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Aged care financial hardship assistance - assessment 065-05030010

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This page contains the process to assess an aged care financial hardship (hardship) assistance claim.

For aged care hardship skill tagged staff.

On this page:

Reviewing and streaming hardship assistance claims

Processing the hardship assistance claim

Legacy manual hardship process, including Support at Home

Recording a hardship assistance outcome - home care manual coding

Recording a hardship assistance outcome - residential and respite care manual coding

Recording a hardship assistance outcome - Support at Home

Reviewing and streaming hardship assistance claims

Table 1

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Complete preliminary checks for hardship

If a care recipient is deceased, only the administrator or executor of the estate can legally act on behalf of the estate.

The applicant must provide evidence they are the administrator or executor of the deceased estate.

Is the care recipient deceased?

2

Care recipient is deceased

Check for digital images in Customer First/Process Direct for verification of an administrator or executor of the estate on the care recipient’s record.

Note: if an Aged care claim for financial hardship assistance form (SA462) was uploaded and appropriately signed by the care recipient or an authorised third party (Nominee, Power of Attorney, etc.) prior to the care recipient's death, go to Step 3.

For more information, see Executor or administrator of a deceased person's estate and Requests for information after someone has died.

Is the administrator or executor of the estate able to be verified or was the form signed by the customer?

3

Complete eligibility checks for hardship

Choose an assessment:

4

Complete eligibility checks for hardship

Confirm if there is a current period of hardship recorded for the care recipient:

  • Support at Home
    • In ACSP, check Hardship summary
  • Respite and residential care
    • In ACSP, check Hardship summary

To confirm current home care details, see care recipient record in Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP).

  • ACAT: Care recipient summary > Care recipient summary - Approval details
  • MTA: Means testing > Means test assessments

To confirm current residential/respite care details, see care recipient record in Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP) and review:

  • Care recipient > Event Summary
  • Means Testing > Resident Contribution type
  • Means Testing > Means test assessment
  • Fees and charges > Fees and charges details

Note: if the care recipient is a Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) responsibility, refer the details to DVA for updates. See the Resources page for contact details.

Complete any income and/or asset updates based on information provided in the hardship form:

A care recipient is ineligible for a hardship assessment when they meet one of the criteria below:

  • Own assets valued at more than the current hardship threshold (excluding any assets that cannot be sold or borrowed against)
  • Gifted more than:
    • $10,000 in the current financial year, or
    • $30,000 over 5 financial years (this cannot include more than $10,000 in a single financial year):
  • Started a home care package before 1 July 2014 (and has not opted into the post 1 July 2014 scheme)
  • Has not provided income and/or assets in a means assessment for their relevant care type. See Aged Care means assessment for details on when a verbal assessment can be completed
    • Note: this does not apply when a pre-entry MTA has expired, and a pre-entry hardship claim was submitted during the 120 day validity period
  • Is currently receiving residential care under a pre 1 July 2014 assessment scheme and they occupy an extra services place:
    • In the Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP), go to Care recipient > Event summary to see when extra service is coded

Does the care recipient meet any of the above criteria, and has the SA462 been signed correctly?

  • Yes, care recipient is ineligible for hardship
    • Residential and respite care complete a hardship entitlement calculation so HREJ Hardship reject letter will be sent. See Table 2 > Step 10
    • Support at Home manual reject letter required. See Table 3
  • No, go to Step 5

5

Check if further information is needed

Confirm if more details are needed before completing the hardship assessment:

  • Home care/Support at Home only - Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACAT) approval
  • Update to income and assets

Check the hardship form is complete and all supporting documents lodged:

  • See Resources for information on evidence needed for assets that cannot be sold or borrowed against
  • See Resources for Frequently asked questions (FAQ) for when a form is completed and when unanswered questions can be clarified

In Customer First Document Tools, check for any previous Requests for Information (RFI) scanned and uploaded as a PDF. Consider using the Staff Feedback Tool if a previous RFI sent did not request all information needed.

Is more information and/or supporting documents needed to assess the hardship claim?

  • Yes, and information and/or supporting documents were:
  • No, and all information and/or supporting documents given and questions on the hardship form are completed
    • For Home Care and Residential Care, see Table 2
    • For Support at Home, see Table 3

Note: if an RFI has previously been issued twice, further requests must be approved by a Service Support Office (SSO) prior to sending. See Tier 1 technical support - Local Peer Support (LPS).

6

Send hardship RFI letter

Phone the care recipient, nominee, executor, or Power of Attorney to clarify the outstanding documents required or gain information verbally. Details of the outbound contact and/or any information gained verbally must be documented on the care recipient's record. Proof of identity (POI) requirements are the same for inbound and outbound phone calls. See Calling a customer or returning a customer's call.

Note: if a care recipient is deceased, only the administrator or executor of the estate can legally act on behalf of the estate. Phone calls and RFI letters should not be completed to unverified administrators or executors.

Send an RFI letter through Create hardship letter in the care recipient's ACSP record.

  • In Hardship tab select Hardship summary:
    • Select on Create hardship letter
    • Letter type - select HRFF - Hardship request further information
    • Record date hardship claim form received
    • Select Care type
    • Select Entry type
    • Printer ID - select the printer applicable for your work area
    • Select and select Add for each item individually
    • Select Submit to create letter
    • ACSP will generate letters for the care recipient and nominee if applicable
    • Collect letter(s) from the printer and confirm all required information is in the letter
    • include all appropriate forms and put in the mail
  • Note: the letters will show in ACSP Letter Summary for the care recipient with a status of Sent (ACSP will not send the letter)

Any documents requested for a deceased care recipient will have the letter created for the confirmed executor or guardian of the estate including any:

  • information needed to complete a means assessment
  • supporting documentation needed to calculate hardship

In Customer First:

  • record all documents requested, including attempted outbound call details. Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use:
    • Aged Care > Hardship > AC HOM/RSP Fin Hardship Prog of claim Residential care
    • Aged Care > Hardship > AC RES Fin Hardship Progress of claim
    • the date the SA462 was received as the Date of Receipt (DOR) in the Fast Note
  • leave Fast Note open
  • hold the open hardship Fast Note for 28 days and allow extra time for surface mail delivery
  • copy the DOC from Customer First

In the ACSP, create a care recipient note. See Table 14 in the Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP) - Care Recipient in Context (CRiC) for details.

Procedure ends here

7

Hardship RFI sent

Consider the information requested. If evidence has not been provided to verify an asset is unrealisable, the asset is included in assessment, therefore the hardship application may be rejected

A hardship application may be withdrawn when:

  • an RFI has been issued, and
  • there is not enough information to complete a calculation of potential hardship entitlement

Confirm that 28 days (plus an allowance for surface mail delivery) has passed since the hardship RFI was sent.

Service Officers should assess the application if it can be completed using the information provided without the RFI response.

Does the hardship assessment application meet the criteria to be withdrawn?

  • Yes, withdraw the hardship assessment. Go to Step 8
  • No,
    • Proceed with hardship calculation. See Table 2
    • Due to assets the care recipient is ineligible for hardship, see Table 3 > Step 9

8

Withdraw hardship assessment

Hardship assessment may be withdrawn when the care recipient/authorised representative:

  • has not given the information or supporting documents requested in the hardship RFI letter
  • requests the withdrawal of their claim verbally or in writing at any time before the claim is determined

The hardship assessment may also be withdrawn if the care recipient is deceased, and further information is unable to be obtained due to the administrator or executor being unverified.

Service Officers can use the original application if the care recipient later provides the requested information within 13 weeks.

To complete the withdrawal:

  • Make a genuine attempt to phone the care recipient or nominee/authorised representative to advise the outcome
  • Document contact attempts. See Advising verbally of an unfavourable decision
    Note: if a care recipient is deceased, only the administrator or executor of the estate can legally act on behalf of the estate. Phone calls and letters should not be attempted to unverified administrators or executors
  • Annotate and complete the Hardship Prog of claim Fast Note clearly stating what details are needed to reassess the claim
  • Create a new Fast Note. Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Aged Care > Hardship > Care type > WTHDRN
  • Use the DOR as the date of withdrawal
  • Copy the DOC from Customer First
  • In the ACSP, go to Care recipient > Care recipient notes and add Fast Note text

In the ACSP:

  • Create care recipient note. See Table 17 in the Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP) - Care Recipient in Context (CRiC) for details

Processing the hardship assistance claim

Table 2

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Hardship assistance claim

The Hardship assessment calculator in ACSP will:

  • Make the determination:
    • Grant - pre and post entry
    • Reject - pre and post entry
  • Complete a review, reassessment, cessation or revocation
  • Create the appropriate letter
  • Code the grant amounts for a post-entry care assessment
  • Change the coded amount for a reassessment, and
  • Code a cessation or revocation. See Aged care financial hardship assistance - review/cease/revoke for more details

Use the legacy Hardship subsidy calculator (link in Resources) for the following scenarios:

  • Support at Home hardship assessments
  • Care recipient had a period of respite care, and a pre-entry Resi care MTA was later completed for the respite care entry
  • Reassessment, cessation or revocation of hardships granted and coded before 8 February 2025
  • Care recipient is deceased
  • Care recipient had a period of respite, and:
    • has now entered permanent residential care, or home care, and
    • fees have set based on the Means Test Assessment (MTA) coded for that entry, but there is no valid MTA for the earlier respite period
  • Pre 1 July 2014 care recipients
  • Pre entry hardship claim is submitted during a valid period of a pre entry means assessment that has since expired
  • Go to Table 3

For all other scenarios, go to Step 2

2

Current period of hardship

Does the care recipient have a current period of hardship recorded?

  • Yes, the current period of hardship needs to be end dated to enable the new hardship calculation to proceed:
  • No, has already ceased, or has never been granted hardship:

3

End date period of hardship

The care recipient has a current period of hardship recorded that needs to be end dated to enable the new hardship calculation to proceed.

If hardship grant was coded manually and/or before 8 February 2025

  • Home care:
    • In ACMPS, in care recipient's record, navigate to Hardship & Income Suspension
    • Select the period to update and select Edit list
    • Update the end date to the date of lodgement of the new hardship claim minus 1 day. Select Save
  • Permanent residential care or residential respite care
    • In ACSP, in care recipient's record, navigate to Hardship summary
    • In the Current and future hardship section, select the status hyperlink of the hardship record
    • Select Update and change the end date to the date of lodgement of the new hardship claim minus 1 day. Select Submit
  • Go to Step 4

If coding was after 8 February 2025 and was automatic

  • A cessation must be completed, with the cessation letter suppressed or cancelled. See Table 7 in the Aged care financial hardship assistance - review/cease/revoke
  • When ceased, go to Step 4

4

New pre-entry hardship assessment

If hardship claim is not pre-entry, go to Step 6

For hardship assessments lodged before the care recipient enters care:

  • The hardship start date is the later of either the date of lodgement or the date the MTA was completed
  • Use the current rates of income support payment (ISP). For example, the partnered rate if partner is not in care
  • The ISP rate is reassessed when the care recipient starts care
  • The hardship assessment is valid for 120 days from the date the claim is completed

Permanent residential care - calculating residential accommodation costs as an essential expense (pre-entry assessments)

  • If the care recipient is not low means, and the Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD/DAP) is not known:
    • use the maximum accommodation supplement amount as the default for accommodation costs
  • Go to Step 6
  • If now advising has entered care after being granted hardship pre-entry, go to Step 5

5

Pre-entry hardship - care recipient notifies entry into care

The below relates to home, permanent residential or residential respite care.

If the care recipient has entered care within 120 days of the pre-entry assessment, complete a new calculator assessment using the pre-entry expenses as at the date of entry into care (as per Step 10).

If the care recipient has entered care outside of the 120 days of the pre-entry assessment, a new claim must be completed, with expenses provided as of date of entry into care:

  • Confirm date of entry into care
  • Confirm fees have been set for entry
  • Review previous hardship assessment calculations:
    • Changes to income (for example, care recipient now illness separated)
    • Additional expenses that may now apply
    • Add relevant calculated Means Tested Care Fee (MTCF)/Income Tested Care Fee (ITCF)
    • Permanent residential care - confirm accommodation costs and add to Fortnightly Expenses

Complete a new hardship calculation using date of entry into care as the start date. Go to Step 10.

6

Determine the hardship assistance start date

The hardship start date is the date the care recipient first experienced hardship. This may be the date the care recipient:

  • is claiming financial hardship from, as advised in the SA462
  • started receiving care
  • lodged the claim, or
  • showed they meet the criteria for hardship assistance (even if the start date written is later)

Determine the start date based on information provided, all calculations and information will apply from this start date.

Note: for Support at Home and/or home care applications received after 1 November 2025, staff can only assess hardship from 1 November 2025.

When granting hardship for Support at Home/home care and the application has a start date before 1 November 2025, and the care recipient was getting home care, they must:

  • finalise the application with a start date from 1 November 2025, and
  • escalate to the Seniors and Ageing Branch through the Aged Care Tier 3 Escalation SharePoint.

Staff must escalate cases using this example:

  • Primary care type: Hypercare – SAH
  • Tier 3 Query types: Hardship

Escalations should include:

  • Name
  • Date of Birth (DOB)
  • Customer Reference Number (CRN)
  • CR ID
  • Start date
  • Grant reason
  • Fee Reductions, and
  • Manual hardship calculations

Staff must clearly document the customer’s record for cases they escalate to Tier 3 with:

  • application start date (before 1 November 2025)
  • grant date
  • fee reductions
  • manual hardship calculations
  • tier 3 ID

Applications that care recipients have withdrawn or Services Australia has rejected do not need to be escalated.

Ongoing hardship claims

  • If a care recipient lodges a new hardship claim for the same type of care before the end of a current hardship period, the start date is the date:
    • of lodgement of assessment, or
    • they are claiming hardship from, as advised in the SA462
  • If a care recipient lodges a new hardship claim for the same type of care after the end of a current hardship period, the start date is the date:
    • of previous hardship end date +1, or
    • they met criteria for hardship assistance, or
    • they are claiming financial hardship from, as advised in the SA462
  • If a care recipient lodges a new hardship claim for a different type of care before the end of a current hardship period, the start date is the date:
    • the criteria is met, or
    • of entry to care type

7

Determine the hardship assistance end date

Grant duration (end date)

Hardship assistance is granted for 3 years, except in the following circumstances:

  • 12 months, to be used when:
    • hardship is granted for residential respite care
    • a temporary situation is causing hardship, such as being unable to sell a property
  • Less than 12 months, to be used when there is:
    • legal investigation/action to recoup misappropriated funds
    • structural damage repair due to natural disasters
  • If home care hardship is granted prior to transition to Support at Home:
    • end date must be coded as 1 November 2025

Note: correct duration of grant period should be used to make sure hardship determinations are applied correctly and do not disadvantage care recipients.

When granting a hardship claim, the end date is determined by the grant duration minus 1. See the Resources page for more examples.

Take note of the end date and review requirements. See Table 4 > Step 9 for more information on Reviews.

New Pre-entry assessments

When a care recipient has not yet entered care, the end date is 120 days from the date the assessment is completed and is also the date the hardship pre-approval is valid until. Hardship is only coded when the care recipient starts care within this period. Procedure ends here.

Residential respite care

When a care recipient:

  • is currently in residential respite care, the end date will be:
    • 12 months from date of assessment if no end date recorded, or
    • end date of residential respite care period if coded in ACSP
  • has left residential respite care - end date is one day before the departure date

The hardship assessment remains valid for original period (for example, 12 months). If a care recipient starts residential respite care again in the 12 months validity period, it can be coded without a new claim being lodged. If the residential respite care is with a different provider, a new letter to the service will be required.

When completing hardship calculations, use the full fees for a care recipient, not the current hardship reduced fee. For ongoing claims, check if there were any issues with previous claim.

8

Confirm eligibility for hardship assistance - assets threshold

At the hardship start date, the care recipient must have total assets below the relevant asset threshold.

The Resources page contains information on the types of assets that cannot be sold or borrowed against, and the current and historical thresholds for financial hardship - assets.

Using the relevant thresholds, determine the:

  • total assessable assets
  • value of any assets that cannot be sold or borrowed against (unrealisable asset)
  • care recipient's net assets:
    • total assessable assets - value of any assets that cannot be sold or borrowed against = net assets

Note: if assets are above the threshold and later reduce, the hardship assistance start date changes.

Is the care recipient eligible for hardship assistance based on the total net assets?

9

Fortnightly income - all care types

Include any income (see below) into the fortnightly income calculation as at the start date of the hardship claim.

At the hardship start date, the care recipient must have total income below the relevant income threshold after essential expenses have been deducted.

The Resources page contains information on the current and historical thresholds for financial hardship - income.

Using the relevant thresholds, determine the:

  • annual income amounts, shown on the RCA Income Assessment Summary (RIAS) screen
  • Energy Supplement (shown as CES)
  • Rent Assistance (RA). Check Payment Summary (PS) to confirm if CES and RA are paid with an ISP
  • Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) for periods of entitlement up to, and including, 31 December 2021. Check DFISA Summary (DFS)

Note: National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is not included as income. See the Resources page for allowable and non-allowable essential expenses.

Has the care recipient departed from care without a valid MTA (including deceased) or are they a Pre 1 July 2014 residential care recipient?

10

Register hardship assessment

Care subsidy reduction (CSR) to zero

If a care recipient's CSR is set to zero, they do not have to pay any ITCF/MTCF for that period. They still must pay any Basic Daily Fee (BDF) and Accommodation costs (for residential care).

Service Officers must consider any previous application of CSR to zero before finalising the hardship assessment.

See Aged Care fees and charges - care subsidy reduction to zero for help.

If the hardship assessment start date is during the period of CSR to zero and, the end date is after the end of the CSR to zero period:

  • Two hardship calculations must be completed
  • The first assessment will be from the start date during the period of CSR to zero, to the date the CSR to zero has ended less one day
  • The second assessment will start from the date CSR to zero ended and MTCF commenced
  • Two HGRE Hardship grant letters will be created and sent

When calculating amounts, round up figures to 2 decimal places:

  • In ACSP, see Fees and charges > Fees and charges details to confirm historical and current fees and charges
  • Home care:
    • BDF will auto populate as a fortnightly expense amount when the Care type and the Homecare package level is selected, and will show in the Expenses field
    • Manually add ITCF in Care recipient expenses as a fortnightly amount under Expenses type Care Accommodation Fortnightly Expenses for pre-entry hardship claims (homecare only)
  • Residential care and respite care:
    • BDF will auto populate as a fortnightly expense amount when the Care type is selected and will show in the Expenses field
    • Manually add Means Tested Fees (MTCF, HC, NCCC), ITCF, Daily Accommodation Contribution (DAC), and/or accommodation costs including RAD/DAP or in Care recipient expenses as a fortnightly amount under Expenses type Care accommodation
      Note: in cases where a partial RAD has been paid - the amount coded is the RAD balance un-paid, converted to a DAP. See the Hardship tab in the Aged Care Calculator on the Resources page
    • For continuation of hardship calculations - the amount coded should equal the fee a care recipient is liable to pay, before any hardship being granted

Income:

  • Take note of the Total Income amount recorded in the current MTA
    • ACMPS - open the most recent Assessment ID in the Means Tested Assessments tab and select Total Amount Details
    • ACSP - navigate to Means testing current summary and take note of the Total Income amount
    • PD - take note of the Clean energy supplement and Rent Assistance (if applicable)

To complete the hardship entitlement calculation:

In the care recipient record in ACSP, under the Hardship tab select Hardship assessment summary:

  • Select Register hardship assessment tab
  • Circumstances page:
    • Answer all fields marked with an asterisk
    • Is the care recipient's total assets under the current asset threshold? - Yes or No
    • Has care recipient gifted more than $10,000 in the previous 12 months and/or $30,000 in the previous 5 years? - Yes or No
    • Number of dependants
    • Start date
    • End date
    • Care type - Home care, Permanent residential care, or Respite residential care
    • Pre-entry letter - Only tick this box if is a pre- entry assessment
    • If care type is Home care select the care level from the dropdown box
    • Select Next
    • If answer is No to assets threshold question, or Yes to the gifting question select Next until the Hardship details page displays

Note: an error will show if there is no valid means assessment

  • Care recipient income page:
    • Select applicable income types from the Income type dropdown box and record the fortnightly income amount. Add notes, then select Add for each item
    • If an income item has been coded in error, select Remove beside the item
    • Select Next
  • Care recipient expenses page:
    • Record all applicable expense types by selecting from the dropdown box options - the BDF will already be showing
    • See the Resources page for a list of allowable essential expenses
    • After recording expenses and notes, select Add
    • If an expense has been added in error, to remove from the calculator select Remove beside the item
    • When expenses have been added, select Next
  • Pharmaceuticals page:
    • As the pharmaceuticals expenses are now included on the expenses page, no action is required. Select Next
  • Hardship details page:
    • Confirm the assessment outcome is as expected and the fee reduction is showing in the correct hierarchy
    • The RAD/DAP amount will prepopulate with the maximum hardship supplement
    • For post-entry Residential care not low means, select the Edit button and record the actual DAP amount the care recipient is liable to pay in the Ceiling fee column
    • If there is an unallocated reduction amount that can be applied to the new DAP amount, record the new amounts in the Adjusted reduction amount column
    • then select Next
  • Letter details page:
    • Confirm letter type matches assessment outcome and the start date is correct
    • If outcome is reject, a reject reason must be added from the dropdown box that will appear
    • More than one reason can be selected and added
    • then select Next
  • Hardship summary details page:
    • Confirm all fields are correct
    • Add Notes, then select Submit

Note: if granting hardship for a period prior to 01 August 2022 and the care recipient is liable for a reduction to their RAD/DAP, see Table 5 > Step 5.

11

New hardship letters and coding
  • Post-entry reject:
    • Navigate to care recipient's Letter summary
    • Confirm HREJ - Hardship reject letter has created
    • Preview the letter to confirm content is correct
  • Pre-entry grant:
    • Navigate to care recipient's Letter summary
    • Confirm HPRE - Hardship pre-entry letter has created
    • Preview the letter to confirm content is correct
  • Post-entry grant:
    • Navigate to care recipient's Letter summary
    • Confirm HGRA - Hardship grant letter has created
    • Preview the letter to confirm content is correct
    • Navigate to Hardship summary page and confirm the hardship reduction for each fee type is correct
    • Navigate to Fees and charges details and confirm the hardship reduction for each fee type is correct

If the content of the letter is incorrect as does not match the hardship assessment:

  • Cancel the Queued letter
  • Review the completed assessment by selecting the status link in Hardship assessment summary
  • If there is an error in the hardship assessment, it must be deleted and completed again
  • If the assessment is correct, escalate to ICT and complete and issue a manual letter

12

Record decision

Granted financial hardship assessment:

  • Complete the Customer First Progress of Claim DOC and any work items associated with the hardship claim
  • Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Aged Care > Hardship > Aged Care Fin Hardship > Home/Res/RSP > Care GRANT Include:
    • hardship assistance start and end dates
    • details of any verbal clarification obtained (if applicable)
    • calculations (include notes on essential expenses)
    • assessment outcome
    • the DOR as the date of grant
  • Go to the Care recipient notes in ACSP care recipient record and add the same details

Is the hardship assistance grant for 3 years?

Rejected financial hardship assessment:

  • The decision maker must make a genuine attempt to phone the care recipient or nominee/authorised representative to advise the outcome. Document all attempts. See Advising verbally of an unfavourable decision
  • Complete the Customer First Progress of Claim DOC and any work items associated with the hardship claim
  • Use Fast Note – select Auto text, use Aged Care > Hardship > Aged care Fin Hardship Home/Res/RSP REJECT. Include:
    • calculations and outcome of assessment, or
    • reason for hardship being rejected before calculation
    • details of any verbal clarification obtained (if applicable)
    • the DOR as the date of reject
  • Go to the care recipient notes in ACSP care recipient record and add the same details
  • Procedure ends here

Legacy manual hardship process, including Support at Home

Table 3

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Manual hardship calculations

The legacy Hardship subsidy calculator on the Resources page must be used for the following scenarios:

  • Support at Home hardship assessments
  • Care recipient had a period of respite care, and a pre-entry Resi care MTA was later completed for the respite care entry
  • Reassessment, cessation or revocation of hardships granted and coded before 8 February 2025
  • Care recipient is deceased
  • Care recipient had period of respite, and has now entered permanent residential care, or home care, and fees have set based on MTA coded for that entry, but there is no MTA for the earlier respite period
  • Pre entry hardship claim is submitted during a valid period of a pre entry means assessment that has since expired
  • Pre 1 July 2014 care recipients

For the above care recipients, other than Pre 1 July 2014

  • Manually calculate the income and expenses
  • Calculate the income as at the Hardship start date
  • See the Resources page for the Aged Care Calculator

To complete the Hardship entitlement calculation:

  • Open the Hardship tab
  • Select the Care Type from the dropdown list
  • Add the Assessment date - start date of hardship
  • In the Income section, add the care recipient's claimed assessable income types, select single or partnered rate for ISP
    • Support at Home - both pension income and non-pension income are included
    • In ACSP, check Budgets > Current budgets for Assistive Technology (AT), Assistive Technology - Specified Needs (AS) or Home Modifications (HM) - add total annual amount to field Total Additional Budgets p/a
  • In the Expenses section, add the care recipient's claimed essential expenses:
    • Support at Home - code the current contribution rates as displayed on Fees and charges
    • For Post 2014 Category B - code the fortnightly cap amount which can be found in ACSP Means testing > Circumstances
    • Use the dropdown box to select the types of expenses
    • Add the amount, care recipient's applied percentages and expense frequency
  • The Customers Hardship Reduction section:
    • shows the new contribution amounts
    • includes the hardship daily reduction amount
    • Support at Home – the Customers Hardship Reduction section shows the Fortnightly Cap Amount
  • Select File, Export and Create PDF
  • Save PDF to the ‘Customer Information’ folder located on your team’s shared drive’. Do not save customer information to desktops or personal H drives
  • Upload PDF to the care recipient's Customer First record as document type UNS002 Accommodation

For Pre 1 July 2014:

For calculations for dates earlier than 1 July 2014, use 1/07/2014 as the assessment date. Manually calculate and input the Basic Daily Fee information in the 'Fortnightly Hardship Amount' section. Accommodation costs are assessed separately for hardship reduction.

If assessing financial hardship for accommodation charge, use the unrealisable assets amount in the pre 1 July 2014 accommodation calculator.

Note: to calculate the unrealisable assets amount, calculate assets at entry and minus assets at assessment date.

After determining the hardship grant for accommodation charge, calculate the BDF and Income Tested Fee (ITF) reduction based on assessment of current income and expenses (do not include accommodation charge in this calculation).

To complete the Hardship entitlement calculation:

  • Open the Hardship tab
  • Select the Care Type from the dropdown list
  • Income: key the care recipient's claimed assessable income types
  • In the Expenses section, add the care recipient's claimed essential expenses:
    • use the dropdown box to select the type of expenses
    • add the amount, care recipient's applied percentage and expense frequency
  • The Customers Hardship Reduction section:
    • shows the new contribution amount
    • includes the hardship daily reduction amount
  • Select File, Export and Create PDF
  • Save PDF to the Customer Information folder located on the team's shared drive. Do not save customer information to desktops or personal H drives
  • Upload PDF to the care recipient's Customer First record as document type UNS001 Accommodation

Is the care recipient eligible for Hardship assistance?

2

Current period of hardship

Does the care recipient have a current period of hardship recorded?

  • Yes, the current period of hardship needs to be end dated to enable the new hardship calculation to proceed:
  • No, has already ceased, or has never been granted hardship:

3

End date period of hardship

The care recipient has a current period of hardship recorded that needs to be end dated to enable the new hardship calculation to proceed.

If hardship grant was coded manually and/or before 8 February 2025

  • Home care:
    • In ACMPS, in care recipient's record, navigate to Hardship & Income Suspension
    • Select the period to update and select Edit list
    • Update the end date to the date of lodgement of the new hardship claim minus 1 day. Select Save
  • Permanent residential care or residential respite care
    • In ACSP, in care recipient's record, navigate to Hardship summary
    • In the Current and future hardship section, select the status hyperlink of the hardship record
    • Select Update, and change the end date to the date of lodgement of the new hardship claim minus 1 day. Select Submit
  • Go to Step 4

If coding was after 8 February 2025 and was automatic

  • A cessation must be completed, with the cessation letter suppressed or cancelled. See Table 6 in the Aged care financial hardship assistance - review/cease/revoke

4

New pre-entry hardship assessment

If hardship claim is not pre-entry, go to Step 6

For hardship assessments lodged before the care recipient enters care:

  • The hardship start date is the later of either the date of lodgement or the date the MTA was completed
  • Use the current rates of income support payment (ISP). For example, the partnered rate if partner is not in care
  • The ISP rate is reassessed when the care recipient starts care
  • The hardship assessment is valid for 120 days from the date the claim is completed

Permanent residential care - calculating residential accommodation costs as an essential expense (pre-entry assessments)

If the care recipient is not low means, and the Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD/DAP) is not known use the maximum accommodation supplement amount as the default for accommodation costs.

Is the care recipient advising they have entered care after being granted hardship pre-entry?

5

Pre-entry hardship - care recipient notifies entry into care

If the care recipient has entered care within 120 days of the pre-entry assessment, complete a new calculator assessment using the pre-entry expenses as at the date of entry into care.

If the care recipient has entered care outside of the 120 days of the pre-entry assessment, a new claim must be completed, with expenses provided as of date of entry into care:

  • Confirm date of entry into care
  • Confirm fees have been set for entry
  • Review previous hardship assessment calculations:
    • Changes to income (for example, care recipient now illness separated)
    • Additional expenses that may now apply
    • Add calculated Means Tested Care Fee (MTCF)/Income Tested Care Fee (ITCF)
    • Permanent residential care - confirm accommodation costs and add to Fortnightly Expenses
  • Home care, go to Table 4 > Step 1
  • Permanent residential or respite care, go to Table 5 > Step 1
  • Support at Home, go to Table 6 > Step 1

6

Determine the hardship assistance start date

The hardship start date is the date the care recipient first experienced hardship. This may be the date the care recipient:

  • is claiming financial hardship from, as advised in the SA462
  • started receiving care
  • lodged the claim, or
  • showed they meet the criteria for hardship assistance (even if the start date written is later)

Determine the start date based on information provided, all calculations and information will apply from this start date.

Ongoing hardship claims

  • If a care recipient lodges a new hardship claim for the same type of care before the end of a current hardship period, the start date is the date:
    • of lodgement of assessment, or
    • they are claiming hardship from, as advised in the SA462
  • If a care recipient lodges a new hardship claim for the same type of care after the end of a current hardship period, the start date is the date:
    • of previous hardship end date +1
    • they met criteria for hardship assistance, or
    • they are claiming financial hardship from, as advised in the SA462
  • If a care recipient lodges a new hardship claim for a different type of care before the end of a current hardship period, the start date is the date:
    • the criteria is met, or
    • of entry to care type

7

Determine the hardship assistance end date

Grant duration (end date)

Hardship assistance is granted for 3 years, except in the following circumstances:

  • 12 months to be used when:
    • hardship is granted for residential respite care
    • a temporary situation is causing hardship, such as being unable to sell a property
  • Less than 12 months to be used when there is:
    • legal investigation/action to recoup misappropriated funds
    • structural damage repair due to natural disasters
  • If home care hardship is granted prior to transition to Support at Home:
    • end date to be coded as 1 November 2025

Note: correct duration of grant period should be used to make sure hardship determinations are applied correctly and do not disadvantage care recipients.

When granting a hardship claim, the end date is determined by the grant duration minus 1. See the Resources page for more examples.

Take note of the end date and review requirements. See Table 4 > Step 9 for more information on Reviews.

New pre-entry assessments

When a care recipient has not yet entered care, the end date is 120 days from the date the assessment is completed and is also the date the hardship pre-approval is valid until. Hardship is only coded when the care recipient starts care within this period. Procedure ends here.

Residential respite care

When a care recipient:

  • is currently in residential respite care, the end date is:
    • 12 months from date of assessment if no end date recorded, or
    • end date of residential respite care period if coded in ACSP
  • has left residential respite care - end date is one day before the departure date

The hardship assessment remains valid for original period (for example, 12 months). If a care recipient starts residential respite care again in the 12 months validity period, it can be coded without a new claim being lodged. If the residential respite care is with a different provider, a new letter to the service will be required.

For grants, go to Step 8.

For rejections, go to Step 9.

8

Granting Hardship assistance

Finalise the hardship assessment. For:

9

Reject hardship assessment

Make a genuine attempt to telephone the care recipient/nominee/authorised representative to advise the outcome:

Create a HREJ- Hardship reject letter using ACSP.

  • In the care recipient's ACSP record, go to Hardship summary
  • Select Create hardship letter
  • Select Letter type HREJ- Hardship reject
  • In the Start date field record date hardship claim lodged
  • Select Care type
  • Using dropdown box select Rejection reason and select Add
    • More than one reason can be selected and Added
  • Select Submit
  • Then select Yes
  • Go to Letter summary to review the queued letter

Note: if the care recipient is deceased and there is an executor recorded in ACSP, but no evidence has been supplied, create a manual letter using the Hardship templates and upload to Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP). See Aged care letters - creating manual letters on how to complete letter templates.

Scan and upload the Hardship calculations, if completed, to Customer First as a PDF.

These will appear in the Document Tools tab. See Attaching electronic documents to a Centrelink customer's record.

Complete the Customer First Progress of Claim DOC:

  • Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Aged Care > Hardship > Aged Care Fin Hardship > Home/Res/RSP > Care REJECT using DOR as date of rejection. Include:
    • calculation information and outcome of the assessment, or
    • reason for hardship being rejected before calculation
  • If home care, In ACMPS, open Notes tab and copy Reject Fast Note information
  • If residential care, respite care or Support at Home add care recipient note in ACSP

Recording a hardship assistance outcome - home care manual coding

Table 4

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Applying the fee reduction for home care

For home care applications received after 1 November 2025, staff can only assess hardship from 1 November 2025.

When granting hardship for Support at Home/home care and the application has a start date before 1 November 2025, and the care recipient was getting home care, they must:

  • finalise the application with a start date from 1 November 2025, and
  • escalate to the Seniors and Ageing Branch through the Aged Care Tier 3 Escalation SharePoint.

Staff must escalate cases using this example:

  • Primary care type: Hypercare – SAH
  • Tier 3 Query types: Hardship

Escalations should include:

  • Name
  • Date of Birth (DOB)
  • Customer Reference Number (CRN)
  • CR ID
  • Start date
  • Grant reason
  • Fee Reductions, and
  • Manual hardship calculations

Staff must clearly document the customer’s record for cases they escalate to Tier 3 with:

  • application start date (before 1 November 2025)
  • grant date
  • fee reductions
  • manual hardship calculations
  • tier 3 ID

Applications that care recipients have withdrawn or Services Australia has rejected do not need to be escalated.

To assess hardship for a date after 1 November 2025, see Table 6 > Step 3.

Apply hardship assistance to aged care fees in the same order as below:

  • Basic Daily Fee (BDF)
  • Income Tested Care Fee (ITCF)

If only one fee is selected on the hardship claim:

  • Contact the care recipient or authorised third party by phone and discuss:
    • the hardship grant, and
    • the fees hardship is applied to
  • If the contact is unsuccessful:
    • only grant hardship to the selected fee
  • Create a Fast Note. Document if the contact was successful/unsuccessful

Where a previous version of the form is received, and the fee type selected differs from the current hierarchy:

  • Service Officers must attempt to contact the care recipient to discuss the hardship assessment and the fee hierarchy
  • If the contact is unsuccessful, assess hardship using the care recipient's elected fee type

If an application is for a continuation of hardship assistance and the new assessment results in a lower hardship rate than previously granted, Service Officers must attempt to contact the care recipient to:

  • discuss the new assessment, and
  • advise the difference in hardship assistance

Apply fee reduction to reduce BDF. When the total hardship reduction is more than the BDF:

  • BDF reduces to $0
  • Apply the remainder to the income tested subsidy reduction (ITCF)
  • Hardship reduction minus BDF = amount of reduction for ITCF

A care recipient must enter care before recording the hardship assessment in ACSP.

Check the Assessments & Events tab Entry Details.

Has the care recipient started receiving home care?

2

Code hardship in ACSP

In ACSP:

  • Go to Hardship > Hardship summary
  • If there is a current ITF, MTCF or AC hardship coded that needs to be end dated:
    • From the Summary screen, select Status field: Created/Updated
    • View hardship screen will show details of current hardship
    • To change, select Update
    • On Update hardship screen, change the end date to the day before the new start date
    • Select Update
  • Select Go to hardship summary
  • Select Register hardship and complete required fields:
    • Hardship type: Select the relevant Fee Type
    • Start date: hardship start date - must be on or after start date of care type
    • End date: hardship end date (cannot be later than 1 November 2025)
    • Maximum hardship reduction: select yes if customer’s contribution is $0. Otherwise, no
    • Care recipient contribution: if not maximum, code the amount of BDF that a care recipient is liable to pay
    • Fee reduction amount: if not maximum, code the Fee amount that the care recipient is liable to pay
    • Reason: select most appropriate from dropdown box
    • Additional notes: mandatory field for relevant details on the grant
    • Select Submit
    • Receipt will confirm successful coding, and table will show fee reduction amounts for each CPI date
    • Error will show if hardship was not registered

To view a completed hardship assessment in ACSP including fee table and notes, go to Hardship summary and select hyperlink in Status column for current hardship.

Note: repeat this step if both Basic Daily Fee (BDF) and Income Tested Fee (ITCF) are required.

3

Send hardship assistance letters - home care

Create a manual letter using the Hardship Grant templates and upload to the ACSP. See Aged care letters - creating manual letters for how to complete letter templates. To upload documents:

  • Upload hardship manual letters to ACSP as a PDF using the following field details:
    • Letter code*: Home Care Legacy
    • Letter Description: update this field with code and letter type (that is, AC-HARDSHIP GRANT - CR)
  • Upload Hardship Calculations (if completed) to Document Tools in Customer First as a PDF. See Attaching electronic documents to a Centrelink customer's record

The letters advise:

  • the fee amounts payable. For example, the maximum BDF payable is $10.75, and the care recipient needs to pay $1.75
  • fees are subject to indexation

4

Record decision

To record the decision:

  • Complete the Customer First Progress of Claim DOC
  • Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Aged Care > Hardship > Aged Care Fin Hardship > Home Care GRANT. Include:
    • hardship assistance start and end dates
    • details of any verbal clarification obtained (if applicable)
    • calculations (include notes on essential expenses)
    • assessment outcome
    • the DOR as the date of grant
  • Create a care recipient note in ACSP and add the same details

To transition home care hardship to Support at Home, see Table 6.


Recording a hardship assistance outcome - residential and respite care manual coding

Table 5

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Applying the fee reduction for respite or residential care

Apply hardship assistance to aged care fees in the same order as below:

  • Basic Daily Fee (BDF)
  • Means Tested Care Fee (MTCF) - post 2014 scheme only
  • Hotelling Contribution (HC) - post 2025 scheme only
  • Non-clinical Care Contribution (NCCC) - post 2025 scheme only
  • Accommodation contribution (MTC)/daily accommodation payment (DAP)

Where a previous version of the form is received, and the fee type selected differs from the current hierarchy:

  • Service Officers must attempt to contact the care recipient to discuss the hardship assessment and the fee hierarchy
  • If the contact is unsuccessful, assess hardship using the care recipient's elected fee type

If an application is for a continuation of hardship assistance and the new assessment results in a lower hardship rate than previously granted, Service Officers must attempt to contact the care recipient to:

  • discuss the new assessment, and
  • advise the difference in hardship assistance

End date any existing hardship supplements recorded, one day before the start date of the new hardship assessment.

Check ACSP for an existing hardship assessment:

  • Locate care recipient record in ACSP
  • Current and historical hardship is located on Hardship > Hardship summary

To check for historical hardship, go to Customer First and check the Document List (DL) screen for previous hardship grants.

Hardship is only coded for periods that a care recipient is in care:

  • Check the Care recipient summary to confirm start and end dates for all care types
  • If coding hardship for a previous period(s) in care, the end date will be coded as the day before departure

Does ACSP show that the care recipient has started respite or permanent residential care?

  • Yes:
    • Care recipient is currently in care
    • Care recipient is claiming hardship for a previous period of care
    • Go to Step 2
  • No:
    • Pre-entry hardship has been granted
    • Hardship cannot be coded until care starts
    • Go to Step 8

2

Recording hardship assistance for Basic Daily Fee (BDF) - all residential care types

For BDF hardship, the care recipient contribution is the only field coded. This amount remains constant for the period of hardship. Consumer Price Index (CPI) changes that affect the BDF and the fee reduction amount will be applied automatically.

In ACSP:

  • Locate care recipient record
  • Go to Hardship > Hardship summary
  • If there is a current BDF hardship coded that needs to be end dated:
    • From the Summary screen, select Status field: Created/Updated
    • View hardship screen will show details of current hardship
    • To change, select Update
    • On Update hardship screen, change the end date to the day before the new start date
    • Select Update
  • Select Go to hardship summary
  • Select Register hardship and complete required fields:
    • Hardship type: Basic Daily Fee
    • Start date: hardship start date - must be on or after start date of care type
    • End date: hardship end date
    • Maximum hardship reduction: select yes if customer’s contribution is $0. Otherwise, no
    • Care recipient contribution: if not maximum, code the amount of BDF that a care recipient is liable to pay
    • Fee reduction amount: will be populated once coding completed and appear in a table on Hardship summary screen, including CPI changes
    • Reason: select most appropriate from dropdown box
    • Additional notes: mandatory field for relevant details on the grant
    • Select Submit
    • Receipt will confirm successful coding, and table will show fee reduction amounts for each CPI date
    • Error will show if hardship was not registered

To view a completed hardship assessment in ACSP including fee table and notes, go to Hardship summary and select hyperlink in Status column for current hardship.

Is this care recipient eligible for a further reduction of fees due to hardship?

3

Recording hardship assistance for residential care, ITF, MTCF, MTC, HC and NCCC

Make sure any income and asset updates have been made correct income and asset data has flowed to ACSP, and that any fee variance reviews have been actioned to update fees where required.

For ITF, MTCF, HC and NCCC fees:

  • The care recipient contribution is coded from the start date and will not be updated after this. This amount will be used to populate fees on a hardship letter when they are issued in ACSP
  • The fee reduction amount as at the start date is coded. This amount remains constant for the period of hardship unless hardship is reviewed
  • If there are changes to circumstances that affect the fees a care recipient is liable to pay, the care recipient contribution will be adjusted
  • Current fees will show on Fees and charges > Fees and charges details

In ACSP:

  • Go to Hardship > Hardship summary
  • If there is a current ITF, MTCF, MTC, HC and NCCC hardship coded that needs to be end dated:
    • From the Summary screen, select Status field: Created/Updated
    • View hardship screen will show details of current hardship
    • To change, select Update
    • On Update hardship screen, change the end date to the day before the new start date
    • Select Update
  • Select Go to hardship summary
  • Select Register hardship and complete required fields:
    • Hardship type: select relevant fee type
    • Start date: hardship start date
    • End date: hardship end date
    • Maximum hardship reduction: select yes if customer's contribution is $0. Otherwise, no
    • Care recipient contribution: code this amount as at start date
    • Fee reduction amount: code the fee reduction that applies for this fee type, this amount remains constant for period of hardship
    • Reason: select most appropriate from dropdown box
    • Additional notes: mandatory field for relevant details on the grant
    • Select Submit
    • Receipt will confirm successful coding
    • Error will show if hardship was not registered
  • Repeat for any ITF, MTCF, ACMTC, HC and NCCC hardship reduction

Is this care recipient eligible for a further reduction of fees due to hardship?

  • Yes, to code hardship for:
  • No, care recipient is not eligible for further hardship reduction, go to Step 8

4

Hardship coding for Post 1 July 2014 RAD/DAP hardship

For RAD/DAP hardship:

  • The care recipient contribution coded will remain constant for the period of hardship
  • The service is paid a hardship accommodation supplement from 1 August 2022
  • This supplement is the maximum accommodation supplement payable for the service less any care recipient contribution
  • Any RAD/DAP hardship granted for a period before 1 August 2022 is paid as a manual adjustment by Health Service Delivery Division (HSDD)

In ACSP, go to Hardship > Hardship summary and review current hardship coding.

Is the start date for this grant of RAD/DAP hardship, or date of effect for correction or change to RAD/DAP hardship before 1 August 2022?

5

RAD/DAP hardship for period before 1 August 2022 - manual adjustment

Any RAD/DAP hardship granted for a period before 1 August 2022 is paid as a manual adjustment by Health Service Delivery Division (HSDD).

Any subsequent review or correction to RAD/DAP hardship for period before 1 August 2022 must be completed as a manual adjustment.

For any period from 1 August 2022, hardship supplements will adjust automatically.

Example: Care recipient granted RAD/DAP hardship from 1 March 2022

  • RAD/DAP hardship is coded in ACSP from 1 March 2022
  • Supplement is paid manually to the service for period 1 March 2022 to 31 July 2022
  • Supplements will be paid automatically from 1 August 2022
  • A review of hardship changes the RAD/DAP hardship reduction amount
  • Details from 1 March 2022 to 31 July 2022 need to be referred to HSDD for a manual adjustment to be paid
  • ACSP updated coding will then adjust any RAD/DAP hardship from 1 August 2022 onwards

Send an LPS escalation:

  • Aged Care > Enquiry 1 Providers > Enquiry 2 Adjustments Resi Care > Enquiry 3 Hardship
  • Provider team does manual adjustment
  • Note escalation on care recipient's record in the relevant system (ACSP/ACMPS)

Go to Step 6.

6

Recording hardship assistance for residential care - post 1 July 2014 RAD/DAP

Coding hardship reduction for a DAP in ACSP.

If there is a current RAD/DAP hardship coded that needs to be end dated:

  • From the Summary screen, select Status field: Created/Updated
  • View hardship screen will show details of current hardship
  • To change, select Update
  • On Update hardship screen, change the end date to the day before the new start date
  • Select Update
  • Select Go to hardship summary
  • Select Register hardship and complete required fields:
    • Hardship type: RAD/DAP Accommodation Payment - Post July 2014
    • Start date: hardship start date
    • End date: hardship end date
    • Maximum hardship reduction: Select yes or no
    • Care recipient contribution: if not maximum, code the amount of RAD DAP that a care recipient is liable to pay
    • Fee reduction amount: code the fee reduction amount
    • Reason: select most appropriate from dropdown box
    • Additional notes: mandatory field for relevant information on grant - include the text 'Hardship granted for RAD DAP. Full RAD DAP payment is $NN.NN per day'
    • Select Submit
    • Receipt will confirm successful coding
    • Error will show if hardship was not registered

Go to Step 8.

7

Recording hardship assistance for residential care - pre 1 July 2014 accommodation costs

In ACSP:

  • Go to Hardship > Hardship summary
  • If there is a current hardship coded that needs to be end dated:
    • From the Summary screen, select Status field: Created/Updated
    • View hardship screen will show details of current hardship
    • To change, select Update
    • On Update hardship screen, change the end date to the day before the new start date
    • Select Update
  • Select Go to hardship summary
  • Select Register hardship and complete required fields:
    • Hardship type: relevant accommodation cost for Pre July 2014 or Pre March 2008
    • Start date: hardship start date
    • End date: hardship end date
    • Care recipient contribution: if not maximum, code the daily amount of accommodation cost that care recipient is liable to pay
    • Fee reduction amount: will show once coding completed
    • Reason: select most appropriate from dropdown box
    • Additional notes: mandatory field for relevant information on the grant
    • Select Submit
    • Receipt will confirm successful coding
    • Error will show if hardship was not registered

8

Send hardship assistance letters - respite and residential care

Create a manual letter using the Hardship Grant templates and upload to Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP) See Aged care letters - creating manual letters on how to complete letter templates.

To upload documents:

  • Upload hardship manual letters to ACSP as a PDF, using the following field details:
    • Letter code*: Resi Care Legacy
    • Letter Description: update this field with code and letter type (that is, AC-HARDSHIP GRANT - CR)
  • Upload Hardship Calculations (if completed) to Document Tools in Customer First as a PDF. See Attaching electronic documents to a Centrelink customer's record

The letters advise:

  • the care recipient contribution for all fee types
  • the start and end dates that hardship is applied
  • for pre-entry hardship assessments - care recipient/nominee must contact Services Australia when they do start care

9

Record decision

Record decision in Customer First:

  • Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Aged Care > Hardship > AC Fin Hardship (relevant Grant doc) Aged Care Financial Hardship Granted and include:
    • hardship assistance start and end dates
    • details of any verbal clarification obtained (if applicable)
    • calculations (include notes on essential expenses)
    • assessment outcome
    • the DOR as date of grant
  • Complete the Customer First Progress of Claim DOC

In ACSP - Care recipient > Care recipient notes:

  • Select Add note
  • Select Subject: Other
  • In Note field, add a summary of the decision outcome including:
    • all fees that have reduced
    • amounts
    • period of reduction (start and end dates)
    • a note that manual letters have been sent
  • Select Submit

Is the hardship grant for 3 years?

10

Setting an annual review for a 3-year grant of hardship assistance

Annual reviews establish continuing eligibility for hardship assistance grants for 3 years. A review may also be set to confirm that details have not changed when deemed necessary.

When setting the review, include information on the action needed. For example, if a review is needed for an asset that is unable to be sold or borrowed against, include the property address to check if asset has been sold.

  • Hardship assistance granted for 3 years should have an annual review to confirm continuing eligibility
  • The review is set for 12 months from the assessment completion date
  • For example, a review may be needed when an asset is assessed as unable to be sold or borrowed against because:
    • the joint title holder is unwilling to sell a property
    • a family member is living in the home

A care recipient can ask for a review of the hardship assistance before the hardship end date, for example if essential expenses have increased.

See Aged care financial hardship assistance - review/cease/revoke for more information.

Set a 12-month review

In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

  • Service Reason: RCA
  • Review Reason: HDP (Hardship Assessment Review)
  • Due Date: 12 months from assessment date
  • Source: INT
  • Date of Receipt: today's date
  • Notes: 'Check current financial circumstances of the care recipient to determine if they still meet eligibility for hardship assistance'
  • Keyword: HRTG
  • Workgroup: leave blank
  • Position: leave blank
  • Transfer to Region: leave blank

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action.

See Aged care financial hardship assistance - review/cease/revoke.


Recording a hardship assistance outcome - Support at Home

Table 6

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Preliminary checks for hardship transition

Confirm care recipient has transitioned to Support at Home.

Confirm Support at Home contribution rates have been set by checking Fees and Charges.

If care recipient is Post2014 Category B - they have a fortnightly cap based on their notional Income Tested Care Fee (ITCF).

This ITCF rate will be shown in Means testing current summary > Circumstances.

If there is no ITCF in Circumstances, refer to last ITCF rate in Fees and Charges and code this as the cap on hardship calculation.

Note: for Support at Home and/or home care applications received after 1 November 2025, staff can only assess hardship from 1 November 2025.

When granting hardship for Support at Home/home care and the application has a start date before 1 November 2025, and the care recipient was getting home care, they must:

  • finalise the application with a start date from 1 November 2025, and
  • escalate to the Seniors and Ageing Branch through the Aged Care Tier 3 Escalation SharePoint.

Staff must escalate cases using this example:

  • Primary care type: Hypercare – SAH
  • Tier 3 Query types: Hardship

Escalations should include:

  • Name
  • Date of Birth (DOB)
  • Customer Reference Number (CRN)
  • CR ID
  • Start date
  • Grant reason
  • Fee Reductions, and
  • Manual hardship calculations

Staff must clearly document the customer’s record for cases they escalate to Tier 3 with:

  • application start date (before 1 November 2025)
  • grant date
  • fee reductions
  • manual hardship calculations
  • tier 3 ID

Applications that care recipients have withdrawn or Services Australia has rejected do not need to be escalated.

2

Complete hardship calculation - manual spreadsheet

Complete a new hardship calculation from 1 November 2025 using the Aged Care Calculator Hardship calculator.

Current classification level can be found in Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP) Care recipient summary, refer to Current circumstances.

Code income and expenses from existing hardship assessment, removing home care fees from expenses.

Code contribution rates that have been set for Support at Home.

No further information is required to continue the hardship assessment.

Is care recipient eligible for hardship under Support at Home?

3

Register Support at Home hardship assessment

Once calculation is complete, register hardship in the ACSP.

In ACSP, enter a care recipient ID to go to Care Recipient in Context:

  • Go to Hardship > Hardship summary
  • Select Register hardship
  • Select Care type: Support at Home
  • Start date: hardship start date - must be on or after start date of care type
  • End date: hardship end date
  • Maximum hardship reduction - yes or no, if not maximum code fortnightly cap amount, as per hardship calculator
  • Reason: select most appropriate from dropdown box
  • Additional notes: mandatory field for relevant details on the grant
  • Then Submit

Note: for Home Care transitions to Support at Home hardship only:

  • Start Date: 1 November 2025 (home care hardship ends from 1 November 2025)
  • End Date: as per original hardship grant the end date is to be honoured

Note: as this is a new determination, consider if the end date can be extended based on the current assessment.

4

Send hardship assistance grant letters - Support at Home

Create manual letters using the Hardship Grant templates and upload to Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP) See Aged care letters - creating manual letters on how to complete letter templates.

  • Add manual text for grant decision:
    • Partial reduction: “Your contributions towards the cost of your care are now capped at $ __ per fortnight, from {DD Month YYYY}
    • Maximum reduction: 'You will not have to pay any contributions towards the cost of your care under Support at Home', from (DD Month YYYY

To upload documents:

  • Upload hardship manual letters to ACSP as a PDF, using the following field details:
    • Letter code*: SaH manual letter upload
    • Letter Description: update this field with code and letter type (that is, AC-HARDSHIP GRANT - CR)
  • Upload Hardship Calculations (if completed) to Document Tools:

The letters advise:

  • The care recipient contribution for all fee types
  • The start and end dates that hardship is applied
  • For pre-entry hardship assessments - care recipient/nominee must contact Services Australia when they do start care

Document grant decision, go to Step 5.

5

Document grant decision

Record decision in Customer First:

  • Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Aged Care > Hardship > AC Fin Hardship (relevant Grant doc) Aged Care Financial Hardship Granted and include:
    • hardship assistance start and end dates
    • calculations from previous hardship assessment (include notes on essential expenses)
    • details of any verbal clarification obtained (if applicable)
    • assessment outcome
    • Partial reduction - hardship cap $__ per fortnight”, or maximum reduction
    • start date and end date

In ACSP - Care recipient > Care recipient notes:

  • Select Add note
  • Select Subject: Other
  • In Note field, add a summary of the decision outcome including:
    • Hardship granted for Support at Home
    • Partial reduction: Contributions capped at $ __ per fortnight”, or
    • Maximum reduction for contributions
    • period of reduction (start and end dates)
    • a note that manual letters have been sent
  • Select Submit

Is the hardship grant for 3 years?

6

Send hardship assistance reject letters - Support at Home

Make a genuine attempt to telephone the care recipient/nominee/authorised representative to advise the outcome:

Create a manual letter using the Hardship Reject templates and upload to Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP) See Aged care letters - creating manual letters for how to complete letter templates.

To upload documents:

  • Upload hardship manual letters to ACSP as a PDF, using the following field details:
    • Letter code*: SaH manual letter upload
    • Letter Description: update this field with code and letter type (that is, AC-HARDSHIP REJECT - CR)
  • Upload Hardship Calculations (if completed) to Document Tools:

The letters advise the reason for rejection of hardship assessment.

Use the following text if CR is no longer eligible for hardship following transition to Support at Home:

'Your home care fees have been ended from 31 October 2025. Based on your Support at Home contributions, from 1 November you are no longer eligible for hardship assistance.'

Document the rejection, go to Step 7.

7

Document reject decision

Record decision in Customer First:

  • Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Aged Care > Hardship > AC Fin Hardship (relevant Reject doc) Aged Care Financial Hardship Granted and include:
    • Date of effect
    • Reason for hardship being rejected

In ACSP - Care recipient > Care recipient notes:

  • Select Add note
  • Select Subject: Other
  • In Note field, add a summary of the decision outcome including:
    • Hardship rejected for Support at Home
    • Reason for rejection
    • A note that manual letters have been sent
  • Select Submit

8

Setting an annual review for a 3-year grant of hardship assistance

Annual reviews establish continuing eligibility for hardship assistance grants for 3 years. A review may also be set to confirm that details have not changed when deemed necessary.

When setting the review, include information on the action needed. For example, if a review is needed for an asset that is unable to be sold or borrowed against, include the property address to check if asset has been sold.

  • Hardship assistance granted for 3 years should have an annual review to confirm continuing eligibility
  • The review is set for 12 months from the assessment completion date
  • For example, a review may be needed when an asset is assessed as unable to be sold or borrowed against because:
    • the joint title holder is unwilling to sell a property
    • a family member is living in the home

A care recipient can ask for a review of the hardship assistance before the hardship end date, for example if essential expenses have increased.

See, Aged care financial hardship assistance - review/cease/revoke for more information.

Set a 12-month review

In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

  • Service Reason: RCA
  • Review Reason: HDP (Hardship Assessment Review)
  • Due Date: 12 months from assessment date
  • Source: INT
  • Date of Receipt: today's date
  • Notes: 'Check current financial circumstances of the care recipient to determine if they still meet eligibility for hardship assistance'
  • Keyword: HRTG
  • Workgroup: leave blank
  • Position: leave blank
  • Transfer to Region: leave blank

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action.

See, Aged care financial hardship assistance - review/cease/revoke.