Aged Care Fees

The cost of residential care might seem high, even with government subsidies, but remember that you’re paying for somewhere to live, as well as food, electricity and carers to look after you around the clock.

The fees can be broken down into four categories :

The accommodation payment

Think of this as the price you would pay to live in your home, whether you were purchasing your home outright (RAD/RAC) or renting it (DAP/DAC).

Your chosen facility will publish their room rate and then you have the option of paying this fee as a lump sum, ongoing daily payment or a combination of both. 

The basic daily care fee,

Once you have moved into your new room, you need to start contributing to the ongoing cost of your living expenses.

The basic daily care fee represents your living expenses and covers costs such as meals, cleaning, utilities and laundry.

This fee is the same regardless of which residential care service you choose to live in and is calculated as 85% of the full Age Pension.

Means tested fee

When you move into residential care an external assessor will determine your care needs and draw up a care plan for you. This determines which activities you need help with such as getting out of bed, showering, dressing, feeding, medication and nursing care. This care plan is used to calculate the maximum subsidy the government is willing to pay towards the cost of your care. Depending on an assessment of your affordability you may be asked to pay part of this cost of care as a means tested fee. If you are asked to pay a means tested fee this does not increase the income for the care provider, it just reduces the amount that the government pays.

To help with affordability and planning of finances, the means tested fee is subject to an annual and lifetime cap.

Additional service fees

Some care providers offer additional services on top of your basic living costs and will charge an additional fee for these services.  These include items such as:

• a choice of meals
• beer wine with your meal
• newspapers
• happy hour or social outings
• hairdressing or allied health services
• Foxtel

When you make your budget don’t forget you also have some personal expenses that are over and above your fees.