Fees and charges

When you move into an aged care home, you will negotiate an agreement that will set out the fees and charges you will be asked to pay. You may be asked to pay one or more of the following in residential care.

Types of Residental Care Fees

A basic daily fee  – These covers living costs such as meals, power and laundry. For some people this is the only fee they are required to pay. This is a daily charge based on 85% of the base pension. This enables any individual receiving a pension to afford aged care. Depending on an individual’s income and assets, they may be required to pay an additional fee (Means Tested Fee) which will be advised by the Department.

A means-tested care fee – This is an additional contribution towards the cost of care that some people may be required to pay. The Department of Human Services (Centrelink) or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) will work out if you are required to pay this fee based on an assessment of your income and assets and will advise you of the amount.

An accommodation payment  – This is for your accommodation in the home. Some people will have their accommodation costs met in full or part by the Australian Government, while others will need to pay the accommodation price agreed with Yallambee. Centrelink will advise you which applies to you based on an assessment of your income and assets.

Fees for additional services  – Additional fees may apply for a higher standard of accommodation or additional services. These vary from home to home. Yallambee can provide you with details of these services and the fees that apply.

There are annual and lifetime caps in place to limit the amount of the means-tested care fee you will need to pay. You can call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 to help you estimate the fees and charges you may have to pay towards your residential aged care. Before you call you should have your financial information ready, especially details of your various forms of income and assets.

Fee estimate

The My Aged Care website has a fee estimator that you can use to estimate your fees.

Payment options

As of 1st July 2014, each Aged Care Facility in Australia is required to set the price of the rooms in their own facility, categorised by the size and features of each type of room that they offer. Each room type has a different Maximum Accommodation Payment value.

The Department advises what the maximum charge can be for an Accommodation Payment, based on an individual’s Income and Asset Assessment. Within 28 days of entering the facility, each new resident will be given the choice of how they would like to pay for the Accommodation Payment. There are three options to choose from:

A Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) lump sum payment; or
A Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP); or
A combination of RAD and DAP.
You can also choose to have fees deducted from any lump sum amount paid.

Cost estimate
An estimate of these costs can be determined by visiting the My Aged Care website and completing the Fee Estimator or call 03 5132 3500 and ask our Customer Engagement Team to assist you.