About unspent funds
A care recipient’s unspent funds is the total amount left in their package on the date you (their provider) stopped providing care (the cessation date).
You must calculate unspent funds when a care recipient exits your Home Care Package service.
You calculate the amount for the period between:
- 1 July 2015 or the date they started receiving home care from you (whichever is later)
- the cessation date.
You do not get a Home Care Package subsidy for the cessation date.
Step 1. Calculate unspent funds
Before calculating, make sure you have:
- finalised all outstanding claims to Services Australia
- received all Home Care Package fees
- identified all expenses, such as outstanding invoices for services.
Do not include:
- fees paid in advance – you must separately refund these fees to the care recipient
- a Home Care Package subsidy for the cessation date – you will not be able to access the subsidy for that date.
To calculate a care recipient’s unspent funds for the required period:
- work out the total amount of Home Care Package subsidy, fees, and transfer portions paid
- work out the total amount you have spent or will spend on providing services
- subtract the step 2 amount from the step 1 amount – if the result is negative, take it to be nil.
Step 2. Provide written notice
Within 56 days after the cessation date, you must give the care recipient (or their authorised representative) written notice of unspent funds.
The written notice must include:
- the cessation date
- the amount of unspent funds
- any unpaid fees that have been deducted
- how you will pay the unspent funds, including timeframes.
You must identify the following amounts (even if they are zero):
- care recipient portion – the unspent funds from fees they paid in advance (subtracting any unpaid fees owed)
- government portion – the unspent funds from the Home Care Package subsidy we paid
- transfer portion (if changing providers) – the unspent funds to be paid to the new provider, which may include a care recipient portion and/or an government portion.
If a care recipient has unpaid fees, you:
- must manage this under the terms of their Home Care Agreement
- cannot use subsidies to account for them.
Step 3. Pay the unspent funds
When a care recipient changes to a new provider
When a care recipient changes providers, their unspent funds move with them.
Within 56 days after the cessation date, the care recipient must let you know who their new provider is.
Within 70 days after the cessation date, you must:
- pay the transfer portion to the new provider
- give a copy of the written notice to the new provider at the time you pay them.
The new provider must separately list the transfer portion in the care recipient’s monthly statement.
If a care recipient does not give you their new provider’s details within 70 days, you must treat any unspent funds as if they have left the program.
When a care recipient leaves home care or passes away
Within 70 days after the cessation date, you must tell Services Australia about the government portion through the Aged Care Provider Portal.
The process will depend on the following:
- If the care recipient entered the program from 1 September 2021 OR before 1 September 2021 but you previously opted to return unspent government funds to us
- Services Australia will reconcile the outstanding amount through the claim period and return it to the government.
- If the care recipient entered the program before 1 September 2021, and you did not opt to return the government portion to us
- you hold all their unspent funds and must create a ‘Commonwealth unspent amount on departure’ event
- Services Australia will then return the funds to the government.
- If you do not hold any government unspent funds
- you must report a $0 amount to Services Australia.
You should not adjust the unspent funds amount in the departure month if the invoice amount is higher than the maximum contribution amount for that month.
Services Australia will recover the government portion by either:
- deducting amounts from future subsidy payments for the care recipient
- issuing a debt notice.
You must also pay the care recipient portion (for example, income tested care fee) to the care recipient or their authorised representative:
- if the care recipient is leaving the program – within 70 days after the cessation day
- if the care recipient has passed away – within 14 days after seeing the probate will or letters of administration.
Step 4. Keep records
You must keep a record of:
- the written notice of unspent funds
- payment of unspent funds to other providers or care recipients (or their estate).
Non-compliance and sanctions
We may take regulatory action if you do not pay unspent funds by the required date. If we impose a sanction, you must pay the unspent funds by the date stated in the sanctions notice.
We publish non-compliance and sanction notices on the My Aged Care: