A practical guide for families touring residential aged care
Families begin the aged care journey in many different ways. For some, it follows months of careful thought and planning. For others, it comes after a sudden health event or an unexpected hospital admission that leaves little time to consider the options. Many are family carers who have done everything they can for as long as possible and are now recognising the need for additional support. However you have arrived here, the visit is usually where the decision is made, and it is easy to let it turn on how a place looks – the foyer, the gardens, the brightness of the rooms. Those things matter. What they do not show you is how a home runs day to day, how it communicates with families, and how well it knows the people in its care. The right questions bring that to the surface.
Good questions are how you move past first impressions to a clear, confident decision. This article sets out the ones worth asking. If you are still earlier in the process – working out what to look for, how to compare homes, and what the entire process involves – our guide to choosing the right aged care home covers that ground first.
A few things help these questions work harder. Visit more than one home, so you have something to compare against. Write the questions down and take them in with you, because noting the answers as you go often highlights where information is vague or incomplete. And give yourself time after each visit to reflect while it is still fresh.
The First Question to Ask, and Why It Comes First
Is there a Registered Nurse physically on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
Since 1 July 2023, having a Registered Nurse on site around the clock has been a legal requirement for all government-funded residential aged care homes in Australia, so in principle every compliant home should be able to say yes. Ask it first regardless and listen to how clearly the home answers. Ask specifically about overnight and weekend cover, as this is when clear clinical arrangements matter most. A confident, specific answer here tells you a lot about how a home is run.
At CraigCare, all our Home Managers are qualified nurses, and they are on call after hours to support the nursing team on shift whenever additional clinical guidance is needed. It is worth asking any home you visit how their clinical leadership is structured after hours, so you understand who is available and how.
Questions About Care Quality and Continuity
Are the Same Carers Assigned to My Loved One Day to Day, or Do Rosters Rotate?
Consistent assignment matters more than many families realise. A carer who sees your parent every shift comes to know their routines, their preferences, and the early signs that something may not be quite right. Frequent rotation means carers are continually catching up on who the person is.
Do You Have Regular Visiting GPs, or Do Families Arrange Medical Appointments Independently?
Some homes have embedded GP and allied health services, with physiotherapy, podiatry, and similar services provided on a visiting basis. Others leave coordination to the family, which can become difficult once your loved one can no longer manage appointments themselves.
How Often Is the Care Plan Reviewed, and How Involved Can Family Be?
Under the Aged Care Act 2024, residents have explicit rights around care planning and family involvement. A home should be able to tell you exactly when reviews happen and how you can take part.
What Happens if My Loved One’s Care Needs Increase Significantly Over Time?
Ask this now, while it is still hypothetical. Some homes can manage rising care needs in place. Others require a move to a home that provides a higher level of care at a certain point. Knowing which applies up front helps you plan with confidence.
Is There Availability Now, and How Does the Waiting List Work, Particularly for an Urgent Situation?
If you are moving quickly after a hospital stay or a sudden change at home, availability may be the deciding factor. Ask how the waiting list is managed, whether respite can bridge a gap while you wait, and how quickly a place could realistically be offered.
Questions About Cost, and What Is Really Included
Cost is usually the question families most want answered, and some hesitate to ask directly. The concern underneath it is rarely the advertised price – it is whether there will be costs you did not anticipate. Asking clearly is how you get the full picture.
What Is Covered by the Basic Daily Fee, and What Sits Outside It?
The Basic Daily Fee is set by the government and is the same across homes. The differences live in everything else, so this is where to focus your questions.
How Much Is the Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD), and When Does It Need to Be Paid?
This is the accommodation payment, and it varies between homes. Ask how it is calculated and what the daily payment alternative looks like.
What Higher Everyday Living Fees Apply, and What Exactly Do They Cover?
Higher everyday living fees (HELF) are an optional fee for residents who choose higher-quality everyday living services in permanent or respite residential aged care – for example, premium meals, a higher standard of room features, outings, or hairdressing. They allow people to tailor additional services to suit them, and they are not mandatory. A good home will talk you through its Everyday Living Services and provide a brochure and will set out the type and cost of each service in writing before anything is agreed, so the monthly figure holds no surprises.
If affordability is the real concern, a means assessment through Services Australia clarifies what government support applies to your situation – worth arranging early, as it takes time. Our guide to choosing the right aged care home walks through costs and ratings in more depth.
Questions About the Room and Daily Life
These questions do not have right or wrong answers. They are about whether the home is a good fit for the person actually moving in. If language, culture, or faith are important to your loved one, ask too whether the home has team members who speak their language and can support their cultural or religious preferences.
What Room Types Are Available, and Can My Loved One Personalise Their Room With Their Own Things?
A room that can hold familiar home items (e.g. wall art) helps a person settle far sooner than a standard-issue one.
What Does a Typical Week Look Like in Terms of Activities? Who Decides What Is on the Program?
Look for specificity. “We have activities every day” tells you little. “We have a lifestyle coordinator, and residents help shape the monthly program” tells you something real.
Is Outdoor Space Accessible to Residents Independently, or Do Residents Need Help From the Team?
Independence over small things – going outside for fresh air without having to ask – matters greatly to quality of life.
Are Pets Welcome to Visit?
For many families, this matters, and the answer at CraigCare is yes. Speak with the Home Manager so regular visits can be arranged in a way that suits your loved one and does not disrupt other residents.
How Are Visits Structured, and How Will You Keep Family Informed Day to Day?
Ask about visiting arrangements and how flexible they are, whether family can join in for an activity, and how the home communicates when something changes – a fall, a health update, a shift in mood. Easy, open contact with the team and management is one of the clearest signs of a home that sees family as part of the care.
Is Cooking Done on Site? Can I See a Sample Menu?
Ask, and note the response. A well-run home is proud of its food and will have a menu on hand – ask for a copy of today’s menu or a sample menu to take with you. Ask too how dietary needs and preferences are accommodated, including specialised and texture-modified diets, if this is relevant for your loved one.
Questions for Dementia Care (If Relevant)
If your loved one is living with dementia, or you are concerned about cognitive decline, these questions matter specifically.
Does Your Dementia Care Follow a Grounded Model or Framework? What Does That Mean for Residents Day to Day?
Good dementia care is not improvised. It is grounded in a consistent approach to understanding each resident as a person – their history, their relationships, and what settles them. CraigCare’s approach to dementia care is built around the I AM ME model, which grounds every care decision in each resident’s individual life story, rather than their diagnosis. It is also worth asking whether the home has a dementia-specific or secure area, and whether it would suit your loved one. Some people settle better in a smaller, purpose-designed environment, while others do better in a more integrated setting.
Does the Team Receive Ongoing Dementia-Specific Training?
There is no mandatory dementia-specific training requirement in Australian aged care legislation, so whether a home invests in it tells you something about how it thinks about care.
Questions About Transparency and Quality
These are the questions families most often hold back on, sometimes because they feel impolite. They are among the most valuable to ask.
What Did Your Most Recent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Audit Find, and How Did You Respond?
A home that engages openly here – naming what came up and what it changed – is showing you a culture of accountability. A confident, specific answer is a good sign. You can also check a home’s compliance history yourself via the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
How Can We Read Your Reviews and Ratings? What Do Residents and Families Say?
Ask how to find the home’s Google reviews and testimonials, as these reflect day-to-day experience in residents’ and families’ own words. The government’s Overall Star Rating, published on My Aged Care, is a useful baseline for compliance and screening, built from Residents’ Experience, Compliance, Staffing, and Quality Measures. A confident home will happily point you to both and talk you through what people say.
If We Have a Concern About Care, What Is the Process? Who Do We Speak to First, and What Happens Next?
There should be a clear, simple answer. At a well-run home, the first point of contact is the Home Manager, who handles anything relating to a resident’s or family’s experience.
What Strong Answers Have in Common
A reassuring pattern runs through the best responses you will hear. The clearest signs of a well-run home are a Registered Nurse confirmed on site day and night, an open and specific account of audits and ratings, a simple complaints process with a named first point of contact, clear arrangements for overnight cover, and a willingness to put fees in writing. Where an answer is confident and specific, that is a good sign. Where one is smooth but vague, it is simply worth a gentle follow-up question.
What to Do With the Answers
You will have gathered a lot of answers by the end, and they blur together faster than you would expect. Compare your notes across the homes you visited while the visits are still fresh and pay attention to which answers were direct and detailed against those that stayed general.
A home that welcomes your questions and answers them directly is usually a home that welcomes families being present and involved long after move-in day. That, more than the wording of any single answer, is the real sign you have found the right home.
Our caring Admissions team is here to walk alongside you and your family every step of the way. If you have any questions, you can call our Western Australian team on 0419 856 664 or our Victorian team on 0468 718 856, or submit an online enquiry.