Changes to fees, contributions, and accommodation costs while in an aged care home

When you receive care in an aged care home (residential aged care), you can have changes in your fees, the contributions you make towards your care, as well as your accommodation costs. 

How can my care fees change? 

Your fees can change because of changes to your personal or financial circumstances, regular indexation of government set fees, annual indexation of provider set fees, reviews of your optional services and higher everyday living fees. 

These events can affect your residential aged care fees: 

Basic daily fee 

• Regular indexation in March and September in line with changes to the age pension. 

Hotelling contribution (1 November 2025 fee arrangements)

• Changes to your personal or financial circumstances
• Regular indexation of aged care rates and thresholds, and government subsidies and supplements
• Indexation of the daily cap (the hotelling supplement), which is currently $22.15.

Non-clinical care contribution (1 November 2025 fee arrangements) 

• Changes to your personal or financial circumstances
• Regular indexation of aged care rates and thresholds, and government subsidies and supplements
• Indexation of the daily cap, which is currently $105.30
• Reaching the lifetime cap, which is currently $135,318.69 

Means tested care fee (1 July 2014 fee arrangements) 

• Changes to your personal or financial circumstances
• Changes to your care needs
• Regular indexation of aged care rates and thresholds, and government subsidies and supplements
• Reaching the annual cap, which is currently $35,238.11
• Reaching your anniversary of starting aged care, which means the means tested care fee can restart
• Reaching the lifetime cap, which is currently $84,571.66.

Income tested fee (pre-1 July 2014 fee arrangements) 

• Changes to your personal or financial circumstances
• Changes to your care needs
• Regular indexation of aged care rates and thresholds, and government subsidies and supplements
• Indexation of the daily cap, which is currently $105.30. 

Accommodation contribution (1 July 2014 and 1 November 2025 fee arrangements) 

• Changes to your personal or financial circumstances
• Regular indexation of aged care rates and thresholds, and government subsidies and supplements
• The rate of accommodation supplement applicable to your aged care home (which limits your accommodation contribution).
• Note: Your accommodation contribution will not change as a result of the deduction of refundable accommodation contribution (RAC) retentions.

Daily accommodation payments (DAPs) (1 November 2025 accommodation arrangements)

• Indexation of DAPs on 20 March and 20 September.
• Note: Your DAP will not change as a result of the deduction of refundable accommodation deposit (RAD) retentions. 

Accommodation costs 

• If you are covered by the 1 July 2014 fee arrangements and have a break in care of more than 28 days (other than on approved leave) RAD/RAC retentions and DAP indexing will apply when you re-enter care.

Higher everyday living fees 

• Annual indexation of higher everyday living fees on 1 July
• Changes to fees if you add or remove services when you and your provider review your higher everyday living agreement, which happens once a year. 

Read more about aged care home costs if you entered care before 1 July 2014, before 1 November 2025, or from 1 November 2025.

Reporting changes in your circumstances 

If you are an aged care home resident, you must report any changes to your income and assets, as these can affect how much you pay. Doing this will help ensure that your means assessment is correct and you are paying the right amount in resident contributions. 

How will I find out if my fees have changed?

If your fees change, Services Australia will let you (and/or your nominee, if you have one) and your provider know by letter. They will also write to you and your service provider if you reach the annual or lifetime caps.

Review of fees 

Services Australia will update the residential aged care means assessment in near real-time. This means that your resident fees, contributions, and accommodation costs will be updated regularly when there is a change in your personal or financial circumstances 

They will also update your fees in line with regular changes to government set fees in March and September.

What happens if my fees change? 

If there are changes to any of your fees, Services Australia will send you a letter to let you know. The date your fees changed will be included in the letter. If the only fee that changes for you is the basic daily fee, your provider will let you know. 

If the date your fees changed is in the past and you have overpaid your fees, your provider will refund you the overpaid amount. 

Refund amounts advised in letters from Services Australia are only valid if you have paid the fee amounts previously advised by Services Australia. If you paid a different amount, your provider may need to adjust the refund amount. Your provider can explain this to you.

Annual and lifetime caps

Annual and/or lifetime caps apply to some of the contributions determined by your means assessment. This includes: 

• non-clinical care contributions (if you’re on 1 November 2025 fee arrangements)
• means tested care fees (if you’re on 1 July 2014 fee arrangements) 

These fees are calculated daily and are different for everyone because they depend on your income and assets. You pay the fees for each day you are in care until you reach a cap. This means the time it takes to reach the cap will be different for everyone. 

Once you reach a lifetime cap, you cannot be asked to pay any more of these fees. Once you reach an annual cap for a given year, you cannot be asked to pay this fee for the remainder of the year. However, you may have to start paying from the following year. You may also have to pay other fees. 

Annual and lifetime caps are indexed on 20 March and 20 September each year. The cap amounts that apply to you are those that are current when you reach them, not those that were current when you entered care.