Before moving into an aged care home you will need to be assessed by an Aged Care Assessment Team, also known as ACAT in NSW and the ACT. ACAT’s are usually located in hospitals and comprise multidisciplinary team members such as geriatricians, nurses, social workers and physiotherapists. ACAT’s can visit you at home or in hospital. The free ACAT assessment determines the level of care and support you require and the options available to you, these may include receiving help at home or in an aged care facility. No aged care facility will be able to offer you care without an aged care assessment.

To book an aged care assessment, you can talk to your doctor and he will arrange it. Another way is to visit or telephone your local hospital and ask to speak with the aged care assessment team. An appointment with an Aged Care Assessment Team can be booked through MyAgedCare on 1800 200 422 or online.

They will then arrange for a time that is suitable to visit you in your home or at your bedside if you happen to be in hospital. Usually the home visits take up to five weeks, while the hospital assessments are done within a week because they are often urgent.

Once an individual has been assessed, they will have a document that sets out their ‘funded’ care needs. The document is called an Aged Care Assessment Report, or ACAR and an aged care provider will work to fulfil the care and services an individual is eligible to receive as outlined in this report.

The government does not pay 100% of the costs of care for anybody. While some individuals may have government support for their care, everybody is required to pay something toward the cost of their care. How much a person pays toward the cost of their care will depend on their personal financial situation as interpreted by the income and assets assessment from the Department of Human Services.

Aged care fees comprise the cost of accommodation and daily care fees. Each aged care facility has room prices. These are published on the MyAgedCare website.