Residential aged care
Higher everyday living fees in Pluss
Under the new Aged Care Act, every paid extra a home charges for needs its own signed agreement with the resident. Pluss keeps each agreement in one record, from the resident's choice in the app to the services finance can charge.
HELF is part of the Pluss platform for aged care operators, inside the per community fee.
The 2 minute tour, 2:12. It uses a demo home with dummy residents and demo prices.
Transition deadline
Existing extra service and additional service agreements expire on 31 October 2026 if they have not moved to HELF. Each existing resident needs to be consulted directly.
Sources: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, March 2026, Australian Ageing Agenda, 11 September 2026, Lavan.
The rules
HELF rules under the Aged Care Act
HELF replaced extra and additional service fees from 1 November 2025.
HELF can't be a condition of entry. It can't cover services the Quality Standards already require.
Each resident signs a separate written HELF agreement, after their service and accommodation agreement.
Residents have 28 days to cancel or change the agreement with no fee.
Each agreement is reviewed at least once a year. The home keeps a record of the review.
Fees change at most once a year, and only by CPI.
If a service isn't delivered, the fee is cancelled. Prepaid amounts are refunded within 14 days.
Every service in a bundle must also be available on its own. The resident must not be worse off.
A home can't charge HELF for a service the resident received free before 1 November 2025.
Sources: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing guide, Aged Care Quality Bulletin 6, 2026, OPAN, Australian Ageing Agenda. This summary reflects the rules in October 2026 and isn't legal advice.
The work
What each HELF agreement involves
Each resident or their representative needs the options, prices and fact sheet, then a separate signature after admission.
Kitchen, lifestyle and care staff need to know who has agreed to which service, from the day it starts.
Finance bills from the agreement, but a service that didn't happen can't be charged. Each mistake becomes a refund.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is investigating providers and ordering refunds. Homes need to show who agreed, what was delivered and what was charged.
Catholic Health Australia says some early adopters found HELF cost more to administer than it returned.
Sources: Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, 6 August 2026, The Weekly Source, 22 September 2026.
In Pluss
How HELF runs in Pluss
Residents and families use the same Pluss app they already have. Staff work in Community Manager.
Set up services and bundles
The care manager sets up each service and bundle with its price, and sees how residents will see it.
Residents choose in the app
Residents see every optional service and bundle with its price, check what each includes and add it to their selection.
Fact sheet, consent and signature
They read the fact sheet and terms, give consent and sign. The confirmation shows the cooling off period and the next review date.
The agreement on record
Staff see the signed agreement straight away, with consent, disclosure date and terms. A cooling off list shows every agreement still inside its 28 days.
A daily delivery list
Each day the team works from one list and marks each service delivered. If a service doesn't happen, they skip it and record the reason.
Charged only when delivered
Finance sees what was delivered. A skipped service isn't charged.
Pluss doesn't make a home compliant. It keeps the record your team needs to show what each resident agreed to, what was delivered and what was charged.
Side by side
Each HELF job, with Pluss
| The job | With Pluss |
|---|---|
| Getting it signed | Choice, consent and signature in the app |
| Who gets what | A daily delivery list for staff |
| Billing what happened | Charged only when delivered |
| Proving it | Consent and delivery history on file |
| Costs more to run than it earns | No paperwork, no re-keying, no refunds to fix |
Pricing
HELF pricing
HELF is part of the Pluss platform for aged care operators. It sits inside the per community fee, with no separate product to buy.
In a working session, we model HELF revenue using your own services and resident numbers.
Questions
Questions aged care providers ask
Do we have to offer HELF?
No. Offering HELF is optional. If a home charges for an optional extra, that extra needs a HELF agreement.
Is HELF a separate product?
No. It's part of the Pluss platform for aged care operators, in the same app residents and families already use.
Does Pluss set our services and prices?
No. Your team sets each service, bundle and price. Pluss shows residents the options and records what they agree to.
What happens when a service doesn't happen?
Staff skip it in the daily delivery list and record the reason. It isn't charged.
We don't run additional services yet. Can we start with HELF?
Yes. In a working session we look at your services and resident numbers and model what HELF could look like in your homes.
Is our data secure?
Pluss is ISO27001:2022 certified and hosted in Australia.
Book a 30 minute HELF demo
See an agreement go from the resident's choice to the daily delivery list.