Housing Options
Surviving the aged care maze
This downloadable PDF features finance guru, Louise Biti’s, article Surviving the aged care maze, which considers the main issues associated with moving to an aged care facility, including entry costs, bonds, periodic payments and income tests. Louise’s plain English explanations make complex requirements much simpler to understand. We hope you will enjoy this “how to” and send it to any friends who may be dealing with the same issues.
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Overview
Retirement and aged care housing options are presented here in outline. There are links to more comprehensive information in this website and in other sites.
Most older Australians choose to stay at home, in their present home, or move in with relatives or friends, or move to a smaller home. There are many government support services to help if this option is chosen.
Other options include moving to a retirement village or to a residential aged care home or to rental accommodation. There are about a dozen different forms of accommodation and here we cover the main ones.
Some options involve substantial financial and legal considerations so you may require specialist professional services and additional advice may be needed from family and friends.
An important reference is the Department of Family and Community Services’s (FaCS) booklet Home and Residence Choices for Older People. It aims to help older Australians, their families and those who care for them, with important lifestyle and housing decisions. Download Home and Residence Choices for Older People.
FaCS also publishes Australian Retiree - Your Choices, which is designed to help self-funded retirees, including those living on superannuation, maintain their chosen retirement lifestyle. This booklet is a starting point for finding out about information or assistance from federal, state or territory governments and community support groups. There is information on the very wide range of the programs, services and options on offer. Download Australian Retiree - Your Choices.
If you are going to move to another home you should read the FaCS booklet Moving House - Your Choices. It is aimed at helping older Australians (both pre and post-retirement) improve their lifestyle through the choices they make about their housing. It provides a practical and independent guide to buying, selling or renting, and the actual move. There are also suggestions about how to make modifications or repairs for those who do not want to move, and useful tips for building a new house. Download Moving House - Your Choices.
Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT)
Assessment Teams (Aged Care Assessment Service(ACAS) in Victoria) can help people obtain a range of Commonwealth funded services so they can continue living in their own home, or enter a residential aged care facility, such as those previously known as a nursing home or hostel. They can help you to get residential care, either high or low care, a Community Aged Care Package (CACP), access to the Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) program, refer you to community care services, or help you arrange short term respite care in a residential setting.
An ACAT is normally based at a hospital, geriatric centre or community centre. You can be seen at a hospital or at home. An ACAT might include a doctor, nurse, social worker, occupational therapist, physiotherapist or other health worker. Find out more about on ACATs, including a list of ACATs by state/territory and related matters.
You can go to an ACAT directly or you can get a referral from your doctor, health centre or hospital. Commonwealth Carelink Centres will also know ACATs in your area.
There is no charge for seeing an ACAT.
Carer Program
A carer is a person who, through family relationship or friendship, looks after a frail older person or someone with a disability or chronic illness. Caring can be demanding so that carers themselves can need support. The Australian Government has a range of programs and initiatives which support carers.
- Carer Payment and Carer Allowance
- A Carer Payment is similar to a pension. It is paid by Centrelink to people caring for someone who is in need of constant personal care or supervision at home for six months or more, including frail older people. Carer Payments are for people who cannot support themselves while caring for someone with a disability. It is income tested and it is not paid in addition to an existing pension.
- A Carer Allowance is a fortnightly payment through Centrelink to a carer looking after someone assessed as requiring a fairly high level of care. Carer Allowance (Adult) is for people who care for an adult with a disability at home; it replaces the former Domiciliary Nursing Care Benefit. Carer Allowance (Adult) may be paid on top of Carer Payment or other payments, such as Age Pension. It is not income tested and is not treated as taxable income.
See this Centrelink page for details
or phone Centrelink 13 27 17
- There are respite services for carers. Also those under care may be accepted for temporary respite care. The period may be as short as a half a day in a community day care centre or for a week or two in residential care at low or high level, depending on needs. It can also be for a part day or overnight in your home. You must be assessed as eligible for residential respite care by an ACAT before a government subsidy can be paid to the provider. Fees may be payable for these services, for example the basic daily care fee or a booking fee. Call 1800 059 059 to be connected to your nearest Carer Respite Centre. For more information see Respite for carers.
Entitled veterans and war widow(er)s may have the daily fee for respite care paid by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for up to 28 days in a financial year. DVA Facts Respite Care has further information on respite care applicable to veterans and war widow(er)s.
Financial Help
- Pension loan scheme
Retired people of Age Pension age (or their partners) who can’t get a pension because of their income or assets (but not both), can apply for some pension under the PLS. The loan is paid as regular fortnight pension payments and it is secured against your home or other real assets in Australia. For eligibility information and other details see this Centrelink page. You can get advice from Centrelink’s Financial Information Service. The PLS is also available to veterans who should apply through their local DVA office.
- Pension Bonus Scheme
The Pension Bonus Scheme provides a tax-free lump sum for people who voluntarily defer claiming Age or Service Pension. To get the benefit you have to register and continue to work for at least 12 months. The bonus is paid when you finally retire and receive a pension. You should register within 13 weeks of meeting the requirements. For details of registration, eligibility, payment and other matters check the Centrelink site.
- Home equity loans
Home equity conversion or a reverse mortgage involves a reversal of the cash flow associated with the traditional mortgage. The equity in the home is converted into a lump sum or an income stream whereby the homeowner receives a regular cash payment until his or her death or the house is sold. Interest, fees and charges accrue until the loan is finally paid off with the sale of the house or from the borrower’s estate. This can appeal to those who have a substantial equity in their home but don’t want to move to a smaller and cheaper property, so unlocking some of their capital.
- Carer Payment and Carer Allowance
See above under Carer Program.
- Concession cards
See our Seniors Card page for information on the Seniors Card for all states and territories, the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, Pensioner Concession Card and the Health Care Card.
Health and Ageing
Check the ‘Age Page’ of the Community Services section of your local telephone directory for many useful contact phone numbers for Commonwealth and State Government departments in your area plus listings for community groups, Home and Community Care (HACC), Aged Care Assessment Teams and other organisations.
Also check your local council’s web site for community information, community centres and contacts.
Find your local council’s website.
Indigenous Services
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Services provide aged care services using a flexible model. There is a mix of residential and community care places that can change as community needs vary. There are currently 25 operating aged care services using this flexible model. Many of these services have been established in remote areas where no aged care services were previously available.
In addition there are currently 29 mainstream residential aged care services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
See the list of service providers and locations.
Legal Assistance
The Law Society in each state and territory can refer you to lawyers who specialise in retirement village matters. Law Societies are listed on the Disputes and Advocacy page.
Residential Aged Care Homes
Frail older people who can no longer be assisted to live at home may seek to live in a residential aged care home.
These homes provide accommodation and a range of services including 24 hour staffing, meals, laundry and cleaning services, furnishings, furniture and equipment. Some homes will provide additional services (such as hairdressing) for a fee or they may offer ‘extra services’ with a higher standard of accommodation and food for an additional charge.
Most homes are in the private sector (such as charitable and religious groups and private organisations) and receive Australian Government funding. They are also regulated by the Australian Government.
You need to be assessed as eligible by an ACAT (see above) before you can enter a federally subsidised aged care home.
Low level care is that which was formerly provided by ‘hostels’ and high level care by ‘nursing homes’. The essential difference is that hostels provide only some level of nursing care while nursing homes provide 24-hour nursing care. Some homes provide only low level care and some only high level, while many now provide both so that you can ‘age in place’. If you enter a home that specialises in low level care you may have to move to a high level home if you become more frail.
High level care is usually 24-hour nursing care combined with accommodation, support services (cleaning, laundry and meals), personal care services (help with dressing, eating, toileting, bathing and moving around) and allied health services (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy and podiatry).
Low level care combines accommodation and an emphasises on personal care services. Low level care services also provide support services and some allied health services. Low level aged care homes generally have nurses on staff or easy access to them.
More information on residential care services. The links from that page include a list of all homes throughout Australia.
You can also check the List of Aged Care Homes With Extra Service.
Aged Care Network is a comprehensive and informative online resource which can help you locate certified providers of high and low residential aged care in your preferred area in Australia.
Help in finding a home is also available from Commonwealth Carelink Centres, ACATs, family doctor and social workers.
The booklet 5 steps to Entry into Residential Aged Care provides information needed for the decisions you will have to make in the process of entering an aged care home. It will help the individual, a carer or family and friends to understand what residential aged care is, why you might want or need it, and how to go about arranging it. It is available online or from the Aged and Community Care Information Line on 1800 500 853.
Application Form
Applicants for residential aged care usually complete an application form. There are several forms in use but an Application for Respite Care or Permament Entry to Aged Care Homes can be used Australia-wide and only has to be completed once. Download the form.
Costs
Homes may be government funded hostels, standard nursing homes, ‘extra service’ nursing homes and the private sector. The costs are structured differently in each sector. Whether you are a pensioner, part-pensioner, blind pensioner or non-pensioner will affect the payment.
- Daily care fees are the same whether you are a resident in a low level or high level care home. These fees have two components:
- Basic daily care fees are based on the pension and are indexed.
- Income tested daily care fees for residents with a higher income. Part-pensioners and non-pensioners may be required to pay an additional income tested fee. The assessment is done by Centrelink or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Details here.
- Accommodation payments.
- Accommodation bond. You may be asked to pay an accommodation bond if you enter hostel care. It can also apply in a low level or high level home offering ‘extra service.’ In effect, the bond is an interest free loan to the home and most is refunded to the person or their estate when they leave. If you can’t afford it then you won’t be asked to pay it. The bond is treated as an asset by Centrelink and DVA pension assets tests.More information on Accommodation Bonds.
- Accommodation charge. A high level care home may require payment of an asset-tested accommodation charge. It can apply for a maximum of five years. If you pay an accommodation bond to a home you cannot also be asked to pay an accommodation charge. More information on The Accommodation Charge.
- Concessional and assisted residents. If you cannot afford to pay the accommodation bond or accommodation charge you may be eligible to be a concessional or assisted resident. All providers must take a minimum number of concessional and assisted residents and they receive extra Australian Government payment for these residents. Concessional residents include means-tested pensioners who have not owned their own home in the past two years and who have assets of less than two-and-a-half times the annual single basic age pension. Assisted residents must meet the same criteria as concessional residents but can have assets of more than two-and-a-half times and less than four times the annual single basic age pension. There are also Hardship Provisions for people who would face genuine hardship if they were to pay an accommodation charge.
More information on care fees, or contact the Aged and Community Care Information Line: Freecall 1800 500 853.
- Veterans and war widow(er)s. Go to this Department of Health and Ageing information sheet for information on care fees applicable to veterans and war widow(er)s.
- Extra service fee. If you are in a home with ‘extra services’ there will be an additional fee. The amount must be specified on the contract which you sign before taking up residence.
- Respite Care. If you enter a residential aged care home for a short respite there will be a daily fee but there are no accommodation payments.
- Rent Assistance. You may be able to offset some costs with Rent Assistance. It can be paid if the home you are living in does receive a subsidy from the government for your care costs.
Complaints and Advocacy
The Aged Care Complaints Resolution Scheme is a free service which deals with complaints about Commonwealth funded community and residential aged care services. Check their website to find out what you can complain about and the processes involved.
For more information visit, The Office of the Commissioner For Complaints
Alternatively phone the Aged Care Complaints Resolution Line: Freecall 1800 550 552
If you are concerned about the way your complaint is being handled you can contact the Office of the Commissioner for Complaints: Freecall 1800 500 294
State and territory government departments also have procedures for complaints about aged care services.
An advocate is someone who stands beside you and works and speaks solely on your behalf, and at your direction. There are advocacy services in all states and territories. See the list with contact information on our Dispute Resolution and Advocacy page.
Community Visitors Scheme
The CVS provides a regular friendly visiting scheme for people in aged care homes who are isolated or lonely. Funded by the Australian Government, community-based organisations operate the Scheme in all States and Territories. Staff in aged care homes can assist in putting residents in contact with a visitor. If you wish to be a volunteer visitor or you know someone who would benefit from a visit, contact your local Commonwealth Carelink Centre, Freecall 1800 052 222.
Go there
Stay At Home
Help Available
Most older Australians choose to stay in their present home, move in with relatives or friends or move to a smaller home. Many will eventually need help to stay at home.
- Community Care Services
The aim of community care is to enable people to remain living in their own home. There is generally a fee for services.
For more information see the Australian Government’s Community Care page.
- Commonwealth Carelink Centres
Centres throughout Australia provide information to older Australians, their families, carers, general practitioners, other health professionals or anyone else who needs reliable information and guidance about community care services and aged care homes available in the local community. The service is free and confidential. Go to the Commonwealth Carelink Centre page for details including the locations of all Centres. Phone Freecall 1800 052 222 and you will be connected to the nearest centre.
- Home and Community Care (HACC)
HACC provides services to people in their own homes. While it is for people of all ages who require assistance most HACC recipients are pensioners and some 40% are over 80 years old. Services include personal care, community nursing, health and respite care, delivered meals, home help, home modification and maintenance, banking, shopping assistance, transport, counselling, information and advocacy. A Commonwealth Carelink Centre can advise on services available in your area. More on HACC.
On the HACC website go to Publications for The HACC Program and Aged Services in Australia: A Guide for Older People and Community Care for Older People and People with Disabilities: Explaining the HACC Program.
- Community Aged Care Package (CACP)
CACPs provide an alternative to hostel based residential care. They are for people who would otherwise be eligible for low level residential care and supply an intensive level of home care with the aim of enabling older people to remain at home. You have to have an assessment first by an Aged Care Assessment Team to determine if a CACP is appropriate for your needs. In most cases, you will be charged a fee for your Community Aged Care Package. For more information see the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing CACP page.
- Veteran’s Home Care
This program is to help veterans and war widows/widowers remain in their own homes. The services provided by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs include community nursing, in-home and residential respite care, allied health services, home modifications, transport for health care, domestic assistance, personal care, home and garden maintenance and respite care. Fees are payable. See the DVA Veterans’ Home Care page.
- Home Maintenance and Modification Service
The Home and Community Care program has a Home Maintenance and Modification Service for eligible non-veterans. Through it there can be installation of ramps and handrails and bathroom modifications to ensure frail, aged or disabled people are safe in their homes. Home maintenance incluses such things as changing a light globe, repairing door locks, removing rubbish and roof repairs.
- Homeshare
Homeshare is a program that brings together older householders who could benefit from help in the home and companionship, with people prepared to lend a hand in return for free accommodation. Homeshare is a shared housing arrangement based on the barter system. The householder provides a bedroom and shares facilities. The homesharer provides up to 10 hours a week of practical assistance around the home such as cooking, cleaning, shopping, gardening, company and the security of someone sleeping in the home. Homeshare is presently available in Melbourne and Sydney. Go to the Homeshare website for more information and contacts.
- Day Therapy Centres
DTCs throughout Australia provide a range of therapy services to assist the frail aged to either maintain or recover a level of independence, which will allow them to remain either in the community or in low level residential care. The services may include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and podiatry. There may be a fee for these services. There are over 150 centres around Australia, mostly located at aged care homes. Their services are available to the residents of those homes and to frail older people living in the community. More information.
- Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH)
This program provides an option for older people with high and complex care needs to be supported in their own homes. ACAT assessment is a prerequisite. Find out more about the EACH program.
- Multipurpose Services (MPS)
This is a Commonwealth/State government initiative to provide improved ways of meeting the health and aged care needs of people living in rural and remote communities where traditional services may not be feasible. An MPS brings together the local health and aged care services under one management structure and may include residential aged care, palliative care and HACC services including community nursing, domestic assistance and meals on wheels, integrated services for young children including infant welfare, immunisation and parenting information, mental health, radiology, women’s health and podiatry. More about MPS.
- Aids, Appliances and Equipment
The health, human services or disability departments of state/territory governments have programs to make available to eligible people many aids, appliances and equipment to help you live at home or in a retirement village. The programs have different names, different services and different eligibility requirements. Contact your relevant state/territory department for details. Examples of state/territory programs:
Also see Independent Living Centres. The Centres display a comprehensive range of products and equipment to assist with day to day living and you can try out products and equipment and select those most suitable before you buy. They offer information and unbiased advice from health professionals. The Centres do not sell or hire out items but can provide supplier details and approximate prices.
You can also buy items to assist living in the home. In addition to checking the range in local pharmacies, look in the Yellow Pages under "Disabled Persons’ Equipment &/orServices" and "Invalid Aids &/or Equipment".
- Associations
There are many associations which can help. Most in the health field are listed, with links to their websites and/or phone numbers, on our Seniors Health Organisations page. Other associations particularly aimed at older people are on our Seniors National Associations page. State and Territory associations can be found by going to the various State/Terrioty which can be found from the menu: Organisations > State Associations > State/Territory > Your state
Supported Residential Service (Victoria only)
Supported residential services operate privately in Victoria to provide older people with a disability with accommodation and special or personal care for an ongoing fee. Generally there is no accommodation bond, nor is there an income or asset test so a resident can leave at short notice.
See Your rights and responsibitities in Supported Residential Services (SRS) (PDF file).
