A fee increase notice from your aged care provider is alarming. But before you accept it, check whether it's legal, whether proper notice was given, and whether you have grounds to push back.
By Steve Hadfield, AgedCareActionPlan.au · Last updated: 25 April 2026
The care management fee is legally capped at 10% of your quarterly budget under the Aged Care Rules 2025. Calculate it yourself: divide the care management fee by your quarterly budget. If the result exceeds 0.10, the provider is charging above the legal cap regardless of any notice they give.
From 1 July 2026, national price caps apply to all Support at Home services. Until that date, providers set their own fees — but still cannot exceed the care management cap.
Use our fee calculator to see if the increase takes your total fees above the cap.
Your service agreement should state the fee percentages and any circumstances under which they can change. If the new fee was not contemplated in your original agreement — or if the increase exceeds what was described — you can dispute it.
Check your service agreement for: the original fee percentage, any provision for fee increases, and the notice period required for changes.
Use our service agreement decoder if you're not sure what your agreement says.
Providers must give reasonable written notice before changing fees. Your service agreement should specify the minimum notice period — typically 14 days. If the notice period was shorter than agreed, or the increase takes effect immediately, this is grounds to dispute.
"I've received your fee increase notice dated [date]. Before I accept this change, I have some questions: (1) What is the new combined fee percentage as a proportion of my quarterly budget? (2) Is this within the legal 10% care management cap? (3) What in my service agreement permits this increase? Please provide your response in writing."
Always get the response in writing. A provider who won't justify a fee increase in writing is a warning sign.
A fee increase — especially one that takes total fees above 30% of your quarterly budget — is a valid reason to compare providers. You have the right to change providers under the Aged Care Act 2024, typically with the notice period in your service agreement (usually 2–4 weeks).
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