Change of address to an aged care home 102-03010090

This information covers when a care recipient enters residential aged care or moves from one aged care home to another. It does not cover when a care recipient leaves residential aged care, see Change of address from an aged care home.

The Australian Government approves aged care providers to provide care. To access government funded aged care, a person must be found eligible through an assessment from an Aged Care Assessment Team. If a person is not eligible for government funded aged care services, they can access privately funded care services but will have to pay the full cost themselves.

This is care provided to a care recipient assessed as being eligible for permanent residential aged care and the service is accredited by the Department of Health and Aged Care. The service advises Services Australia (the agency) of entry into care or departures from care.

• The care recipient’s cost of care is determined by an Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) assessment, see Aged Care - Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC)
• The care recipient’s contribution to their cost of care is determined by a means assessment, see Aged care means assessment

Note: for respite residential Care, see Temporary change of address to an aged care home for respite care.

This is care provided to a care recipient in permanent residential aged care and the service place is not accredited through the Department of Health and Aged Care. It does not receive residential care funding from the government for that place. General funding may still be provided but these types of residential aged care providers are not regarded as funded.

Care recipients in unfunded residential aged care may be eligible to receive Rent Assistance (RA) for accommodation fees charged.

Examples of unfunded care:

• Care recipients in an unfunded place (bed) in an aged care service that has both funded and unfunded places
• Multi-Purpose Service (MPS) - a service usually operated by local Health services in rural and remote communities where it is not viable to operate separate hospital and aged care services
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFAC) - flexible and culturally appropriate care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in rural and remote areas:
• providers receive funding for the aged care part of their service but individual fees and charges are negotiated directly with the providers

The Resources page has links to lists of MPS and NATSIFAC services.

There are different types of temporary care places:

Respite care

• Temporary care placement
• Customers are approved to access up to 63 days of respite care per year
• See Temporary change of address to an aged care home for respite care

Short-term restorative care

• Short term management to reverse or slow down difficulties with everyday tasks
• Can be provided at home, a residential care setting, or both
• See Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) Programme

Transitional care

• Provides short term management for customers after a hospital stay
• Can be provided at home, a residential care setting, or both
• See Transition Care Programme

When a care recipient moves into any type of residential aged care, the care recipient or correspondence nominee notify the agency that the care recipient has moved. The requirement to notify does not apply to care recipients who are self-funded retirees and not receiving a payment or service from the agency.

If the care recipient is currently receiving an income support payment (ISP) they must notify the agency of a change of address within 14 days, including:

• name and address of the aged care home
• type of residential aged care service (for example, funded or unfunded residential care)
• care recipients in unfunded residential aged care such as Multi-purpose service, NATSIFAC or nursing home type patient service may be eligible to receive Rent Assistance for fees charged, see Rent Assistance (RA) for care receivers
• if the care recipient has paid, or agreed to pay any accommodation costs including a refundable accommodation deposit (RAD) or a refundable accommodation contribution (RAC), or has transferred (rolled over) an accommodation bond
• date of entry into care

Aged Care data matching occurs when the aged care service notifies the agency of a care recipient’s entry into a residential aged care place:

• Name of the aged care home and date of admission will be populated onto the RCIRC screen source of these activities will be *RC when created automatically
• Delegation to update a care recipient’s address based on Aged Care system information is now APS4 or above (as per item 60 in the Aged Care Act 1997 and Accountability Principles 2014 - Delegations Instrument). Note: any care recipients who are receiving an Income Support Payment or concession card will need their home address updated

If a care recipient receives an income support payment (ISP) from the agency and was a homeowner before moving to Commonwealth funded residential aged care, the care recipient or authorised third party must give the information below:

• The value and status of the former principal home when a means assessment is required. Note: not needed if a protected person lives in the former principal home. See Aged care means assessment - protected person for more information
• Any amount paid as an accommodation bond (pre 1 July 2014 assessment schemes), refundable accommodation deposit (RAD) or refundable accommodation contribution (RAC) for post 1 July 2014 assessment schemes
• The address the care recipient/nominee wants their mail sent to

Rental income received for a care recipient’s former principal home may be exempt:

• for ISP customers who entered permanent residential care before 1 January 2017 (including pre-entry leave), and
• are renting their former principal home, and
• are paying their accommodation costs by a periodic payment, including when a partial lump sum is paid, then
• the rental income is exempt from the ISP income test and is included in the aged care means assessment (for aged care entries after 1 January 2016)
• for care recipients who entered care before 1 January 2016 (including pre-entry leave) and have not had a break greater than 28 days, and
• are renting their former principal home, and
• are paying their accommodation costs by a periodic payment, including when a partial lump sum is paid, then
• the rental income is exempt from the aged care means assessment to determine aged care fees, and exempt from the ISP income test

See Aged Care means assessment - Rental income from principal home for more information.

Income support payment (ISP) customers paying rent for accommodation immediately before entering funded residential aged care are entitled to receive Rent Assistance for up to 14 days following their entry into care.

This only applies if the care recipient is still liable to pay rent for their previous address following their entry into care.

If one or both members of a couple enter residential aged care (for example, aged care home, Multi-purpose service facility, nursing home type patient in hospital) both partners are considered to be 'illness separated' even if they move into the same aged care service.

This procedure does not apply for income support payment (ISP) customers who are moving in to a retirement village.