Where to start
Aged care can involve help at home, a temporary stay or moving into a residential home. Start by understanding the support needed and the person's preferences. The guides below cover the questions families face at each stage, with links to the government services that arrange assessments and explain funding.
Begin with types of care if you are weighing up the options. If a move is being considered, read about assessment and applying, then use the costs guide to prepare questions about fees.
Source: My Aged Care — types of care.
From information to a decision
An assessment establishes eligibility for government-funded care. Choosing a home is a separate step: consider the person's needs, the care available, location and the proposed agreement. Bring your questions to the provider and confirm current arrangements directly.
Use our home directory to explore locations, and the rating methodology to understand what Elderberry's scores show. For questions about daily life after a move, start with life in care.
Sources: My Aged Care — getting assessed and agreeing to an aged care home.
Costs and fees
- How Much Does a Nursing Home Cost in Australia? (2026)
What residential aged care really costs in 2026: the basic daily fee, means-tested care fee, RAD and DAP accommodation payments, with current government rates.
- The Aged Care Means Test Explained: Fees, Caps, What Counts
How Services Australia assesses your income and assets for residential aged care, the maximum means-tested fee, annual and lifetime caps, and what is exempt.
- What Is a RAD in Aged Care? RAD and DAP Explained
The Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) and Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP) explained: how each works, how the DAP is calculated, and which suits your family.
- How to Pay for Nursing Home Care in Australia
The ways families actually pay for residential aged care: lump-sum RAD, daily payments, combinations, and what happens with the family home and pension.
- The 'Calculation of Your Cost of Care' Form (SA457)
What the SA457 means assessment form is for, who should lodge it, what happens if you don't, and how to complete it without a financial adviser.
- Who Pays for Aged Care in Australia? How Funding Works
How Australian aged care is funded between the government and residents, what the subsidies cover, and which fees you can be asked to pay yourself.
- Can a Nursing Home Take Your House in Australia?
No one seizes your home, but it can count in the means test. When the house is exempt, who counts as a protected person, and alternatives to selling.
- What Is the Basic Daily Fee for Aged Care?
The basic daily fee every aged care resident pays: the current rate, how it is set at 85% of the age pension, what it covers and what it never covers.
- What Happens If You Can't Afford Aged Care in Australia?
Low means does not mean no care: how supported places work, what the government covers, financial hardship assistance, and the steps to take now.
Applying for care
- How Does Aged Care Work in Australia? The Full Picture
The Australian aged care system end to end: the types of care, My Aged Care, assessments, costs and subsidies, and how families move through it.
- How to Get Into a Nursing Home in Australia: Step by Step
The path into residential aged care: My Aged Care registration, the ACAT assessment, approvals, finding a place and what the move itself involves.
- Who Is Eligible for a Nursing Home in Australia?
Residential aged care eligibility: the age and care-need rules, how the ACAT assessment decides, and what approval actually entitles you to.
- How to Put Someone Into a Nursing Home in Australia
Moving a parent or partner into residential care: consent and capacity, the assessment, urgent placements, and how to handle refusal with respect.
- How to Find and Choose a Nursing Home in Australia
A working method for shortlisting aged care homes: star ratings and what they hide, the questions to ask on tour, and how to compare homes near you.
- How to Link My Aged Care to myGov: Quick Guide
Linking your My Aged Care record to myGov step by step: what you need, where the link hides, and what to do when the details don't match.
Types of care
- What Is Residential Aged Care? Nursing Homes Explained
What residential aged care homes provide, who they are for, how they are regulated and rated, and how they differ from home care and retirement living.
- Retirement Village vs Aged Care: The Real Differences
Retirement villages and residential aged care are different products with different laws, costs and care levels. Which fits, and when people move between them.
- Assisted Living vs Nursing Homes in Australia
What Australians mean by assisted living, how it differs from a nursing home, and how to tell which level of support fits your situation.
- Aged Care vs Nursing Home: Is There a Difference?
Aged care, nursing home, residential aged care facility: what each term means in Australia today and why the old names persist.
Life in care
- Respite Care in a Nursing Home: What It Is, What It Costs
Short-term residential respite: who it is for, how many days government funding covers, what it costs per day, and how to book it.
- Aged Care Residents' Rights: Charter, Evictions, Leaving
The Charter of Aged Care Rights in practice: whether residents can leave the facility, when a provider can end an agreement, and where to complain.
- Does the NDIS Cover Aged Care? How the Two Systems Meet
The NDIS and aged care are separate systems with an age line at 65. Which one applies, what happens at the boundary, and the choices existing participants keep.
- Does DVA Pay for Aged Care? Veterans' Options Explained
How DVA support interacts with residential aged care fees: what veterans still pay, what DVA covers, and how service pensions affect the means test.
- How Often Should You Visit a Parent in a Nursing Home?
There is no correct number. What research and carers say about visit frequency, what matters more than the count, and how to make visits easier.
- What Happens When Someone Dies in a Nursing Home
The practical steps after a death in residential aged care: certification, who is notified, the room and belongings, fees, and the RAD refund timeline.
