Life in care

What rights do aged care residents have?

Updated 24 August 2026

The Charter of Aged Care Rights no longer applies in Australia. The Statement of Rights replaced it on 1 November 2025, the same day the new Aged Care Act began. The Statement of Rights is now the list of rights held by every older person receiving government-funded aged care. It sits inside the Aged Care Act 2024, the main law for Australian Government-funded aged care. Aged care providers and their workers must respect the rights of older people by law when they plan and deliver care. The Statement gives every individual six headline rights, running from independence and freedom of choice through to advocates, significant persons and social connections. The same framework governs staying and leaving. A resident can choose to leave care, or to move to a different home, at any time. A provider can only ask a resident to leave in the circumstances set out in section 149 of the Aged Care Rules 2025.

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What is the Statement of Rights in aged care?

The Statement of Rights is the set of rights older people hold under the Aged Care Act 2024. It replaced the Charter of Aged Care Rights, and that change took effect on 1 November 2025, as My Aged Care states. Australia's new Aged Care Act began on that same date and provides a rights-based framework, aligned with the launch of the Support at Home program. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission states the purpose of those rights: they keep older people and their needs at the centre of the aged care system.

The Statement of Rights carries legal weight through the Act that holds it. Providers and aged care workers now have a legal duty to respect older people's rights in the way they plan and provide care. Those rights apply to people receiving government-funded aged care, including residential aged care in an aged care home.

Under the new Aged Care Act, every older person is presumed able to make their own decisions. A resident can choose registered supporters to help them make and communicate their decisions, and being a registered supporter gives that person no decision-making authority over the resident.

What rights does the Statement of Rights give a resident?

The Statement of Rights gives every individual six headline rights, published by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

• Independence, autonomy, empowerment and freedom of choice. Every individual has the right to independence, autonomy, empowerment and freedom of choice under the Statement of Rights.
• Equitable access. Every individual holds the right of equitable access under the Statement of Rights.
• Quality and safe funded aged care services. A person receiving government-funded aged care has the right to services that are quality and safe, and the right to be treated with dignity and respect at all times.
• Respect for privacy and information. The Statement of Rights names respect for privacy and information as a right of every individual. A resident who believes a provider has not respected it can raise the problem without reprisal, which is the next right in the Statement.
• Person-centred communication, and raising issues without reprisal. A resident has the right to raise issues without reprisal, and to be communicated with in a way centred on them.
• Advocates, significant persons and social connections. The Statement of Rights gives every individual the right to have advocates, significant persons and social connections.

What must an aged care home do about a resident's rights?

A registered provider carries three main duties about the rights of the people it cares for.

• Give the resident the Statement of Rights and explain it. Under the new Aged Care Act, a registered provider must give the resident information about their rights under the Statement of Rights and explain it, including to the resident's registered supporters where relevant. The provider must also hand over a copy of the Statement of Rights, help the resident understand what is in it, and keep records of the shared understanding and agreement reached.
• Act consistently with the rights. Providers must keep their own actions consistent with the Statement of Rights, according to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. That includes a duty to staff those services with aged care workers whose qualifications, skills and experience are appropriate to the work.
• Meet the wider standards. Providers must protect the rights of older people and deliver care that aligns with the Statement of Rights, the Statement of Principles, the Quality Standards and the Aged Care Rules 2025.

Beyond those three duties, My Aged Care recommends one further step: a resident's rights, and how the provider will support them, should be set out in the Resident Agreement for aged care homes. The same agreement records when a resident can be asked to leave, how the agreement ends, and how a move to another aged care home works. My Aged Care describes these agreements as legally binding documents worth understanding before signing.

Can an aged care resident leave the home?

Yes. A resident can decide to leave care, or to move to another approved residential care home, at any time, according to the Department of Health and Aged Care. The right covers the resident's own move out of the home, which is a separate event from a resident's death in the home.

Shorter absences are handled by leave allowances. A resident can take time away without losing their place in the aged care home, and My Aged Care sets two separate allowances for it:

• Social leave. A resident can take as many as 52 nights of social leave in a financial year, with no additional fees for those nights (My Aged Care, checked 23 August 2026). The allowance is counted per financial year, so it starts again with each new financial year.
• Hospital leave. A resident who needs to go into hospital can take unlimited leave.

Once a person is living permanently in an aged care home, their place is secure. They should be able to remain in that home for as long as the provider can care for them, and My Aged Care calls this security of tenure.

When can an aged care home ask a resident to leave?

An aged care home can ask a resident to leave only on the grounds listed in section 149 of the Aged Care Rules 2025. The Department of Health and Aged Care publishes those grounds for residential care homes (page last updated 23 December 2025):

• The residential care home is closing.
• The accommodation and care the home provides stop suiting the resident's assessed long-term needs.
• An aged care assessor decides the resident no longer needs residential aged care.
• The resident's agreed fees have stayed unpaid 42 days past their due date, for a reason within the resident's control.
• The resident intentionally caused serious damage to the residential care home, or injured a staff member or another resident.
• The resident was away from the home for 7 days or more, for reasons that are not permitted.

None of those grounds allows an immediate move. Three protections apply to a resident who is asked to leave:

• At least 14 days' written notice. A provider that decides to ask a resident to leave must give at least 14 days' written notice. The notice sets out the decision, the reasons for it and the resident's rights (Aged Care Rules 2025; Department of Health and Aged Care, page last updated 23 December 2025).
• Suitable accommodation first. Whatever the reason, a resident cannot be moved out until a suitable alternative is available, one that meets their needs and that they can afford. The Department of Health and Aged Care puts the same duty on the provider directly: before asking or implying that a resident leaves the service, the provider must find suitable accommodation.
• A continuity of care plan. A provider intending to ask a resident to leave must first prepare a continuity of care plan. The plan keeps the resident's funded aged care services running through the move.

The reasons a resident can be asked to leave must be made clear in the resident's agreement with the provider, which for an aged care home is the Resident Agreement. That agreement is the document to check first when a provider raises a move.

The Elderberry directory lists 2,590 aged care homes run by 708 providers as at August 2026, so a family weighing a proposed alternative can compare it against the other homes listed there.

Who can a resident or family complain to?

Anyone has the right to complain about an aged care provider, one of its workers, or a responsible person, to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. That includes complaints about a provider failing to meet its obligations. Complaints can be made online, in writing, or by phone on 1800 951 822 for general complaints. A complaint can be confidential or anonymous.

My Aged Care publishes the Aged Care Advocacy Line as 1800 700 600. The Older Persons Advocacy Network provides advocates who are free, independent and confidential.

Common questions

Is a charter of rights legally binding?

The rights an aged care resident holds are legally binding. The Statement of Rights sits in the Aged Care Act 2024, and under that Act providers and workers must respect an older person's rights whenever they plan or deliver care. The Resident Agreement signed with an aged care home is itself a legally binding document, and it should record the resident's rights and how the provider will support them. Where a provider does not meet its obligations, the complaint goes to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

How much money can you have in the bank for aged care?

There is no fixed bank-balance limit for aged care. Eligibility for more Australian Government assistance towards aged care costs depends on income and assets being below a certain level, which a means assessment determines. Money in the bank counts towards it. All assets are considered, including financial assets such as bank, building society and credit union accounts, though special rules apply in some situations. Completing a means assessment is not mandatory. A resident who does not complete one can be charged the maximum contribution rate. If a resident keeps their family home, a capped amount applies. That capped amount is $214,884.00 as at 20 March 2026. The assessment includes either that amount or the home's net market value, whichever is lower. For a member of a couple, half of the combined income and assets counts, no matter who earns it or whose name holds the asset.

What are the three types of aged care?

Government-funded aged care covers support in a person's own home, permanent residential care in an aged care home, and short-term care, including respite care. The Department of Health and Aged Care describes in-home aged care as support that helps a person remain independent for as long as possible. It describes residential care as either short-term respite care or permanent. All three sit under the Aged Care Act 2024, the main law for government-funded aged care.

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