Residents exiting your care
Residents can choose to leave care or move to another approved residential care home (also known as service) at any time.
The resident (or their appointed decision maker) should:
- let you know in writing as soon as possible
- tell you the departure date.
For more information about when residents move to another aged care home.
Security of tenure
Under the Aged Care Rules 2025 (section 149), there are only certain circumstances you can ask a resident to leave your residential care home. We call this security of tenure.
These reasons must be made clear in their service agreement:
- your residential care home is closing
- the accommodation and care you provide no longer suit the resident’s assessed long-term needs
- an aged care assessor decides that the resident doesn’t need residential aged care anymore
- the resident was receiving care under a specialist dementia care agreement, which a clinical advisory committee has determined they no longer need
- the resident hasn’t paid their agreed fees for 42 days since they were due, for a reason within the resident’s control
- the resident intentionally caused serious damage to the service, or injury to staff or another resident
- the resident was absent from the service for 7 days or more for reasons not permitted.
Residents can apply for financial hardship assistance if they need it. You can also apply on their behalf using the aged care claim for financial hardship assistance form (SA462).
Referring to aged care assessment
In circumstances where you can no longer meet a resident’s long-term needs for accommodation and care, you must request a review by an aged care needs assessor.
Alternatively, the resident’s individual care needs may be assessed by at least 2 medical or other health practitioners who meet the following criteria:
- one must be independent of the provider/home and chosen by the resident
- both must be competent to assess the needs of the individual.
Continuity of care plan
If intending to ask a resident to leave, you must prepare a continuity of care plan to ensure the resident has continuity of funded aged care services.
Before asking or implying that a resident leaves your service, you must find suitable accommodation that:
- meets the resident’s assessed long-term needs
- is affordable to the resident.
If requested by a resident’s new provider, you must transfer (or provide copies of) required records within 28 days of the request to ensure continuity of care.
Learn more about continuity of care plans in the Aged Care Rules 2025 (section 149-75).
Notifying residents
If you decide to ask a resident to leave, you must give the resident at least 14 days’ written notice. The notice must:
- set out your decision
- include the reasons for your decision
- say when the resident is to leave
- detail the resident’s rights, such as accessing an advocate
- provide a copy of the continuity of care plan.
How to exit residents
If a resident made a lump sum payment, you must refund the balance of their:
- accommodation payment — applies to residents entering care after 1 July 2014
- accommodation bond — applies to residents who entered care before 1 July 2014.
Once a resident leaves your care, you must notify Services Australia.
When a resident dies
When a resident dies, you will need to notify Services Australia.
In the case of an unexpected death, you must report it to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within 24 hours under the Serious Incident Response Scheme.
You must refund a lump sum balance to an individual’s estate within 14 days after sighting probate of the will, letters of administration or other reasonable evidence.