Choosing not to disclose your finances does not mean avoiding aged care fees. For permanent residential aged care in Australia, you need an income and assets assessment unless you choose to pay the maximum fees. A Centrelink aged care means assessment considers your financial details and, where relevant, your partner’s to help calculate your contribution to care. It does not determine which care you can access.
It can be difficult to know which assessment applies, what information is counted and whether you need to complete one. Centrelink aged care means assessment: this article explains how a means assessment affects aged care costs, who should apply and what may happen if you do not provide financial details. It also distinguishes an assessment of care needs from a financial assessment used to calculate costs.
Key Takeaways
- Understand why a financial assessment affects what you may pay, rather than deciding which care you can access.
- Learn when you can choose to pay maximum fees instead of providing income and asset details.
- See why your financial position at entry matters when you move into permanent residential care.
- Use Aged Care Made Easy Directory to find and compare providers against your care needs and preferences.
Is the Income and Assets Test Mandatory?
Centrelink aged care means assessment: for permanent residential aged care, you need an income and assets assessment unless you choose to pay the maximum fees. Support at Home has a separate financial assessment, so its contribution rules do not apply to residential care.
An aged care assessment determines what care you can access, while the means assessment helps set costs. The aged care assessment process covers care eligibility.
Income and assets in the assessment
The residential care means test considers assessable income and assets to calculate your contribution. Income and financial assets, including investments, may affect care and accommodation costs. A refundable accommodation deposit or contribution also counts as an assessable asset. The calculation determines costs, not which care services you can access.
Assessable assets and gifting
Assessable assets include financial holdings and other property considered in the calculation. From 20 September 2026, the asset free area is A$66,500. Gifts above A$10,000 in a financial year or A$30,000 over five financial years count as financial assets. Household contents and personal effects are typically valued at A$10,000, so gifting may not remove value from the test.
Couples’ income and asset assessment
For a couple, half of combined income and assets is assessed for each person, regardless of who earns or owns them. From 20 September 2026, the annual income free area is A$36,454.60 for a single person and A$35,726.60 for each member of an illness-separated couple. These thresholds help determine how income affects each person’s assessment.
Exempt income and assets
The family home is excluded from the assets test if a protected person, such as a spouse or dependent, lives there. Otherwise, the family home asset cap is A$219,858.40 as of 20 September 2026. National Redress Scheme payments have been exempt from the residential aged care asset test since 1 January 2025. Specified Stolen Generations redress payments are exempt from 1 October 2026.
Who Should Complete the Aged Care Means Test?
Centrelink aged care means assessment: My Aged Care’s aged care home fee estimator can help you explore potential costs, but it is a guide, not financial advice. Use it for initial planning, then consider the result alongside your income, assets and preferred care arrangements. A fee advice letter provides an assessment-based view of costs to consider before entering residential care.
The fee system changed for people entering residential aged care on or after 1 November 2025. Residents who entered earlier remain under their existing arrangements. This change gives new entrants a defined set of contributions, but it also means two residents in the same home may have different fee rules because they entered at different times. A relative’s fee experience may therefore not predict your own costs.
Timing also matters for pre-entry advice. A residential aged care fee advice letter is valid for 120 days from the assessment date. If you enter care on or after 1 November 2025 and your earlier letter used the previous arrangements, you may receive a new fee advice letter. This can help align your cost information with the applicable system, while requiring you to review updated advice before making plans.
Services Australia may request supporting documents to calculate your costs and will let you know if they are needed. Keep relevant financial records organised, including your partner’s details where applicable, so you can respond to a request. Processing times depend on the assessment process, so treat My Aged Care’s estimator as an initial guide, not a final fee calculation.
Who needs an aged care means assessment
A cost calculation can help while you compare residential care options, even if you are not yet ready to move. Consider it alongside each home’s accommodation arrangements and how its services match your assessed needs. The Centrelink aged care means assessment covers the financial side of planning, while your care assessment informs the services you may access.
For an initial estimate, use the aged care fee estimator on My Aged Care. To apply for an official calculation online, you need a Centrelink online account linked to myGov. This can help you plan financially before deciding on an aged care home.
If you cannot apply online, you can use a form. A correspondence nominee can also apply online on your behalf. Once you submit an online application, you receive a receipt with a claim ID and a link to track its progress through myGov or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.
Finding private carers for an older person is a separate task from understanding residential care costs. If you receive a means-tested income support payment from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, contact its general enquiries line about aged care costs. Depending on your circumstances, financial hardship assistance may also help with costs.
As you compare residential options, compare aged care homes by how well they match your assessed needs and preferences.
Aged Care Made Easy: Featured Directory Listing
Aged Care Made Easy’s national directory helps seniors and families find and compare Australian aged care providers. Once you understand how means testing affects costs, use the directory to explore services that may suit your needs and preferences.
A Featured Directory Listing lets an aged care provider present its services to people researching their options. For families, directory information can help organise the search and compare potential providers. The directory does not deliver care or decide which service is right for you.
Aged care providers can contact Aged Care Made Easy to discuss a Featured Directory Listing for their service.
Make your next care decision with confidence
Use your understanding of the Centrelink aged care means assessment as one part of your planning. Next, compare services with your care needs, preferences and financial circumstances, and note any questions you want answered before making a decision.
Aged Care Made Easy’s directory features providers with Featured and Premium Directory Listings, and its guide carries aged care advertisements. These listings provide information, not a recommendation that a particular service suits you. Take time to compare the available options against your circumstances.
Explore aged care information and directory listings to help plan your next step. You can approach the decision one question at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a means assessment work?
A means assessment uses your financial information to calculate your contribution towards care, separate from the assessment of your care eligibility. For residential aged care, the daily means-tested amount is calculated by adding the income and asset components, then dividing the sum by 364. Support at Home uses different financial assessment rules, so residential care calculations don’t apply to it.
Do I include the value of the family home?
The family home is excluded from the asset assessment if a protected person, such as your spouse or dependent, lives there. A carer may qualify if they have lived in the home for at least 2 years and meet the income support eligibility condition. A close relative may qualify after 5 years, subject to that condition. Otherwise, the home asset cap applies.
What assets get assessed?
The assessment can consider financial holdings, property and other assets, alongside income. Account-based income streams have been subject to deemed income in residential aged care means assessments since 1 January 2015. This means the assessment may count an income amount calculated under the rules, rather than simply using the payments you choose to draw from the account.
What happens if I’m part of a couple?
Half of a couple’s combined income and assets is assessed for each person, even if one partner earns all the income or owns an asset in their name. For example, an investment held solely by one spouse can still affect the other spouse’s assessment. This shared calculation matters when planning each person’s residential aged care contributions.
What if circumstances change?
Report changes to personal or financial circumstances within 28 days from 1 November 2025. If you report later, an increase in fees may be backdated by up to 28 days from when Services Australia updates your means assessment. Keep records of the change and when you reported it, so you can follow how the updated assessment affects your fees.
Website Blog & Article Disclaimer
The information published on the Aged Care Made Easy Website is provided for general informational purposes only. All content, pricing, statistics, funding information, and service details were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change without notice.
While we aim to keep information current and reliable, Aged Care Made Easy makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of any content. Readers should independently verify information with service providers, government departments, or qualified professionals before making decisions relating to aged care, health, financial, or legal matters.
Aged Care Made Easy is not responsible for any loss, damage, or decisions made based on the information contained within this website or linked third-party websites.
