18. What happens to the Unspent Funds in my Government Funded / Subsidised Home Care Package?

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Each month your Unspent Funds are carried forward as the Opening Balance for your Monthly Home Care Statement to be used that month, or in future months when needed.

Your Home Care Package is yours for as long as you have care needs and live at home and you pay your invoices. The following events will cause your Home Care Package to be closed and handed back to the Government:

1. Death
2. Permanent Nursing Home Placement
3. Leave from your Home Care Package, which exceeds the Government rules
4. The inability to meet your care needs with your Home Care Package funding where you don’t have sufficient informal supports or private funds to supplement the care provided by your Home Care Package.

Where you have not contributed any personal money to your Home Care Package, the unspent funds are returned to the Government for them to pay for care for another older person.

Where you have contributed your own personal money to your Home Care Package via the Basic Daily Care Fee or the Income Tested Care Fee, the unspent percentage proportion you contributed is returned to you, or your Estate, and the Government, according to the Government formula, which is in the same percentage that the Government and you contributed to your Home Care Package.  (The following contributions are counted as your personal contributions: the Basic Daily Care Fee paid by you,  Income Tested Care Fee and a Top Up Contribution).

Please note that Daughterly Care Community Services Ltd does not ask for “Top Up Private Care Contributions” in advance – we invoice those fortnightly after we have provided the care.

If you were to move your Home Care Package from Daughterly Care Community Services Ltd, any unspent funds are transferred to your new Approved Provider, provided you inform us of your new Approved Provider’s name.

If my Home Care Package Unspent Funds are too great will the Government take that Unspent Balance from me?

Not currently. There is no current rule that the Government can reclaim your Unspent Funds. However, the Government is clear that your Home Care Package is to pay for your current aged care needs, not to fund your future care needs.  However sometimes you might be saving for in home respite, equipment or another goal, in which case your funds will build up. Also funds accumulate when you are in hospital, rehab or nursing home respite. In those scenarios you are likely to need additional care when you return home, so it’s good to have those extra funds build up.

Can I leave my Unspent Funds to my children when I die?

The Government contributions to your Home Care Package, that were not used for your care, are returned to the Government to pay for the care of another older person. If you personally contributed an Income Tested Care fee, then part of the Unspent Funds will be returned to your Estate.

How do I know how much my Unspent Funds are?

Each month we send you a Monthly Home Care Statement which states your Unspent Funds Opening Balance and has the Closing Balance of Unspent Funds as at the last day of the month, or you can call your Care Manager and they can tell you over the phone.