On 2 March 2018, the Federal Court ruled that ‘asset replacement charges’ are not allowed under aged care legislation. This confirms the department’s position and previous advice. In summary, the ruling confirms:

• aged care legislation is an exhaustive scheme of all the fees that providers can charge consumers
• additional service fees can only be charged for ‘other’ care and services, i.e. other than the core care and services set out in the Quality of Care Principles 2014
• only amounts permitted under aged care legislation can be deducted from lump sum refundable deposits
• ‘asset replacement charges’ and similar fees are not permitted under aged care legislation.

Read more:

Advice for providers: Federal Court ruling – ‘asset replacement charges’

More information is available on the department’s website.