In some aged care homes, a cooked breakfast now costs extra

Protein at breakfast isn’t a luxury. It’s basic care. Yet in some Australian aged care homes, a cooked breakfast is now something residents pay extra for.

A fee that lets providers charge for what used to be standard

The Higher Everyday Living Fees (HELF) were introduced by the federal government last year as part of its “once in a generation” aged care reforms. They replace the additional and extra services fees some providers used to charge. Providers can now charge residents for services that might previously have been provided at no extra cost.

October: a TV, a hot breakfast and the price of butter

• One provider, Uniting, told families in a brochure that a free-to-air TV in a resident’s room would cost $8.80 a day, about $3,200 a year, and offered a bundle for “just $44 a day”. Uniting said it is reviewing the package and that TVs in rooms are an additional service under the government’s funding system.
• In an Opal trial at its Carine Parkside home in Perth, residents were charged $12.50 a day, $4,562 a year, for a hot breakfast. Opal had earlier refunded $190,000 to residents charged for services they already received for free, and says it is rolling the scheme out to all 148 of its facilities.
• Advocates told the ABC of margarine on the menu, with butter at $1.70 a day extra, and $4.50 for a meal delivered to a resident’s room.
• In March the Aged Care Minister called access to a TV a “basic human right”. Under the government’s own policy, the free TV only applies to residents who had one before 1 November 2025. The Minister has referred Uniting to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

November: $42 a day, and a dietitian to get the eggs

This week the ABC reported that residents of Bupa aged care homes who want cooked breakfasts need to sign up to its “Enhanced Dining Experience” at $42 a day, or $15,330 a year. The package includes two hot breakfasts a week, a daily extra-hot meal option at lunch, a dessert at lunch and a beer, wine or soft drink with lunch and dinner. Residents who do not pay get a continental breakfast. Bupa has more than 5,000 aged care residents.

Bupa told the ABC it would provide additional cooked protein options if a dietitian recommends them, whether or not the resident has opted for enhanced dining. The Commission told the ABC that the legislation does not prescribe particular foods or require every resident to receive a cooked breakfast each morning.

Nobody should need a diagnosis to get an egg

Nurses and doctors know what poor nutrition does to older people: weight loss, muscle loss, falls, pressure injuries and slower healing. The president of Dietitians Australia told the ABC that many providers do not have dietitians on staff, and that it was worrying residents could need to be diagnosed as malnourished to get simple protein at breakfast.

That’s backwards. We should be preventing malnutrition, not waiting for it.

If you or your family are worried

Anyone with concerns about HELF is encouraged to contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822 or online.

A cooked breakfast is, for some residents, now a line item. For the people who rely on it, it is still just breakfast.

Based on two ABC Investigations reports: Aged care residents face bills for TVs, hot breakfasts and soft drinks under new fees (14 October 2026) and Bupa aged care residents asked to pay $42 a day for hot breakfasts (11 November 2026). Figures and provider statements are as reported by the ABC.