Aged Care Act 2024

Subject to rules made for the purposes of subsection (3), a registered provider must deduct one or more amounts (a retention amount) from an individual’s refundable deposit balance during the period (the retention period) of 5 years beginning on the day a refundable deposit was first paid by the individual.

A retention amount is to be calculated at a rate of 2 per cent per annum:

on a daily basis; and

applied to the refundable deposit balance each day.

The rules may prescribe the following:

when a registered provider may deduct retention amounts from a refundable deposit balance;

any other matter relating to retention amounts.

Subject to subsection (4), a registered provider must deduct a retention amount from an individual’s refundable deposit balance at least once in each 3‑month period starting on the day the individual paid the refundable deposit.

A registered provider must not deduct a retention amount from a refundable deposit balance:

more than once in any one month period; or

after the end of the individual’s retention period.

A day is only to be counted for the purposes of calculating an individual’s retention period if:

on the day, a registered provider delivers ongoing funded aged care services to the individual through the service group residential care in an approved residential home; and

the individual has paid a refundable deposit in relation to the delivery of those services in the approved residential care home (regardless of whether the refundable deposit balance is nil on the day).

For paragraph (a), on each day during which an individual is on leave mentioned in subsections 244(3) to (7) from an approved residential care home, the individual is taken to have been delivered ongoing funded aged care services through the service group residential care by the registered provider in the approved residential care home: see subsection 244(2).

For the purposes of subsection (5), an individual is also taken to have been delivered ongoing funded aged care services through the service group residential care by the registered provider in the approved residential care home on a day if the individual:

is absent from the approved residential care home on the day; and

is not on leave from the approved residential care home on the day (see section 244); and

would have been on social leave from the approved residential care home on the day except that the individual has previously been on social leave during the current financial year for 52 days.

This section does not apply in respect of an individual’s refundable deposit balance if the individual is in a class of individuals prescribed by the rules.