For residents who are assessed as eligible for government financial assistance, your accommodation contribution will be determined by the government assessment. All other accommodation prices are published on our website for each of our sites, and are regulated by the government. Regardless of your financial situation, you will always get the care you need.
Please call our Care Options Team on 1800 180 781 to discuss your individual circumstances.
Accommodation charges can either be a lump sum payment (Refundable Accommodation Deposit – RAD) or a regular daily payment (Daily Accommodation Payment – DAP), or a combination of both.
If the accommodation charge is paid as a lump sum (RAD) it is refundable, unless you choose to pay other charges from this.
Centrelink or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs will determine the fees payable. They are calculated according to the value of your assets.
Your income is usually assessed by Centrelink. However, if you receive a regular service pension or income support supplement from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), they will assess your income.
If you do not receive any pension, when you enter care you will need to provide information about your income to Centrelink.
If you are assessed as not being eligible to pay a RAD, you will still get the care you need. The residential care service will receive a full rate of government assistance to ensure you receive the highest levels of care.
Depending on your government mean testing assessment, you may be asked to contribute to the cost of your accommodation in residential care. This may be as either a lump sum payment (Refundable Accommodation Deposit - RAD) or as a regular periodic payment (Daily Accommodation Payment – DAP), or a combination of both.
If you own a home, it will not be counted as an asset if, at the time of the asset assessment or your entry into care (whichever is earlier):
• Your partner or dependent child is living there; or
• A carer eligible for an Australian Government income support payment has been living there for at least two years; or
• A close relative who is eligible for an Australian Government income support payment has been living there for at least five years.
This fee acts as a contribution towards living expenses such as meals, cleaning, laundry, heating and cooling.
The basic daily fee is calculated using a percentage of the single age pension. Most residents pay the standard rate, which is 85% of the single rate of the basic age pension, but this does depend on the circumstances.
The basic daily fee is indexed on 20 March and 20 September each year, in line with the indexation and increases to the age pension.
Some residents have to pay a means-tested fee, in addition to the basic daily fee. This is determined by Centrelink on behalf of the Department of Social Services.
Residents may also have to pay an Additional Wellbeing Services fee, which is a daily fee that covers the provision of key wellbeing services including group gym sessions & personal training, social activities, excursions and health promotion, and in-room telephone services.