Guides to aged care fees

• Higher everyday living fees (HELF), explained

  What a higher everyday living fee is, when a home may ask for one, the 28-day cooling-off period, and why the price is rarely published.

  Checked 8 Nov 2026

• RAD retention: the 2% a year kept from a lump sum, explained

  From 1 November 2025 a home keeps 2% a year of a refundable accommodation deposit for up to five years. What that costs, worked out day by day.

  Checked 8 Nov 2026

• RAD or DAP: lump sum or daily payment for an aged care room

  The same room priced three ways: as a refundable lump sum, as a daily payment, or part of each, with what each choice costs and what to weigh up.

  Checked 8 Nov 2026

• The aged care means test, explained

  How Services Australia turns income, assets and the home into a daily means tested amount, and what that amount decides about the room and the contributions.

  Checked 8 Nov 2026

• When the government pays for the room

  Where the line is for government help with an aged care room: all of it, part of it or none, by the daily means tested amount.

  Checked 8 Nov 2026

• Choosing an aged care home: questions to ask

  A short list to take to each aged care home: the room and its price, extras, dementia care, staff, languages and visits.

  Checked 8 Nov 2026

• Aged care fees: the old and new rules side by side

  What changed for people moving into an aged care home from 1 November 2025, next to the rules that still apply to everyone who moved in before.

  Checked 8 Nov 2026

What aged care costs, part by part · Monthly cost calculator