Some of your aged care costs will depend on your financial circumstances. To find out how much you will contribute towards permanent care in an aged care home, you will need a means assessment.
On this page, we help you understand how means assessments for residential aged care (aged care homes) work.
Understanding means assessments
You may be eligible for more Australian Government assistance towards your aged care costs if your income and assets are below a certain level.
For most people, the means assessment is done by Services Australia. However, if you receive a means tested payment from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), they will do the assessment.
Means assessments are completed using computer programs, and information may be automatically drawn from your age pension means test. You can request a review of your assessment if you disagree with the outcome.
Completing a means assessment isn't mandatory. However, if you choose not to complete one, you can be asked to pay the maximum contribution rate.
If you're moving into an aged care home, you may have to pay contributions based on your means (income and assets) and accommodation costs. You will need your means assessed to determine how much you might pay and how much the Australian Government will contribute.
- If you’re a full or part pensioner, Services Australia (or DVA) will use the information you provided for your pension assessment to determine your aged care home contributions. However, if you own a home, you will need to provide this information in a means assessment form, as this isn’t collected for pension purposes.
- If you’re a non-pensioner (self-funded retiree), you will need to complete a means assessment form to provide your financial details to Services Australia (or DVA). Anyone who doesn’t provide this information will pay at the highest rates.
What happens if I’m part of a couple?
Half your combined income and assets is included in the assessment, regardless of who earns the income or whose name the asset is held in. You can still be considered a couple if you are living apart for health-related reasons.
What happens after the means assessment
Once your assessment is complete, Services Australia will send you a fee advice letter, which will outline:
- your basic daily fee
- your hotelling contribution (if any)
- your non-clinical care contribution (if any)
- your means tested care fee (if any)
- whether you will need to pay the agreed room price as an accommodation payment, or the maximum amount you can be asked to pay as an accommodation contribution.
The letter will advise if you are eligible for government assistance, or whether you will pay the room price you negotiate with the home. When you agree to move into an aged care home, they will ask to see this letter so they know what government assistance you’ll receive with your accommodation costs.
If there is a change in your personal or financial circumstances, you’ll need to notify Services Australia (or DVA) so they can update your assessment and reissue your fee advice letter. Changes to circumstances could include a change in your marital status or financial status, selling your home, or paying a lump sum towards your aged care home accommodation.
Learn more about the legal requirement to keep your means up to date.
You can get your means assessed at any time, even before you enter care. However, your fee advice letter is only valid for 120 days from the date of your assessment. So, if you don’t enter care during this time, you will need to complete another assessment.
If your pre-entry fee advice letter was issued before 1 November 2025, it will show fees calculated under the 1 July 2014 fee arrangements. The fees in the letter may not be valid if you enter residential care on or after 1 November 2025, even if that’s within your 120-day timeframe. Services Australia will send you another fee advice letter when you enter care.
- SA457: This is the Residential Aged Care Calculation of your costs of care form. Complete this form if you need a means assessment and you don’t receive a means tested income support payment.
- SA485: This is the Residential Aged Care Property details for Centrelink and DVA customers form. Complete this form if you need a means assessment and you’re on a means tested income support payment and you own or part own your own home.
These forms are managed by Services Australia. They manage payments for a number of Australian government agencies, and they are a separate organisation to My Aged Care.
If you have questions or concerns about the forms, you can call Services Australia on 1800 227 475 or visit a service centre.
To find out if you need to fill out a means assessment form, visit the Services Australia website.
Assessable income includes, but is not limited to:
- income support payments from the Australian Government such as the age pension, a service pension, or an income support supplement
- deemed (not actual) income from financial assets
- net income from rental property
- war widow or widower pensions and some disability pensions
- net income from businesses, including farms
- superannuation and overseas pensions, and income from income stream products such as annuities and allocated pensions
- family trust distributions or dividends from private company shares
- deemed income from excess gifting.
The assessment uses what’s called a deemed rate of income for your financial assets, so the actual income earned on an asset is not counted. This means that if you earn more than the deemed income, the extra amount is ignored.
The deemed rate applies to, but is not limited to:
- bank, building society, and credit union accounts
- cash
- term deposits
- cheque accounts
- friendly society bonds
- managed investments
- listed shares and securities
- loans and debentures
- shares in unlisted public companies
- gold and other bullion
- account-based income streams from 1 January 2015.
Assets not deemed to be earning income include:
- your home or its contents
- cars, boats, and caravans
- antiques, stamp or coin collections
- standard life insurance policies
- holiday homes, farms, or other real estate
- accommodation bonds, refundable deposits.
Current deeming rates are provided on the Schedule of Residential Fees and Charges.
Assets not deemed to be earning income include:
- your home or its contents
- cars, boats, and caravans
- antiques, stamp or coin collections
- standard life insurance policies
- holiday homes, farms, or other real estate
- accommodation bonds, refundable deposits.
All your assets are considered, including financial assets, but special rules apply in some situations.
Financial assets include but are not limited to:
- bank, building society, and credit union accounts
- cash
- term deposits
- cheque accounts
- friendly society bonds
- managed investments
- listed shares and securities
- loans and debentures
- shares in unlisted public companies
- gold and other bullion
- gifted assets: gifted amounts above $10,000 in the last financial year or above $30,000 in the last five financial years (or amounts above $10,000 in any of those financial years) are included as a financial asset.
Other assets include but are not limited to:
- household contents and personal effects (these are typically valued at $10,000)
- foreign assets including investments, business interests, and real estate
- investment property
- special collections such as stamps, art works, or antiques
- superannuation balances
- private trusts, family trusts, and private companies
- refundable deposits paid for accommodation in an aged care home.
Part of the value of your family home may be counted in your assessment.
If you keep your family home, a capped amount of $210,555.20 (as at 20 September 2025) or the net market value of your house (if lower) is included in your means assessment. If you are part of a couple, each partner is considered to own half of the home. So, half of the net market value or the capped value is included as an asset – whichever is lower. The cap is applied to each half of the home.
Your home won't be counted as an asset if it is occupied by a protected person. A protected person includes:
- your partner or dependent child
- a carer eligible for an Australian Government income support payment who has been living in the home with you for at least 2 years
- a close relative who is eligible for an Australian Government income support payment who has been living in the home with you for at least 5 years.
From 1 January 2025, payments made under the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Act 2018 (National Redress Scheme) can be excluded as an asset from the residential aged care means assessment.
This exemption is available to:
- anyone accessing permanent care in an aged care home who has received this type of redress payment, or receives one in the future.
- any aged care home resident whose partner has received this type of redress payment. This is because half of the combined assets of both members of a couple is included in their means assessment.
To protect applicants’ privacy, we cannot access information about National Redress Scheme payments. You will need to tell Services Australia or DVA about your redress payment for it to be excluded from your assets. You will also need to provide a bank statement or similar showing the redress payment amount and the date the payment was made.
You can do this by:
- contacting Services Australia on their Aged Care line (1800 227 475)
- visiting a Services Australia service centre.
To avoid the need to talk about the payment if declaring it in person at a service centre, you can present your ‘Payment from the National Redress Scheme – NRS049’ letter. This letter would have been included with the remittance advice from the National Redress Scheme. Do not provide full, detailed remittance advice – only the ‘NRS049’ page.
If you’re already in an aged care home, you may be due a refund of means tested care fees or accommodation costs. If you tell Services Australia or DVA about your payment, you will get a letter advising any refund amount. Your provider will pay it to you.
If you have received a redress payment or an offer of redress, we encourage you to seek free financial counselling through Knowmore. Their financial counsellors can help you understand how a National Redress Scheme payment may affect you, including impacts on Centrelink, housing and other financial circumstances.
Learn more about getting financial counselling through Knowmore.
If you don’t think the outcome of your means assessment is correct, you can ask Services Australia (or DVA) to review their decision. They will follow up with you on the next steps. To discuss your assessment, call Services Australia on 1800 227 475 or DVA on 1800 838 372.