Residential respite Taking a break

Taking some time off from caring is crucial and known as ‘respite’. Respite care offers the opportunity for both you and your carer to take a break. This may be for a few hours, a day, a night or a few weeks.

Residential respite

To receive respite care in an aged care home, you require an assessment by an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT), except in emergencies. See page 22 for more information about ACAT.

Usually, you may have up to 63 days of Government funded respite care in any financial year, and it may be possible to extend the care period by up to 21 days at a time, if deemed necessary by the ACAT.

When you have received approval by the ACAT, you may apply directly to the aged care facility for respite.

Access to respite care is based on eligibility and need.

Although residential aged care homes are allocated respite places, they are not required to keep these solely available for respite provision.

You will need to book this respite in advance, although in the case of emergencies, it can be organised quite quickly.

You can also use residential respite as a way of finding out about the quality of care at a nursing home before deciding if the home is a good place for you to permanently move into.

Cost

The cost for respite in a Government funded aged care home is the same Basic Daily Fee as for a permanent resident of the home. This amount is currently $56.87 per day (March 2023 rates), which is the equivalent of 85 percent of the single maximum base rate of the Age Pension, regardless of whether you are a pensioner or not.

A booking fee may also be charged to assist in securing a place. This is a pre-payment of respite care fees, not an additional payment, and it cannot be more than a full week’s fee or 25 percent of the entire stay’s fee, whichever amount is the lowest.

There is no income and assets test or additional accommodation charge to access respite in an aged care home. This only applies to permanent residents of an aged care home. For respite in an ‘extra services’ home you may be asked to pay an extra fee to cover the cost of the higher standard of services.

For more information about respite options and how to access them, contact the Carer Gateway on 1800 422 737.

Go to page 46 to read about respite options in your own home or community.

Extra services

Some aged care homes provide ‘extra services’, such as a higher standard of accommodation, increased entertainment options, and more diverse food choices.

Extra service homes have approval from the Australian Government to offer these additional hotel type services and they come at an additional cost to the resident.

‘Extra service’ only refers to the standard of accommodation, meals, food, and entertainment, and not to the level of care which is legislated to be of a high standard across all aged care homes.

Services delivered and cost may vary between providers and they should be outlined in your Resident Agreement.

In some cases, the whole of the home is ‘extra service’, while in others, a distinct part of that home, such as a separate building, wing or unit, is dedicated to extra services.

Some of the extra services you might be offered include:

A bigger room

Daily newspaper

Phone

Fees

Internet

Satellite TV

Choice of meals

Selection of beverages including wines, beer, and spirits

Special therapies such as massage or aromatherapy

Leisure/entertainment facilities

Extra service fees are set by the provider and approved by the Australian Government. This is an additional charge on top of the basic daily care fee, accommodation payment, and any means tested fee.

Some providers may offer rooms with a non-optional extra service package. You can only take up the room if you agree to and pay for the extra services offered.

Other providers may offer extra services as an optional package that you can choose or cancel at any time.

In this case, switching from general residency to extra service residence within the same home, does not change the accommodation payment you have already agreed to when entering the home and the provider cannot charge a new or additional accommodation payment.

Additional services

All people in aged care homes have the option to purchase additional services, such as entertainment or lifestyle choices, for an extra fee. Providers can not charge additional service fees for anything that is part of the normal operation of the nursing home and you have to agree to these charges before they are delivered.

Aged care homes that offer extra services are listed in the residential table starting on page 133.