lump sum for the room is treated one way for aged care fees and another for the Age Pension. What changes when cash becomes a lump sum, and what doesn't.
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Super, account-based pensions and deeming in the fee assessment
Super is treated in the aged care means assessment the same way as for the Age Pension. What matters is age, whether it pays an income stream, and when that started.
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Why the bill doesn't match the estimate
The fee advice letter or first invoice often differs from the online estimate or the home's quote. The usual reasons, how to check each one, and what to do if it looks wrong.
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Support at Home costs
What older Australians pay for Support at Home services, how statements work, what providers can charge, and where to get help with costs.
What you pay for Support at Home services, by type of service
Under Support at Home, your parent pays a share of the price of each service, set by the type of service and their income and assets. How the three service groups work.
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Reading a Support at Home statement and invoice
The monthly statement tracks the budget and the invoice asks for your parent's contributions. What each should show, what to check, and what to do about late paperwork.
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Price rises, admin fees and travel charges: what providers can and can't charge
Support at Home providers set their own prices, but prices must be reasonable and published, and separate admin or travel fees aren't allowed. What to look for.
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Moved from a Home Care Package? Which rules apply to you
People who had, or were approved for, a Home Care Package by 12 September 2024 are covered by a 'no worse off' rule. What it protects and what happened to unspent funds.
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When the contribution is too high: cutting back, hardship help and respite at home
If Support at Home contributions are hard to pay, cutting back services isn't the only option. What to check first, how hardship help works, and respite for carers.
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Moving in when time is short
Moving a parent into aged care in a hurry, often from hospital: the steps, the agreements, and what's paid before the assessment is back.
Moving a parent into an aged care home: the steps, in order
From the first call to My Aged Care to signing the agreements: the steps involved, what each one needs, and where families often get stuck.
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Leaving hospital: do you have to take the first place offered?
When a parent can't go home from hospital, families can feel pushed to take the first bed offered. Hospital rules differ by state, so here's what to ask and who can help.
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The agreements: what you sign, when, and the 28-day cooling-off period
Moving into an aged care home usually means up to three agreements: care and services, the room, and optional extras. What each covers and how cooling-off works.
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Moving in before the means assessment is back: what you pay in the meantime
Your parent can move in before Services Australia finishes the means assessment. What the home can charge meanwhile, how fees are corrected later, and how to keep the wait short.
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Waiting times and getting assessed: what to expect
How an aged care assessment works, how long families wait for assessments, places and services, and what to do if the result looks wrong or needs change.
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Extra fees, your rights and complaints
Optional extra fees in aged care homes, what can and can't be charged, how to stop extras, and how to complain or get money back.
The higher everyday living fee: what it is and whether you have to pay it
The higher everyday living fee pays for optional extras such as pay TV, Wi-Fi or a wider menu. It's never compulsory and can't be a condition of getting a room.
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Stopping or changing extras you no longer use
Extras such as pay TV, Wi-Fi or a wider menu are optional, and your parent can cancel or change them. How cooling-off, notice and the yearly review work.
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Which extra charges are allowed on top of the standard fees
What an aged care home must provide within the standard fees, what usually costs extra, such as hairdressing and medicines, and the rules for charging for extras.
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Overcharged? How to complain and get money back
If an aged care home or Support at Home provider has charged too much, the money can be recovered. Who to go to, in what order, and what to put in writing.
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Respite in an aged care home: costs and approvals
A short respite stay in an aged care home costs much less than a permanent place, with no means test and no room payment. Costs, available days and approval.
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Family money, couples and who can sign
When one partner moves into care, family members help pay, a lump sum is refunded, or someone needs to sign for a parent: the basics.
When one partner moves into care and the other stays home
When one partner moves into care and the other stays home, the home is usually protected, the couple's other money is split in half, and the pension may change.
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When a family member pays the lump sum: getting it back, probate and fairness
When a child pays some or all of a parent's room deposit, the refund goes to the parent or their estate, not the child. Why, and how probate affects the refund.
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How and when the lump sum is refunded, and what can be deducted
A room deposit is refunded when your parent leaves the home or dies, less retention and agreed deductions. The timing, the interest, and what protects the refund.
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Signing for a parent: powers of attorney and capacity
Who can sign aged care agreements and forms for a parent, the difference between helping and deciding, and what to do if nobody has a power of attorney.
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When there isn't enough money: help with fees and a room without a deposit
A parent with little more than the Age Pension can still get a room without a deposit. How government help for low means and financial hardship help work.
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Rule changes and where to get help
What changed under the new Aged Care Act, which rules apply to whom, changes on the way, and the difference between free help and paid advice.
What changed on 1 November 2025: the new Aged Care Act and aged care home fees
The new Aged Care Act started on 1 November 2025, after being deferred from 1 July 2025. What changed for aged care home fees, and who stays on the old rules.
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Old rules or new rules after a hospital stay, a move or opting in
People in an aged care home before 1 November 2025 mostly stay on older arrangements. A long break from care, a move after opting in, or opting in can change that.
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Coming in 2027: the accommodation supplement and the MPIR
The government has made one room pricing change for 2027 and announced another: new help with rooms from 20 March 2027, and a new daily amount method if the law passes.
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Free help, paid advice and general information: knowing the difference
Where to get free help with aged care fees, what a specialist aged care financial adviser does, why the home isn't independent, and information versus advice.
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What changes from state to state when a parent moves into care
Aged care fees and the Age Pension work the same across Australia. What differs by state is mostly land tax on the empty home, some concessions, and legal paperwork.
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