Woman charged $120 for seven smoothies that cost less than $20 at the supermarket. She’s not alone.

Aged care pricing scandal: complaints surge, the government blinks – but older Australians are still waiting for relief

Nearly 1,800 complaints about fees and pricing have flooded Australia’s aged care watchdog since November – and advocates say the problem runs far deeper than the numbers suggest.

The figures, first reported by the Daily Telegraph, reveal that since the Albanese government’s new Aged Care Act came into force on November 1, 2025, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has received 1,789 financial complaints – 261 about residential care and 1,528 about home care. To put that in context: in the months before the reforms, total monthly complaints across all categories hovered around 1,000. By March, that number had climbed to 1,463 in a single month.

The stories behind the numbers are confronting. Some home care recipients have been charged more than the actual cost of outside services such as gardening, podiatry and home maintenance, with the difference quietly absorbed by the care agency as an undisclosed handling fee. Providers have introduced charges for hot breakfasts and televisions in residential homes – services that were previously included. One woman reported that her usual weekly order of seven smoothies had jumped 600 per cent overnight to $120; the same products retail for less than $20.

In some cases, consumers are being charged upwards of $180 for an assisted shower at home, $170 an hour for cleaning, $290 an hour for gardening and $320 an hour for a registered nurse.

The advocacy network OPAN has reported a 96 per cent jump in complaints since the new Aged Care Act commenced, with many older people saying they feel worse off under the new Act – the opposite of what the reforms promised.

How did it come to this?

The new Support at Home program, which replaced the Home Care Packages Program on November 1, allows providers to set their own prices for services. Providers argue they had little choice – a government-imposed 10 per cent cap on care management fees forced them to absorb those costs into their hourly service rates. Australia’s largest in-home care provider said costs that were previously itemised separately – including administration, scheduling, customer service, compliance, travel and package management – now had to be bundled into hourly rates.

Much of the hourly rate price hike can be blamed on the introduction of that 10 per cent cap on care management fees, which was intended by the federal government to improve transparency and reduce excessive back-office charges. However, it largely backfired, because providers simply shifted those costs into the hourly rate for aged care services to remain viable.

What’s particularly troubling for older Australians trying to navigate the system is the regulator’s limited capacity to act. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has confirmed it does not set or approve prices, and does not seek to attribute fault – only whether fees are transparent and providers are meeting their legal obligations. Despite nearly 1,800 financial complaints in five months, not a single provider has been ordered to reduce its prices.

The government blinks — but relief is still months away

Mounting public pressure ultimately forced the Albanese government’s hand. Health Minister Mark Butler announced that from October, older people will no longer have to pay co-contributions towards an assisted shower, dressing or continence care. Price caps on services will also be introduced from July 1.

Ageing Australia chief executive Tom Symondson welcomed the decision, saying he had been alarmed by increasing evidence that older people were reducing the number of showers they were having, or forgoing them altogether, due to cost. “That is the worst possible outcome,” he said.

Council on the Ageing Australia’s acting chief executive Corey Irlam was more direct. “Basic care should never have come with a price tag attached,” he said. “This will make a real difference to older Australians who’ve had to choose whether they could afford a shower.”

But the relief is not immediate. The policy reversal won’t kick in until October, meaning out-of-pocket costs will still apply for several months. For older Australians already struggling with bills that have in some cases doubled since November, that is a long time to wait.

The Inspector-General of Aged Care, Natalie Siegel-Brown, has warned that rising consumer contributions risk pushing older Australians into residential care prematurely — a far more expensive outcome for the system as a whole.

What you can do right now

If you or someone you care for is experiencing unexpected fee increases or unclear charges on an aged care statement, you have options. You can lodge a complaint with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822, or contact the free advocacy service run by OPAN — the Older Persons Advocacy Network — on 1800 700 600. OPAN can help you understand your rights, question charges you don’t understand, and navigate disputes with your provider.

The government has promised that price caps will arrive in July and shower co-payments will be scrapped in October. Until then, don’t be afraid to ask your provider to explain every line on your invoice – in plain language, and in writing. Under the new Act, that is your right.