By Steve Hadfield, AgedCareActionPlan.au · Last updated: 26 April 2026
Your aged care statement arrives every month. It has line items with names like "care management fee," "participant contribution," "unspent funds carried forward," and "AT-HM budget." Nobody explains what any of these mean.
This guide explains every line item in plain English — and tells you which ones to check against your own records. Get your latest statement out and work through it section by section. Use the interactive statement decoder tool alongside this guide to check each item as you go.
The care management fee is legally capped at 10% of your quarterly budget under the Aged Care Rules 2025. To check yours: divide the care management fee by your quarterly budget. If the result is above 0.10, your provider is charging above the legal cap. Use the overpayment calculator to see the dollar amount.
Every statement looks slightly different depending on your provider, but most contain the same underlying items. Here is what each one means:
The total government funding allocated to you this quarter. Set by your classification level — determined at your assessment. This is the ceiling. Everything else comes out of this.
Your provider's fee for coordinating your care — reviewing your care plan, organising services, communicating with health professionals. Legally capped at 10% of your quarterly budget under the Aged Care Rules 2025.
Everything you actually received this quarter — showering, housework, meals, transport, nursing visits. Each service should be listed with: the date, what it was, how long it took, and what it cost.
Your share of the cost — the portion the government doesn't cover. How much depends on your pension status and income, and on the type of service. Clinical services always have zero co-contribution. Independence services (personal care) have a moderate contribution. Everyday Living (cleaning, meals) has the highest.
What was left in your quarterly budget after all services and fees. Under the Support at Home program, you can carry over up to $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget — whichever is more. Anything above that returns to the government.
A separate funding stream for equipment (walking frames, shower chairs, grab rails) and home modifications (ramps, handrails, bathroom alterations). This comes from a different budget — not your regular quarterly budget. It should never reduce your regular care hours.
A fee that was charged under the old Home Care Package system. Under the Support at Home program (which started 1 November 2025), this fee does not exist. If you see it on your statement and you joined Support at Home after November 2025, it needs to be removed.
Some providers charge a separate administration fee on top of the care management fee. This is allowed under Support at Home, but it must be disclosed in your service agreement before you sign — and it is not capped like the care management fee.
A charge to cover the cost of the support worker travelling to your home. Permitted under Support at Home, but must be disclosed in your service agreement. Should not be charged as a separate add-on if not disclosed upfront.
Most aged care services are GST-free. GST should not appear on personal care, nursing, cleaning, or meals. If GST appears on these services, ask your provider to explain which specific services are not GST-exempt and why.
These five errors appear most often in community reports and from families comparing their statements against their own records:
Keep a diary — even just a note on your phone — of every visit and who came. If the statement shows a visit that didn't happen, write to your provider with the date and ask for a correction and credit. Do not wait — billing errors compound across quarters.
If your support worker was there for 45 minutes but the statement shows 1 hour, you may be overpaying. Ask your provider to review the timesheet for that visit and issue a corrected statement.
Calculate it: divide the care management fee by your quarterly budget. If the result exceeds 0.10, your provider is charging above the legal cap under the Aged Care Rules 2025. Contact them in writing and ask for an immediate correction. Use the overpayment calculator to see the cumulative impact.
If you joined Support at Home on or after 1 November 2025, there should be no 'package management fee' on your statement. This fee was abolished under the new program. If it appears, it must be removed and any amounts charged refunded.
Nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and other clinical services have zero participant contribution — the government pays 100%. If you're being charged a co-contribution on these services, that's a billing error.
Write down the specific error — the date, the line item, and what's wrong. 'A nursing visit is listed on 14 March but no nurse visited that day' is specific. 'My bill seems high' is not.
Email your provider with the specific error and ask them to investigate, issue a corrected statement, and apply a credit. Keep a copy of the email.
If your provider doesn't respond within 5 business days or refuses to correct a genuine error, call OPAN on 1800 700 600 for free advocacy support.
For repeated billing errors or a provider who won't correct mistakes, lodge a complaint with the ACQSC on 1800 951 822.
The escalation ladder guide covers the full complaints process — from your provider through to the ACQSC and your federal MP.
The care management fee is capped at 10% of your quarterly budget. The table below shows the cumulative dollar impact of being charged above the cap at different classification levels — over one year.
| Classification | Quarterly budget | Legal cap (10%) | If charged 20% | Annual overcharge at 20% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | $2682.75/qtr | $268.28/qtr | $536.55/qtr | $1073.10/yr |
| Level 2 | $3941.25/qtr | $394.13/qtr | $788.25/qtr | $1576.50/yr |
| Level 3 | $5480.00/qtr | $548.00/qtr | $1096.00/qtr | $2192.00/yr |
| Level 4 | $7545.25/qtr | $754.53/qtr | $1509.05/qtr | $3018.10/yr |
| Level 5 | $10588.00/qtr | $1058.80/qtr | $2117.60/qtr | $4235.20/yr |
| Level 6 | $15839.00/qtr | $1583.90/qtr | $3167.80/qtr | $6335.60/yr |
Budgets effective 1 November 2025. Source: Department of Health and Aged Care. Overcharge scenario assumes care management charged at 20% vs legal cap of 10%.
Always put billing disputes in writing. This creates a paper trail the provider cannot dispute. Use this template:
"I am writing about an error on my Support at Home statement for the quarter ending [date]. Specifically: [describe the error — e.g. 'A nursing visit is listed on 14 March but no nurse attended that day' or 'The care management fee of $[amount] represents [X]% of my quarterly budget of $[amount], which exceeds the 10% legal cap under the Aged Care Rules 2025']. I am requesting that you investigate this error, issue a corrected statement, and apply a credit of $[amount] to my account. Please confirm receipt of this email and provide a response within 5 business days."
Use the interactive statement decoder to work through your statement line by line — it tells you what each item means and flags potential errors.
The care management fee covers your provider's cost of coordinating your care. Under the Aged Care Rules 2025, this fee is legally capped at 10% of your quarterly budget. Divide the care management fee by your quarterly budget — if the result is above 0.10, your provider is over the legal cap.
A co-contribution is your share of the cost of services. Clinical services (nursing, physio) have zero co-contribution. Independence services (personal care) attract a moderate contribution. Everyday Living (cleaning, gardening) attracts the highest. Full pensioners pay the least; self-funded retirees pay the most.
Unspent funds are the portion of your quarterly budget not used for services. You can carry over up to $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget to the next quarter. Amounts above this limit return to the government.
If you started Support at Home after 1 November 2025, a package management fee should not appear on your statement. This fee was abolished under the new program. Contact your provider immediately and ask for a corrected statement.
Contact your provider in writing immediately. State the date, the service listed, and that no visit occurred. Ask for a correction and credit. If they don't respond in 5 business days, call OPAN on 1800 700 600.
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This guide is for information only — not legal, medical, or financial advice. Verified against the Aged Care Act 2024 and Aged Care Rules 2025. Check myagedcare.gov.au for current rates and rules.