All About Aged Care

17/11/2025

Much has been written recently about the shortage of beds in aged care and the effect this is having on hospital beds. Simply put, hospital administrators say that there are thousands of elderly patients who are occupying hospital beds who should be relocated to a bed in an aged care facility. These patients are being unkindly termed “bed-blockers”.

Unfortunately, there are insufficient available beds in aged care facilities to allow this to happen.

This is not the whole truth. There are beds available for most would-be residents provided they are able to pay the Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) or Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP) required by the facility.

Unfortunately, the subsidy paid by the government to facilities for supported residents is usually less than half of what a facility can receive from fee paying residents. This means financially straitened facility operators have little incentive to offer supported beds.

There is an obvious (but not complete) answer to this problem. The government needs to allocate enough money to aged care so that subsidies match the economic realities.

If you need help for a loved one in this increasingly difficult environment, please book a consultation here https://calendly.com/lewis-chiat

10/11/2025

Last week saw the new Aged Care Act 2024 come into force.

It has been hailed as the biggest change in aged care in Australia in a generation.
It is said to usher in a new “rights-based charter” for elderly Australians needing care, either in their own homes or in residential facilities.

While this noble goal may be achieved eventually, at present what we are seeing is confusion and concern.

A particular concern is the new fees and charges which have been introduced and the requirement for co-payments from most new consumers.

The changes are not easy to understand, and the government’s messaging has been slow and added to the confusion.

Now, more than ever, consumers need to reach out to an industry expert for help.
Contact us if you or a loved one needs advice or help to navigate the maze

30/10/2025

On 1 November 2025 the new Aged Care Act 2024 will come into force.

For people who are already resident in aged care facilities on 31 October 2025 there will be no material change to the fees charged. So too, those new residents who have an annual income of less than $34,672 and assets of less than $63,000.

Everyone else entering care after 1 November 2025 will face higher costs.
Prof. Michael Woods, Jin Sug Yang, Louise Malady and Assoc. Prof. Nelson Ma of UTS Sydney have published in The Conversation of 21 October 2025, a very useful summary of these costs (shared below).

If you would like to know how we can help you find quality care for your loved one please message us.

https://theconversation.com/changes-are-coming-for-residential-aged-care-heres-what-to-know-265676

14/10/2025

When the answer is “NO”

The below excellent article from Hello Leaders newsletter of 8 October 2025, very succinctly deals with a problem which often manifests itself when seeking permanent residential placement.

We are often told after submitting an application for placement that the facility in question is “unable to meet the care needs of [y]our client”. This is ‘aged care speak’ for “we think your client will be too difficult to look after”.

There is no easy answer to this response as we are not privy to the operational considerations that contribute to the making of such decisions. All we can do as placement consultants is knock on enough doors and hope that one or more will open.

Clearly though, it is vital that government provides sufficient funding to facilities to ensure that those in need – and often those with challenging behaviours are the most in need – can be looked after in comfort and with dignity.

Aged care’s quiet exclusion: When the system rewards those who say “no” | Hello Leaders AUS https://helloleaders.com.au/article/aged-cares-quiet-exclusion-when-the-system-rewards-those-who-say-no

13/10/2025

Just 31 days to implement 633 pages of the new Aged Care Rules 2025

Late last year the Aged Care Act 2024 (Act) was passed.

The Act was originally due to commence on 1 July 2025 but shortly before that date the government announced the Act’s introduction was postponed to 1 November 2025.

Ostensibly, the reason for the postponement was to provide more time for providers to get ready for the changes wrought by the Act. More cynical industry insiders said the real reason was that the government itself wasn’t ready to implement the Act.

On 23 September 2025 the government finally published the Aged Care Rules 2025 (Rules).

These are the “nuts and bolts” the industry will have to follow to ensure proper compliance with the Act and its goal of person-centred care.

The Rules consist of 14 chapters and run to 633 pages.

We can only sympathise with our industry colleagues who have now have 31 days to get on top of these and create the manuals and training programs to ensure compliance.

17/09/2025

Finding beds for residents who are eligible for a concessional (i.e. a government supported) bed is proving to be a real challenge at present. The attached article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Aged Care Guru, Rachel Lane, (she really is!) explains why we have this problem.
Unfortunately, only more money from the government can help fix it.

https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/why-this-new-policy-could-mean-you-miss-out-on-aged-care-20250916-p5mvdl.html

17/09/2025

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has released its revised schedule of fees and charges payable from 20 September 2025 by recipients for home and residential aged care.
These fees and amounts are indexed every 6 months.

A link to the full document is attached below.

The Basic Daily Fee for residential care will increase to $65.55 per day.
The Home Exemption Cap, beyond which asset level residents are liable to pay a Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD), is now $210,555.20.
The Maximum Prescribed Interest Rate on unpaid RAD will reduce from 1 October 2025 to 7.61% per annum.
https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-09/schedule_of_fees_and_charges_for_residential_and_home_care_from_20_september_2025.pdf

07/08/2025

Today, 7 August, is Aged Care Employee Day. It's our chance to thank and pay our respect to the thousands of dedicated women and men who work in aged care.
On our regular visits to aged care facilities all across the Perth Metropolitan area we are constantly in awe of the love, respect, kindness, care, compassion and patience shown by these special people for the residents of the facilities at which they work.
On behalf of our many clients who are in your care and their families and us, thank you!
You are all ACE.

08/07/2025

In what is being described as a "landmark" decision, Justice Woodward, the President of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, yesterday ruled that some retirees living in a Lifestyle community village were entitled to have their deferred management or exit fees voided.
The Tribunal found that there had been insufficient notification given to purchasers of these costs in their contracts. Although a formula had been specified in the purchase contract, this was held not to be sufficient.
The formal orders have yet to be made. We suspect the decision will be appealed given its wider implications.
However, it does for now, even the playing field between residents and community operators.
Give us a call if you are affected.

A tribunal has ruled that the housing provider’s exit fees for some of its residents breached tenancy laws and in some cases were “harsh”.

24/06/2025

Do you want to know how much more you might be paying for residential aged care when the new Aged Care Act comes into force on 1 November 2025?
We ran some numbers through the myagedcare fees estimator.
The results are reported in our latest Blog article.

Aged Care Act increases costs for non-supported residents, impacting accommodation deposits, daily payments, and care contributions from July 2025

04/06/2025

The government has today announced that implementation of the Aged Care Act has been deferred until 1 November 2025.
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.health.gov.au%2Fnews%2Fnew-aged-care-act-to-start-from-1-november%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAYnJpZBEwQWJ5aFFreXRGeEx5aWx2UwEeXN-C-dRY4HOa9ocRk_Es343r2ba3qENvHGbB1rQnzhnLo-H6WUQ_SWOjfDc_aem_GvMbN8a5ssvDPsXxgDN7pw&h=AT0gEnjbRGjlvT1ceAdRUIMbRdan-colJomx3Fxc6zdAc6p8QK4PhQRvSLJpoYcdL-gISO_H0k1dPW05pqyQCnBUipbRvt1L1mdZx7H5bIL9siH0zzfry3eW2ZfoJoy8Iw&__tn__=%2CmH-R&c[0]=AT1ugODk0cVOcTKfQzvPQDO9Iq6r9beE_gwpCEB-KxFJDNlVokhIt1R9dIvN-YwpHVTfawJojxiB5myGJfTxf5lUqBj0YXyeQv0-mEnOgUuPh3wNQaRGMQ217iyEW4V4Rtkmj5K0oigfssLQhmiidzRJT6bGkyXNBsoNRWwg7aMLEIvww3grJ9LOmzu8q-qt16Q5Z_gzRLQ0t7RB5LsbPL8NHCZyNw

The Australian Government has announced that the start date of the new Aged Care Act 2024 will be briefly deferred.

22/05/2025

On 1 July the new Aged Care Act comes into force. It will dramatically increase the costs payable by residents with assets above $206,630.
These are residents who will have to pay a Refundable Accommodation Payment (RAD).
The attached article by finance guru Rachel Lane makes for scary reading. Please reach out if you need help in navigating the aged care system.

Australians in or facing retirement are in for a nasty surprise when it comes to the new cost of aged care being rolled out from July 1.