From the archive - a Noel Whittaker column we hadn't covered yet, and one worth reading before a parent moves into care.
When a family starts looking at aged care homes, almost everyone fixes on one number: the room price, or Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD). Noel Whittaker's point in this column is that the RAD is only the beginning. There are five separate charges in residential aged care, and the ones that quietly do the damage are the ongoing daily fees rather than the headline lump sum.
Everyone pays the basic daily fee, which is set at 85 per cent of the single age pension and covers meals, laundry, cleaning and utilities. On top of that sit two means-tested amounts: a hotelling contribution for hospitality-style costs, and a non-clinical care contribution, each capped on a daily basis. The non-clinical contribution also carries a lifetime cap and stops after four years of cumulative care. Then there is the room itself - pay the RAD as a lump sum, or pay a Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP), which is really just interest on the unpaid balance at a government-set rate. Many families end up doing some of each.
Why this matters if you are somewhere between 40 and 60: you are probably the one running the numbers for a parent right now, and the same arithmetic will be yours later. How the room is funded - selling the family home, drawing down savings, or leaving the house untouched - changes the means-tested fees, the age pension entitlement and often what is left in the estate. Two families with identical assets can end up paying very different amounts.
One practical note: these fee amounts are indexed twice a year, on 20 March and 20 September, so always check the current figures on My Aged Care before committing to anything.
"A small change in the way you fund your aged care can save tens of thousands of dollars over the course of your stay."
Read the full article: Aged care has five separate fees - here's what they really cost - Noel Whittaker, YourLifeChoices, 12 August 2026.
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