What an aged care home will ask you for

Before anyone can enter government-funded residential care, an assessor from My Aged Care visits and works out what kind of care is needed. The result is a Support Plan and an outcome letter. The letter carries referral codes, one twelve-digit code for each kind of care approved, for example "Residential, Permanent" or "Residential Respite". A home uses the code to see the assessment, so it is the first thing an admissions officer will ask for.

• Where: apply at myagedcare.gov.au/assessment or call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422. It is free.
• How long: usually weeks from applying to the visit, longer in some regions. Hospital social workers can arrange a faster assessment if someone is about to be discharged.
• Already had one? Look for the outcome letter; the codes are on it. If circumstances have changed since, ask for a reassessment.

Services Australia works out what a resident will pay towards their care and accommodation from their income and assets, and sends a letter saying so. Homes want to see this letter before admission because it sets the fees, and without it the resident can be charged the maximum until it arrives.

• Where: the form is called Residential Aged Care Calculation of your cost of care, form SA457, lodged online through myGov or on paper. If the person owns or part-owns their home, including a retirement village unit, the shorter property form SA485 is needed as well.
• Already on a pension? Someone receiving a Centrelink or Veterans' Affairs income support payment who does not own a home may not need to lodge anything: Services Australia can assess them automatically once they enter care. Check before filling in forty pages.
• How long: weeks. Start it the same day as the care assessment; the two run in parallel.
• Validity: the letter is valid for 120 days from the date Services Australia issues it, so do not get it a year ahead.
• Choosing not to disclose: you can decline to give financial details. The home can then charge the maximum means-tested fee and the agreed accommodation price. That is a legitimate choice for some families, and a costly surprise for others.

What those fees come to is in what will aged care cost?

An admission agreement is a contract, and the home needs to know who can sign it and make decisions later. If the person moving in can do that themselves, nothing more is needed. If not, the home will ask for the document that appoints someone else: an enduring power of attorney for money and property, and an enduring guardian (the name varies by state) for health and lifestyle decisions.

• Where: a solicitor, or your state's Public Trustee, using your state's own forms. The rules and names differ between states.
• The catch: these can only be made while the person still has the capacity to make them. If that has passed, the route is a guardianship order from your state's tribunal, which takes longer. If there is any doubt, do this first.
• If it exists already: find the original or a certified copy. Homes will ask to see it on admission, not before.

Every provider has its own application form, usually a few pages asking for the person's details, their doctor, their referral code and the two documents above. It is normally on the provider's website, or the home will email it. Groups that run several homes often accept one form for all of them, so ask before filling it in twice.