Life in care
What happens when someone dies in a nursing home in Australia?
Updated 24 August 2026
When a resident dies in an Australian residential aged care home, the home's staff handle the first steps. The family is not expected to arrange anything at the moment of death. Services Australia advises that if the person died in an aged care home, in hospital or in a hospice, you do not need to do anything. Staff arrange the doctor and tell you how long the home can care for the body. A death that was expected is confirmed by the person's doctor, who signs a certificate confirming the death. A death that was not expected means calling 000. The rest runs over the following days and weeks. The death is registered with your state or territory births, deaths and marriages registry. Services Australia and My Aged Care are told, and a funeral is arranged if the family wants one. The balance of any accommodation lump sum the resident paid is refunded to the estate.
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Staff in an aged care home provide end-of-life care under a care plan. My Aged Care describes three of the things that plan is built to do. The plan sets out how staff help the resident feel as comfortable and supported as possible. The plan also helps everyone involved know what to expect as health worsens. The third purpose is to show what support families and carers can receive through bereavement. Palliative care services can continue until death and after it, and bereavement support is available to family and friends.
Two rules settle where a dying resident stays. In most cases, an aged care resident who is dying is able to stay in their aged care home for end-of-life care. If the resident is admitted to hospital, the aged care home must keep their place for them.
My Aged Care's guidance on farewells centres on conversation, and the point of that conversation is to let those who care for the resident know the resident's wishes. My Aged Care describes talking about end-of-life care as different for everyone, with some people finding it easier than others. The conversation may happen quickly, or it may take place over a longer period. There is no right or wrong way to say what matters most to the resident.
Who do you tell after a death in an aged care home?
Four organisations are told after a resident dies in an aged care home: your state or territory births, deaths and marriages registry, Services Australia, My Aged Care and the deceased person's bank.
- Your state or territory births, deaths and marriages registry. The death must be registered with the registry, which then issues the death certificate. If there is a funeral, Services Australia says the funeral director usually registers the death on the family's behalf. A death certificate can take some time to arrive. Copies of the death certificate should be certified by a Justice of the Peace.
- Services Australia, covering Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support. You need to tell Services Australia within 28 days when someone who gets a payment from them has died. That deadline is stated on its guidance page last updated 3 August 2026. Services Australia then updates its records so the deceased person is not overpaid.
- My Aged Care. My Aged Care needs to be told when a person registered with it dies, so that their record can be closed. Closing the record also stops further correspondence going to the person, their family or their representatives. You can notify My Aged Care through the Australian Death Notification Service, by calling 1800 200 422, or through the My Aged Care Online Account. Have the person's name, date of birth, Aged Care ID and date of passing ready, because those details are used to find the record. My Aged Care does sometimes receive the information from assessors, service providers or other government agencies. My Aged Care still asks families to make contact directly, so the information is certain to arrive.
- The deceased person's bank. Moneysmart advises contacting the deceased person's bank to notify it of the death. The bank then advises the family of the steps to take.
The Australian Death Notification Service is a free national government service that helps you tell many organisations at once that a person has died. My Aged Care is one of the organisations it reaches.
The accommodation lump sum refund
When a resident dies, the aged care home must refund the balance of the accommodation lump sum the resident paid. That lump sum may have been a refundable accommodation deposit (RAD), a refundable accommodation contribution (RAC) or a bond. The balance is returned to the resident or their estate. The amount is the total lump sum payment, minus any RAD or RAC retentions that apply, and minus any deductions the resident agreed to.
The refund clock starts when the provider sights a document. Under the Aged Care Act 2024, the provider must pay the lump sum balance back within 14 days of sighting probate, letters of administration or other satisfactory evidence. That rule sits on the Department of Health and Aged Care refunds page, last updated 10 April 2026. A provider may refund the balance without proof of those documents, if it is confident the correct legal beneficiary has been identified. The provider also has the right to see them.
Interest on the lump sum follows a fixed schedule with two rates:
- The base interest rate (BIR). No interest is earned on the lump sum payment while the resident is receiving care. The BIR applies from the day after the death until the legislated refund period ends. The aged care home pays that interest to the estate on top of the lump sum balance.
- The maximum permissible interest rate (MPIR). If the home takes longer than 14 days to refund the lump sum, it has to pay interest at the higher MPIR. The Department of Health and Aged Care puts the MPIR period as running from the day after the relevant refund period ends until the refund is paid.
Both the base interest rate and the maximum permissible interest rate are updated quarterly.
If the provider becomes bankrupt or insolvent and the refund cannot be paid, the Australian Government guarantees the money. That guarantee covers the interest as well, and it is called the Accommodation Payment Guarantee Scheme.
Funerals, bank accounts and the estate
A funeral is not a legal requirement in Australia. The cost of a funeral varies greatly. Moneysmart, on its page last updated 18 June 2026, puts the cost at anywhere from $4,000 up. Moneysmart advises families who feel pressure to choose top of the range to stick to an affordable amount, so they do not go into debt.
Some money can move before the estate is settled. A bank may release money from the deceased person's account to help pay for funeral expenses. That release can happen before probate is granted, which is before the court validates the will. Money held in a joint bank account transfers to the surviving account holder.
Two further payments may be available to a surviving partner. A bereavement payment may be available through Centrelink, either as a lump sum or as a short-term payment. If the person who died was receiving a pension from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, a one-off, non-taxable payment may apply.
Finalising the estate can take around 12 months, according to Services Australia on its guidance page last updated 3 August 2026. An estate that is complex or contested can take longer. That same 3 August 2026 page advises talking to a Financial Information Services Officer before any final decisions are made. It also requires any change to income and assets to be reported to Services Australia within 14 days. Services Australia releases a deceased person's details for estate purposes to the executor, the Public Trustee, a court or the administrator, and only on proof of authority to act on the estate.
Common questions
What should you not do immediately after someone dies?
Do not assume the immediate arrangements are yours to make, because Services Australia states that you do not need to do anything when the person died in aged care. Three other actions are worth holding back on in the first days after a death in an aged care home. Do not make final financial decisions before speaking with a Financial Information Services Officer, which is what Services Australia advises. Do not commit to funeral spending under pressure, because Moneysmart advises sticking to an affordable amount so the family does not go into debt. Do not let the notification deadline pass: Services Australia needs to be told within 28 days when the person was getting a payment from them, as stated on its page last updated 3 August 2026.
Who notifies Centrelink when someone dies?
A family member notifies Services Australia, which delivers Centrelink payments. There are three ways to do it: phone the Older Australians line and report the death, complete and submit the Advice of death form, or go into a service centre.
What can service providers ask for after a death?
Service providers may ask to see the death certificate and proof of the family member's identity before they make changes. Moneysmart sets that out in its guidance for a surviving partner.
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