Practice area

Retirement Living & Aged Care Advice.

Guides on retirement village contracts, aged care agreements, accommodation payments, ingoing and exit fees, residence rights and the legal issues residents and families should understand before signing.

All articles in retirement living & aged care advice.

Challenging Aged Care Assessment Decisions: Internal Review and the ART

A Notice of Decision refusing access to funded aged care services, setting a classification level or assigning a priority category can be challenged. This guide explains which decisions are reviewable under the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth), how to request reconsideration within 28 days, what the internal decision reviewer must do within 90 days, the deemed-affirmation rule, and how and when to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal.

15 min readReviewed by JULIAN McINTYRE, Associate
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Statement of Rights Under the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth)

Part 3 Division 1 of the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) gives older people a Statement of Rights when accessing, or seeking to access, funded aged care services. This guide explains each right in section 23, how section 24 governs their effect and permits necessary balancing, why the Statement is not directly enforceable in a court or tribunal, and how it still bites through provider registration conditions and the complaints system.

21 min readReviewed by JULIAN McINTYRE, Associate
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Aged Care Complaints and the New Complaints Commissioner: A Family Guide

Since 1 November 2025, complaints about Australian Government-funded aged care are handled under the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Complaints Commissioner. This guide explains who may complain, what the process covers, how to prepare and lodge a complaint, what outcomes are realistic, and when police, VCAT or a lawyer is the better pathway.

18 min readReviewed by JIM PARKE, Lawyer & Chartered Accountant
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