Managing residential respite care

Residential respite care gives an older person or their carer a break from their usual care arrangements.

The Government pays providers a respite subsidy and supplement for providing respite care to eligible clients.

How many respite days are allowed

Eligible clients are entitled to 63 days of respite care in a financial year. This can be extended by up to another 21 days if an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) approves it.

Residential respite care fees

The fees you can charge a person while they are accessing residential respite care through your service are different to the fees you can charge when they enter permanent residential aged care.

You cannot charge the person accommodation costs.

You must record these fees in the resident agreement.

You can use the Understanding fees for residential respite care fact sheet to help explain fees to your care recipients.

Basic daily fee

Everyone can be asked to pay the basic daily fee. This fee is also called a standard resident contribution in aged care legislation. The fee helps to cover the costs of daily living, like meals, cleaning, laundry, heating and cooling.

The maximum fee is 85% of the single basic age pension. The fee amount changes with the pension amount every March and September.

Booking fee

You may ask the person to pay a booking fee to secure a period of respite care in your service. Once they enter the service, this fee will be deducted from their daily fees. The booking fee cannot exceed whichever is lower of:

• one week’s fee for respite care
• 25% of the fee for the proposed period of respite care

Additional service fees

With the resident’s agreement, you can charge a fee for services that:

• you can demonstrate are better than what must be provided under Schedule 1 of the Quality of Care Principles 2014 (the Principles)
• are not specified care and services in Schedule 1 of the Principles
• are not covered by the payment of an extra services fee 
• are not services you’re required to deliver under your responsibilities as a provider

There are some types of care and services in Schedule 1, Part 3 of the Principles that, with the resident’s agreement, may attract an additional service fee if they have a low-level residential respite care approval.

You must record additional fees in the resident agreement.

Full requirements

Details of residential respite care fees are in:

• Division 52C of the Aged Care Act 1997
• Section 10 of the Fees and Payments Principles (No. 2) 2014

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