The aged care tour checklist

First impressions: look and listen

You learn a lot before anyone answers a question. Notice these as you walk in and around.

Look for

• How staff speak to residents: by name, at eye level, unhurried, with warmth.
• Whether residents are up, dressed and doing something, or mostly alone in rooms or in front of a television.
• Call bells: how long they ring before someone comes.
• Smell and cleanliness, especially bathrooms and corridors away from the entrance.
• Noise: calm, or alarms, shouting and loud televisions.
• Light, fresh air, outdoor areas residents can actually get to, and somewhere to sit outside.
• Whether the activities board matches what you see happening.
• How the manager talks about residents and staff: specific and fond, or general and defensive.

Staffing and care minutes

Every home has two care time targets set from its residents' needs: total care minutes and registered nurse minutes. The Staffing sub-rating shows how the home is doing against them.

• What are your total and registered nurse care minute targets, and did you meet both last quarter? If not, what is changing?
• Is a registered nurse on site and on duty 24 hours a day, every day?
• How many care staff and nurses are on this floor or wing on a weekday morning, at night, and on weekends?
• How much of your rostering uses agency staff? Will Mum see the same faces most days?
• How long has the manager been here? How long has the clinical lead (director of nursing) been here?
• How do you train staff in dementia care, falls prevention and palliative care?
• Who do I ring at night or on a weekend if I am worried, and will they know her?

Questions from this home's Star Ratings

Use the sub-ratings you wrote down. Each weak score points to a question.

• Residents' Experience 3 or lower: "What did residents tell the survey, and what have you changed since?"
• Compliance below 4: "What was the regulatory decision or audit finding, and is it resolved? Can I see the report?"
• Staffing 2 or lower: "Which care minute target did you miss, by how much, and what is your plan and timeline?"
• Quality Measures 3 or lower: "Which indicator is the problem: pressure injuries, falls, weight loss, medication or restrictive practices? What are you doing about it?"
• No rating: "Why is there no rating (new home, new owner, an exemption, missing data)? When do you expect one?"
• Any rating: "Have your ratings gone up or down in the last year, and why?"

Care and health

• Who writes the care plan, how soon after moving in, and how often is it reviewed with us?
• Can Mum keep her own GP? If not, how often does the visiting GP come, and how fast for an urgent problem?
• Which allied health services come to the home (physiotherapy, podiatry, speech pathology, dietitian, occupational therapy, dental)? Is anything extra to pay?
• How are medicines managed and checked? Who reviews them, and how often?
• How do you prevent and manage falls and pressure injuries?
• What happens when someone is unwell at night: who decides about hospital, and when do you call family?
• Can you support end-of-life care here, so she would not have to move? Do you work with a palliative care team?
• How do you handle continence, showering times and personal preferences (for example a female carer for personal care)?

Dementia and changing needs

• Is there a secure (memory support) area? How do residents get outside safely?
• How do you support someone who becomes distressed, without restraint or sedation?
• When did you last use a restrictive practice (physical, chemical, environmental or seclusion)? Who gave consent, and how is it reviewed?
• If her needs increase, can she stay, or would she have to move rooms or homes? Who decides?
• How do you help a new resident with dementia settle in the first weeks?

The room and the building

• Is a suitable room free now, or when do you expect one? How long do people usually wait for this kind of room?
• Can we see the actual room, not a display room?
• Single or shared? Own bathroom? Window outlook, heating and cooling the resident controls?
• What furniture, pictures and belongings can she bring? Can she have her own chair, bed linen, a television?
• Is there a phone or Wi-Fi in the room? Is there a cost?
• Is the building secure at night, and how are visitors signed in?
• Are there plans to renovate, extend or move residents in the next year or two?

Food and dining

• Is food cooked on site? Can we see this week's menu and eat a meal during the visit?
• What choices are there at each meal, and can she eat at a different time or in her room?
• How do you handle special diets, textured or minced meals, cultural and religious food, and poor appetite?
• How do you notice and respond to weight loss?
• Are snacks and drinks available between meals and overnight?

Daily life, activities and outings

• What does a normal weekday and weekend look like for a resident like Mum?
• Can we see last month's activities calendar? How many activities are for people with dementia or limited mobility?
• Are there outings? Who pays, and how often do residents actually go?
• Can she keep doing things she loves (gardening, church, the footy, a pet visiting, a glass of wine with dinner)?
• How do you support residents who prefer quiet time or their own company?

Culture, language, faith and identity

• Which languages do staff speak, and are they rostered on every shift? Do you use interpreters?
• How do you support her faith and cultural practices, including food and festivals?
• How do you welcome Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents, LGBTI residents and partners, and veterans?
• Are there other residents from a similar background she could connect with?

Fees and agreements (ask for facts in writing)

General information only, as at 20 September 2026. These questions help you get the facts; decisions about how to pay belong with a licensed financial adviser or Services Australia's Financial Information Service (132 300).

• What is the published price of this room? The agreed price can't be more than the home's published price; is there flexibility on price or other terms?
• What is the daily payment equivalent at today's government interest rate (8.51% from 1 October 2026)? The rate is fixed on the day the price is agreed.
• How would the refundable deposit be handled: when is it refunded, and what is deducted? For people entering from 1 November 2025, the home keeps 2% a year for up to 5 years.
• Until any lump sum is paid, the room is charged as a daily payment; a lump sum can be paid in full or in part any time after entry, once the means assessment is finalised. Can we see in writing how each option would be billed?
• Which optional extra services do you offer (higher everyday living fees), what exactly do they include, and what do they cost? They are optional, can't be a condition of entry, and have a cooling-off period: please confirm this in writing.
• Do you charge to hold the room before she moves in, and how much? (Homes can charge a pre-entry fee for up to 7 days before entry.)
• Every resident pays the basic daily fee ($68.93 a day as at 20 September 2026). What else will appear on the monthly invoice, and how is it billed?
• Can we take the resident agreement and the accommodation agreement home to read, and have a lawyer or adviser look at them before anything is signed?
• Who at the home answers questions about fees and invoices?

Family, visiting and keeping in touch

• What are the visiting arrangements? Can family visit early or late, stay for a meal, or stay overnight near the end of life?
• Can pets visit?
• How and how often will you update us? Is there a family meeting or care plan review we are invited to?
• Can she use the phone or video calls easily? Who helps?
• How do you involve families who live interstate or overseas?

Rights, complaints and safety

• How do residents and families raise a concern, and how quickly do you respond? Can I see a recent example of something you changed after a complaint?
• Who is the person to escalate to if the manager can't fix it?
• How do you protect residents from abuse and neglect, and how are serious incidents reported?
• Do you have a residents' or families' committee? Can we speak to a family member of a current resident?
• How do you support residents to make their own decisions, including decisions you might not agree with?

Moving in

• What happens on the first day and in the first weeks? Who is her key contact?
• What should we bring, and what does the home supply? How are clothes labelled and laundered?
• Can she try respite first, before deciding on a permanent move?
• What do you need from us before move-in (assessment approval, means assessment, medication list, legal documents)?

Red flags

One of these is a reason to ask more. Several together are a reason to keep looking.

• Staff who talk over residents, or about them in front of them.
• A strong smell of urine through the building, not just in one spot.
• Call bells ringing for a long time while staff are nearby.
• Residents who look unkempt, in nightwear late in the day, or left in chairs with nothing to do.
• Reluctance to show you the actual room, the dementia area or the agreements.
• Vague answers about staffing, care minutes or the latest audit.
• Pressure to sign or pay on the day, or to agree to optional extra fees as a condition of a room.
• A low Compliance rating, or an audit with unmet requirements, that the home plays down.

After the tours: compare homes

Fill this in the same day, while it is fresh. Score the last rows out of 5.

Then talk it through with the person who will live there. Their view comes first. For help with the next steps, see how to choose an aged care home.