Blog #04 Fact #03 What is a Daily Accommodation Contribution(DAC)?

Blog #04 FACT #03                                                           What is a DAC?

· Short name for ‘Daily Accommodation Contribution”

· What is it? – An amount of money that someone may be asked to contribute as a contribution towards their accommodation in an aged care facility. Any balance owing is paid by the government as an accommodation supplement.

· How does someone find out they will have to pay a Daily Accommodation Contribution ? – Once Centrelink have assessed a person’s assets and income, the outcome will determine if they are likely to be asked to pay a Daily Accommodation Contribution

·  How is it calculated? Let us look at an example of a single person with $100,000  of total assets + $45,000 in income and was assessed in October 2024 by Centrelink to enter an aged care facility

For Assets > $61,500 (17.5% up to $206,039.20) eg. Someone with $100,000 in assets would be assessed as:

($100,000 -$61,500) x 17.5% = $6,737.50/364 = $18.50 a day 

For Income > $33,735.00 (50% of anything in excess is assessable under the income test) eg.

Someone with $45,000 in income would be assessed as:

                     ($45,000-$33,735.00) x 50% =$ 5,632.50 x .5 = $2,816.25/364 = $7.73 a day

Total Assets test calculation                                                                                                 $ 18.50

Total Income test calculation                                                                                                $ 7.73

Total assessment before accommodation supplement deducted               $ 26.23