Hawkesbury families with loved ones in residential aged care have fresh reason to examine their fee agreements, after an ABC investigation revealed charges running into thousands of dollars a year for televisions, hot breakfasts and other everyday comforts.
The investigation by ABC journalists Anne Connolly and Ninah Kopel examined how providers are introducing Higher Everyday Living Fees, known as HELF, under the federal government’s aged care reforms.
The fees are optional and intended to cover services above the essential standard providers must deliver. But advocates and families are questioning whether some charges put ordinary comforts beyond residents’ reach.
The ABC reported that families at Uniting’s The Marion, in Sydney’s inner west, were presented with a proposed charge of $8.80 a day, about $3,200 a year, for an in-room television.
Among the residents was Patricia Massa, 88, who has advanced dementia and enjoys watching old movies.
Her daughter, Elizabeth Tosti, challenged the proposed cost and raised concerns that additional charges could divide residents according to their ability to pay.
Patricia will retain her television without the additional charge because she was already receiving the service under earlier arrangements, the ABC reported.
Uniting’s proposed package also included charges for additional activities, individual conversation sessions and concerts. A bundled option was advertised at $44 a day, equivalent to more than $16,000 a year.
In response to the ABC, Uniting said it was reviewing the package to make it fair, affordable and sustainable. It said residents could choose the services they purchased and that in-room televisions were considered an additional service under the government’s funding arrangements.
The investigation also examined fees at Opal, which told the ABC it was introducing the scheme across its 148 facilities.
At one Perth facility, trial charges included $12.50 a day for a hot breakfast and $7 a day for soft drinks or juice.
The ABC reported that Opal had refunded $190,000 to residents charged for services they had previously received without an additional fee.
Opal said charges would vary according to residents’ choices, with discounted bundles available at some homes.
Older Persons Advocacy Network chief executive Craig Gear told the ABC that advocates had received complaints about excessive charges, including fees for butter instead of margarine and meal delivery to residents’ rooms.
He called for televisions, telephones and wi-fi to be available without additional charges.
A spokesperson for Aged Care Minister Sam Rae told the ABC that prices must be reasonable and transparent, and that Uniting had been referred to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
For Hawkesbury families, the investigation highlights the importance of asking what is included in standard fees, which services attract an additional charge and what those charges add up to over a year.
Government guidance says a Higher Everyday Living Fee agreement must set out the individual services, their costs, the standard and frequency of delivery, and how residents will be charged.
New protections take effect on November 1, 2026, for residents who were receiving services at no extra cost immediately before November 1, 2025. Those services must continue without a Higher Everyday Living Fee. The protection does not automatically extend to residents who entered care later.
Families concerned about how these fees are being applied can contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
The examples examined by the ABC concern facilities outside the Hawkesbury. They do not establish that the same charges are being applied at local aged care homes. The Gazette encourages readers to ask service providers if the new fee regime is relevant to them.
