Aged Care Costs

What will you need to pay for permanent residential aged care? The total cost has four parts. Here's an overview:
aged care cost components
Basic fee

All residents of aged care homes are required to pay this fee. It is set at 85% of the single person rate of the age pension. It is used for basic day-to-day living costs.

Care fee

This fee is a contribution to your cost of care. You may or may not have to pay it, depending on your income, assets and cost of care.

Accommodation fee

How much you pay for your accommodation depends on your income and assets, as well as the standard of accommodation that you choose and/or can afford.

Additional/Extra Services fees

Additional Service fees may arise from services you choose beyond your assessed care needs. E.g. additional allied health services, mobility equipment, specialised bedding.

Extra Service fees arise at aged care homes with Extra Service status, when you choose higher quality accommodation, food and services.

The government doesn't regulate or subsidise these Additional/Extra Services fees.

Cost estimator

For an indication of your potential residential aged care fees, complete the following form. The information you submit will only be used to provide the estimate and will then be discarded.

Click Yes if you have a spouse or de facto, whether living with you or living elsewhere.
Click Yes if you are living in your home and either you own it or you are paying it off.
Click Yes if, when you enter Residential Aged Care, a protected person will remain living at your home. This could be your partner, or a dependent child, or an eligible carer who has been living with you in that home for the previous 2 years, or an eligible close relative who has been living with you in that home for the previous 5 years.
Enter the market value of your home less the value of any mortgages held over the home. For a retirement village unit, enter the net amount you will receive when you vacate the unit.
Include all your cash, bank/building society/credit union accounts, term deposits, bonds, managed investments, shares and securities in public companies, loans and debentures, bullion, and any gifted amounts above $10,000 in the last year or above $30,000 in the last five years.
Include all your other assets. For example, superannuation balances, investment properties, trusts, private companies, foreign assets, special collections such as art works or antiques, household contents and personal effects (typically valued at $10,000), and refundable deposits paid for accommodation in an aged care home.
Include any loan, encumbrance, charge, or debt where it is held over a financial or other asset you have listed above. Exclude any credit card debt, personal loan debt, and any mortgage over your home. Also exclude debt for loans taken out for the benefit of others, apart from your partner.
Include all your income, such as any type of pension, superannuation payments, net income from properties/businesses/farms, trust distributions, private company dividends. But exclude income from the Financial Assets you have listed above, as they will have a deemed rate of return applied.