There are a number of costs involve in Residential Aged Care. The type of costs and the amount you’ll be asked to pay depend on the assessment of your income and assets and the room you choose.

The different types of aged care home costs are:

Basic daily fee: An amount that everyone pays for the day-to-day services they will receive at the aged care home. The basic daily fee is set by Services Australia at 85 per cent of the single Age Pension.

Means-tested care fee: A contribution that some people pay toward the cost of their care, determined by their income and assets assessment. Services Australia will work out if you have to pay this fee and if so, how much you need to pay.

Additional service fees: Fees for services that go beyond the minimum care and service requirements, such as on-site hairdressing or having a telephone connection installed in their room.

Accommodation costs: An amount that some people pay to contribute towards or cover the full costs of their room, depending on their income and assets assessment.

Services Australia will advise what you will be expected to pay, which will be one of the following:

Subsidised Accommodation costs – If your income and assets assessment is below a certain amount, the Australian Government will subsidise your accommodation costs – you will not need to pay anything towards your accommodation.

An Accommodation Contribution – You will need to pay part of the costs towards your accommodation and the Australian Government will pay the rest.

An Accommodation Payment – You will need to pay the full cost of your accommodation.

Accommodation Payment Options

If you are asked to pay the full cost of your accommodation you have 3 choices on how you can pay:

A Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) – A single lump-sum deposit which is refundable to you or your estate when you leave

Daily Accommodation Payments (DAP) – regular rental-type payments

Combination Payment – a combination of RAD and DAP

The payment option you choose is usually agreed upon prior to moving how however you have 28 days from the day you move in to decide how you would like to pay for your accommodation.

Until you decide you will need to pay by the DAP. If you choose to pay by RAD, you will have at least six months from your date of entry to pay the lump sum.