How to Find the Right Aged Care Services

Knowing how to find aged care services that genuinely fit your loved one’s situation is one of the most significant responsibilities a family can face. The choices you make directly affect their safety, comfort, and quality of life.

“It’s important to take a careful approach rather than rushing.”

This guide walks you through five clear steps: assess care needs and eligibility, understand the financial aspects, research and shortlist facilities, visit sites, and finalize the move. Whether you’re planning ahead or responding to a sudden change in your loved one’s health, following these steps will help you make informed decisions with confidence.

Step 1: How to Find Aged Care Services That Match Your Loved One Needs and Eligibility

Knowing how to find aged care services that genuinely fit your loved one’s situation starts long before you tour a single facility. The process begins with a formal eligibility assessment — and getting this right early saves significant time and stress later. Australian carers of people living with dementia often face significant pressure. In the 2026 national Living with Dementia Carer Survey, 71% of women and 61% of men reported feeling overwhelmed by their caring responsibilities.

Here is how to complete this foundational step:

1. Apply for an aged care assessment through My Aged Care. You can apply online or call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422.

   An aged care assessment is a formal assessment of a person’s health, daily living needs, circumstances and support requirements. It helps determine whether they are eligible for Australian Government-funded aged care services and which types of support may be appropriate.

   Depending on the assessment outcome, support may include:

   • Support at Home: Government-funded services designed to help older people remain independent and live safely at home.

   • Respite care: Short-term care that gives an older person and their regular carer a temporary break from normal caring arrangements.

   • Residential aged care: Ongoing accommodation and care in an aged care home for people who can no longer live independently at home.

     Assessment Tool

2. Think about the person’s current needs, goals and preferred living arrangements before the assessment. Consider whether they are having difficulty managing at home, need temporary support, or may require residential care. The assessor will discuss these needs and recommend appropriate services and supports.

   How aged care needs assessment works

3. Prepare information about your loved one’s daily living needs. Consider mobility, medication support, nutrition, existing assistance, daily activities and any memory or cognitive concerns. Writing these details down beforehand can help you explain their needs clearly during the assessment.

With eligibility confirmed and care needs documented, the next critical step is understanding the financial landscape — including the spend-down process and the legal obligations that many families do not anticipate until it is too late.

Step 2: Understand Aged Care Costs and Means Testing

Once your loved one’s care needs have been assessed, the next step is understanding how aged care fees work. In Australia, what a person may need to pay for permanent residential aged care depends partly on their income and assets.

Means assessment: A financial assessment used to determine how much a person may need to contribute towards residential aged care and how much financial assistance the Australian Government may provide.

Here are the key costs and terms to understand:

• Basic daily fee: A fee paid by residential aged care residents towards everyday living costs such as meals, cleaning, laundry and utilities.

• Means-tested contributions: Additional contributions that may apply depending on a person’s income and assets. For people entering care under the arrangements introduced on 1 November 2025, these may include a hotelling contribution and a non-clinical care contribution.

• Hotelling contribution: A means-tested contribution towards everyday living services such as meals, cleaning and laundry.

• Non-clinical care contribution: A means-tested contribution towards services such as personal care, mobility assistance and lifestyle activities.

• Accommodation costs: The amount a person may contribute towards their room in an aged care home. The amount depends on their financial circumstances, the room price and the outcome of their means assessment.

• Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD): A lump-sum accommodation payment made by a resident who pays the agreed accommodation price themselves.

• Refundable Accommodation Contribution (RAC): A lump-sum accommodation contribution that may apply when the Australian Government helps with some of the resident’s accommodation costs.

Before transferring or gifting significant assets, consider obtaining independent financial advice. Under Australian aged care means-testing rules, gifts above $10,000 in one financial year or $30,000 over five financial years can continue to be counted as financial assets for assessment purposes.

Services Australia generally completes the residential aged care means assessment and provides a fee advice letter explaining the fees and contributions that may apply.

Step 3: Research and Shortlist Aged Care Homes

With your loved one’s care needs and financial circumstances clearer, the next step is to compare residential aged care homes that can meet their needs. Nearly one-third of Australian carers surveyed spent more than 70 hours each week caring for someone living with dementia, highlighting how important a clear and manageable search process can be.

Here is how to build a strong shortlist:

Use My Aged Care to compare suitable providers. Search the Find a provider tool for aged care homes that match your loved one’s location, care needs, cultural preferences and required services. You can save several providers to a shortlist and compare up to three side-by-side.

Speak with the hospital discharge planning team when care is needed after a hospital stay. A discharge planner or continuing care coordinator can help coordinate the transition from hospital and identify the care and services that may be needed after discharge.

Seek independent aged care advocacy if you need additional support. The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) provides free and independent support to older people, families and carers. An aged care advocate can help explain care options, identify suitable services and support you in understanding your aged care rights. Vulnerable older people who do not have someone they trust to help them may also be eligible for assistance from a care finder.

Check the home’s Star Ratings before adding it to your shortlist. Each residential aged care home has an Overall Star Rating as well as ratings for Residents’ Experience, Compliance, Staffing and Quality Measures. Use these ratings to compare homes and identify areas you may want to ask about during a visit.

Review compliance information and regulatory decisions. The Compliance rating reflects regulatory decisions and assessments against the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards. Rather than focusing on a single issue alone, consider the home’s overall compliance history together with its staffing, quality measures and resident experience information.

Comparing several suitable homes before visiting them can make it easier to identify which providers best match your loved one’s needs, preferences and circumstances.

Step 4: Conduct Site Visits and Ask Critical Questions

No aged care assessment tutorial or compliance report can fully replace what you learn by standing inside a facility and watching how staff treat residents on an ordinary afternoon. This step transforms your shortlisted options into a clear, defensible choice.

1. Observe staff-to-resident interactions throughout the visit, not just during the formal tour. Warm, unhurried communication between caregivers and residents is a stronger quality indicator than polished décor.

2. Inspect common areas and private rooms for cleanliness, odor, and general upkeep. What typically happens is that a poorly maintained environment on a scheduled visit signals something more significant when no one is watching.

3. Ask directly about staff turnover rates and the specific dementia care training provided. High turnover disrupts continuity of care and is a concern worth pressing on.

4. Speak with current residents and their families independently, away from staff. A high percentage of Australian aged care residents would recommend their home to others, so a facility where families hesitate to endorse it openly warrants serious scrutiny.

5. Verify specialized equipment and activity programs — particularly mobility aids, on-site medical support, and meaningful social programming that matches your loved one’s interests and cognitive level.

6. Document every observation and answer in writing before leaving. Comparing facilities from memory is unreliable; structured notes support a clearer decision.

A thorough site visit closes the gap between a facility’s stated reputation and its lived reality. Once you have completed visits and ranked your options, the final step — reviewing agreements, preparing a transition plan, and setting up ongoing communication with the care team — ensures the placement holds up over time.

How to Finalize the Transition and Key Takeaways

Once you have selected a facility, the final phase is where preparation determines whether the placement holds up over time. Taking these steps in order will help you set up aged care support that is both stable and responsive to your loved one’s evolving needs.

1. Review the resident agreement line by line before signing anything. Confirm that every fee — including basic daily fees, means-tested care fees, and any additional service charges — is itemized clearly. Ambiguous billing language is a common source of financial disputes.

2. Build a written transition plan that maps out the first 30 days. Include familiar objects, scheduled visits, and key contacts so your family member has anchors to ease the adjustment.

3. Establish a formal communication schedule with the care team from day one. A brief weekly check-in tends to surface concerns before they escalate.

4. Document every interaction with facility staff in a shared family log. Written records support accountability and simplify handoffs if a family member’s role changes.

The five steps in this guide reflect a core truth: finding the right aged care services is an act of sustained advocacy, not a single decision. Start the assessment process early, keep your financial picture transparent, and never stop asking questions on behalf of your loved one. And remember — the families who navigate this process most effectively are those who treat each step as preparation for the next.