Official update · document review
Printed cost-of-care form ordering ends 30 November 2026
Services Australia published on 25 August 2026 that, from 30 November, it will stop supplying printed aged-care cost-of-care forms through its print ordering system. Care recipients or their correspondence nominee are directed to apply online through myGov and Centrelink. Paper applications are not being abolished: people can still download and print the current form if needed. Use the current version. The announcement does not state a change to cost-of-care eligibility, form submission, or the separate SA462 financial-hardship claim.
Document and workflow checks
Turn the official change into reviewable actions
- Replace instructions that rely on ordered printed stock with the current official online route and Services Australia form landing pages.
- Check the person's circumstances against the current official route before referring to SA456, SA457, or SA485, and record the source checked date rather than storing financial evidence in CaresLink.
- Before a financial-hardship handoff, confirm whether Services Australia already holds a cost-of-care calculation updated within the previous 12 months, and recheck paper fallback instructions near 30 November 2026.
Who may need to review this
- Aged care recipients and correspondence nominees applying for a cost-of-care calculation
- Support at Home and residential aged care providers
- Intake, care-management, finance, and client-communication teams
Impact areas
- Printed cost-of-care form ordering from 30 November 2026
- Online and current downloadable-form handoff
- SA456, SA457, and SA485 circumstance checks
- Financial-hardship prerequisite and channel records
Team review question
Which intake, cost-of-care, or hardship handoff still relies on ordered paper stock or an unchecked form version?
Usage boundary
The change ends printed-form ordering through the print ordering system; it does not abolish paper applications. CaresLink does not select a form, determine whether a person must apply, assess financial hardship, calculate costs or contributions, receive evidence, or provide legal, financial, eligibility, billing, or professional advice.