Televisions pulled from empty rooms, volunteers’ concerts billed: the regulator is investigating how homes charge the new fee

The Higher Everyday Living Fee, HELF, is new. It commenced on 1 November 2025 for permanent and respite residents, replacing the old additional service and extra service fees. The principle is simple enough: an aged care home has a list of services it must provide, and a HELF can only be charged for something of a higher standard than that list, or something not on it at all. A haircut, a term of yoga classes, wi-fi, a coffee at the onsite cafe. It cannot be charged for accommodation-related services, and everything delivered under it still has to meet the Aged Care Quality Standards and the Statement of Rights.

What the Commission says it has found is providers running the logic backwards: reducing what is treated as standard, then selling it back.

Its media release describes investigations into several residential providers over concerns some may be charging the fee in ways inconsistent with the rules and the rights of older people. The specific allegations are that providers are requiring residents to pay for services that should already be included in standard residential aged care, charging for services residents cannot or do not use, and presenting optional fees as though they are mandatory. The three examples of poor practice the Commission published from those investigations are worth reading slowly, because each one is a variation on the same move:

• a provider removing televisions from vacant rooms, intending to charge new residents to have a television installed;
• a provider who removed basic services and attempted to charge residents to have them reinstated;
• a provider who was planning to charge residents for performances given by volunteers at the service for free.

Commissioner Liz Hefren-Webb was direct about the line. “Higher Everyday Living Fees are optional. They are not an opportunity for providers to charge residents for services that should already be delivered as part of quality aged care,” she said. “Older people and their families must have transparency, fairness and confidence that they are only being asked to pay for genuine additional services they have freely chosen and can use.”

Meals are the area the Commission singled out

The release names one category as a particular worry: meals. Many providers, it says, are putting Higher Everyday Living options in place and changing what were previously standard offerings. The Commissioner’s language on this is the least hedged in the document. “We are very concerned about the use of HELF in relation to meals. The Standards are crystal clear that providers must offer meals that meet the nutritional needs, goals and preferences of residents. This is not optional. This is not an additional service. This is a minimum mandatory requirement.”

That is the test to apply to any menu tier you are offered. A genuinely better alternative someone chooses is one thing. A standard meal quietly downgraded so that the adequate version becomes the paid one is another, and on the Commission’s reading of the Standards the second is not a service at all.

The protections that already apply

These are in the fee’s own rules, published by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, and several of them answer the practices under investigation directly.

• It cannot be a condition of entry. A HELF must not be agreed or charged before a resident has entered care, and cannot be used to secure a room.
• The agreement is separate. It must be separate from the service and accommodation agreement, and cannot be entered into before a service agreement is signed. It must set out the cost of each service, the standard and frequency of delivery, and how it will be charged.
• You should not be charged for what you cannot use. The rules say individuals should not be asked to pay for a service they cannot or will not use.
• 28 days to change your mind. A standing HELF agreement carries a 28-day cooling off period, in which services can be cancelled or varied with no cancellation fee and no minimum notice.
• After that, 28 days’ notice. If a resident stops wanting or being able to use a service it can be cancelled with 28 days’ notice. A provider may pass on unavoidable expenses beyond that, such as subscription fees, for no more than 90 days, must be able to demonstrate them, and cannot charge more than it actually incurred.
• If the provider cannot deliver, it stops immediately. Where a provider can no longer deliver a service, or deliver it to the specified standard, it must be cancelled or varied immediately.
• An annual review is mandatory. The agreement must be reviewed at least once a year to check the resident still wants the services and can use them.
• The price is locked for you. Once agreed, the amount can only rise by annual indexation. A provider can advertise a higher price to new residents, but not re-price yours.

One thing families should understand clearly, because it is easy to assume otherwise: nobody approves these prices. Providers have full autonomy to set what they charge for HELF services, and do not have to seek approval from the Government or from the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority. The regulation here is about consent, disclosure and what may be charged for, not about the amount.

Our view, and it is a view: that design puts an unusual weight on the resident’s own judgement at exactly the moment they have least leverage, which is shortly after moving into a home they have just chosen and cannot easily leave. The protections listed above are real and they are more than the old extra service arrangements offered. But a framework whose price discipline rests on residents declining things will always depend on the regulator noticing when the baseline moves, which is precisely what these investigations are.

What the Commission is doing, and what it asks of you

Where fees are being used inappropriately, the release says the Commission will investigate and take strong regulatory action where necessary, including requiring providers to reinstate services that have been withdrawn and to issue refunds where fees have been charged incorrectly. It says it is closely monitoring emerging practices across the sector.

It also asks for help, and is explicit about why. “I urge older people and their supporters to speak up if they have concerns about fees and charges or think something isn’t right,” the Commissioner said. “Speaking up helps us identify concerning practices and take action to protect older people.” Concerns can be reported to the Commission on 1800 951 822 or through agedcarequality.gov.au. Every complaint is assessed and can inform regulatory action.

For providers, the Commission is running a sector webinar on 11 August 2026 on obligations when charging the fee, including how HELF agreements and service prices are communicated to residents. That is a provider-facing session rather than a public one, but the fact that the regulator considers the obligations to need explaining eight months into the scheme is itself worth knowing.

Primary sources

1. Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, Commission cracks down on misuse of Higher Everyday Living Fees (media release, 3 July 2026): the investigations, the alleged conduct, the three published examples, the concern about meals, the regulatory actions including reinstatement and refunds, the reporting line, and all quotations from the Commissioner.
2. Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Higher everyday living, additional and extra service fees (read 30 July 2026): the 1 November 2025 commencement, what may and may not be charged, standing and ad hoc agreements, and every consumer protection listed, including the 28-day cooling off period, the annual review, indexation-only increases and provider pricing autonomy.
3. Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, Aged Care Quality Bulletin #7-2026: the 11 August 2026 sector webinar on provider obligations when charging the fee.

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