What you must do
You must:
- publish a pricing schedule and a full price list on My Aged Care so they appear when people search for services
- publish accurate, up to date prices and pricing information that clearly explains:
- what a price covers
- why and how you charge it, including when prices change
- publish prices in dollar figures not percentages to ensure prices can be compared ‘like’ for ‘like’:
- you cannot publish $0, ’–‘, or N/A for the care management you deliver
- this mandatory support service cannot be included in the price of other care and service prices
- you may only enter an N/A where you do not service certain package levels.
- review your pricing schedule and full price list annually
- keep your pricing information up to date
- include a copy of your pricing schedule in all care recipients’ home care agreements
- publish the price of staff travel per kilometre if you choose to charge for staff travel costs, and include any staff travel costs in care recipients’ home care agreements, monthly statements, and your pricing schedule.
Where the care recipient chooses the organisation who delivers the service, you can offer a minimum and maximum price for common services. However, you must:
- publish your most common price for the service, which should be the price you charge in most cases
- agree to one price with the care recipient.
Pricing schedule
The schedule sets out:
- Australian Government funding for each package level
- your basic daily fee
- care management prices and approximate hours of service by package level
- the prices you charge for common home care package services, such as:
- personal care
- nursing (registered nurse)
- cleaning and household tasks
- light gardening
- in-home respite
- other prices, such as:
- package management
- maximum exit amount, if you charge this (from 1 January 2023, you cannot charge exit amounts)
- any staff travel costs (noting that staff travel costs are different from transport or social services)
- separate costs when you want to receive services from a different provider (from 1 January 2023, providers cannot charge separately for third party services)
- your contact details.
To publish your pricing schedule, you must enter your prices in the service provider portal against all of your My Aged Care service items.
To find out how, read the Create Service Delivery Outlets and Add Service Information Guide.
Providers will be able to complete a different price schedule where required, for example to account for regional variability in pricing.
In most cases, you should charge your published price. In some cases, you may need to negotiate a different price, such as where the care recipient has a particular request or need. For more information see if the price differs from your published price.
Full price list
The full price list must set out the prices of each kind of care and service you offer – not just the common ones.
You must publish a document (such as a PDF) or a website link that goes straight to your full price list. To find out how, read the Create Service Delivery Outlets and Add Service Information Guide.
If you want to, you can also include a copy of your full price list in home care agreements.
Pricing reviews
You must:
- keep your pricing information up to date on My Aged Care
- review your pricing information at least once a year and confirm you have done this in the service provider portal.
For how to confirm your review, read the Create Service Delivery Outlets and Add Service Information Guide.
Median home care prices
We publish national median prices for common home care services, care management and package management, updated quarterly. This provides price transparency to care recipients, their families and carers.
My Aged Care pricing tools
Tools available on My Aged Care include a:
- quick costs checker
- cost comparison indicator.
These tools help:
- inform care recipients and their families about the breakdown of a home care budget, by package level
- enable care recipients and their families to compare the price of a particular service with up to 3 providers by location.
This will help care recipients to:
- be better informed
- take action when they are not satisfied with their home care charges.
Home care agreements
Home care agreements must be in plain language and easy to understand.
When starting or reviewing a home care agreement, you must include:
- details of people and services (care recipient/provider details, the date services will begin, the level of care, and if not ongoing, when you will provide the services)
- a copy of your pricing schedule, which includes service prices
- information on prices which are different to the schedule and the reason for the difference
- policies for setting fees
- information on what care recipients will need to pay during leave
- enough information for care recipients to make an informed decision, including how any charges will affect them
- your complaints process.
You are responsible for making sure your care recipients understand their home care agreement and individualised budget, which includes fees and charges.
You cannot change a care recipient’s home care agreement unless they agree, following adequate consultation. If a care recipient does not agree or does not respond to a notice of changes, you cannot make the changes or stop providing care.
We expect you to negotiate an agreement that suits both you and the care recipient.
Learn more about your obligations on our home care agreements page.
Resources
- Home Care Pricing Schedule Example
- Create Service Delivery Outlets and Add Service Information Guide
- Information about displaying prices on the business.gov.au website.