Guide

What to ask when you visit

Walking into a home for the first time is daunting, and every home will show you its best. That is not a criticism of them — it is just what a tour is. Take this list with you and you will come away knowing the few things that genuinely separate one home from another, rather than driving home wishing you had asked.

Start where residents are least satisfied

An independent surveyor interviews residents in each home face to face and asks them twelve questions. Across 2,479 homes in the August 2026 data, residents answer very positively on respect, safety and kindness — all around 96%. The scores drop on a small number of questions, and those are the ones worth your time on a visit.

"I like the food here" is the lowest nationally at 69%. A home well above the national average on these has done something the average home hasn't, and it is fair to ask what.

The questions

Staffing

• How many staff are on this floor overnight, and how many are registered nurses? Ask for a number, not a reassurance. Nights are when families worry and when homes differ most.
• What were your care minutes last quarter against your target? Every home has a target set for its own residents and reports what it delivered. 27% of homes delivered fewer minutes than their target. A home that knows its own number off the top of its head is telling you something.
• How much agency staff do you use in a typical week? Agency staff are competent but they don't know the residents. Continuity is what a person with dementia notices most.
• What is your staff turnover? Not every home will have a figure ready. How openly they answer tells you something either way.

Food

• Can I see this week's menu, and can I eat here today? Food is the lowest-scoring question residents are asked nationally. Buying lunch is the single most useful thing you can do on a visit.
• Is the food cooked here? Not automatically better, but it changes what can be adjusted for one person.
• What happens if someone doesn't like what's on? Listen for whether there is a real alternative or a sandwich.

The day itself

• What time do residents get up and go to bed? If the answer is a single time, the routine belongs to the roster rather than the resident.
• What happened here yesterday? Every home has an activities programme on paper. This asks what actually took place.
• Can residents go outside on their own? Then look at whether anyone is.
• Can I visit at any time? And then come back unannounced, mid-afternoon on a weekend. It is the most honest hour to see a home.

Care as needs change

• At what point would someone have to move rooms, or move out? Some homes can care for someone to the end of their life and some cannot. Finding out later means doing all of this again.
• Who is the GP, and do they come here?
• How do you handle it when someone is distressed at night? Listen for whether the first answer involves people or medication.
• How do you let families know when something happens?

Money

• What is the published price for this specific room? Prices are set per room. A home cannot charge more than the price it publishes on My Aged Care.
• What is in the higher everyday living fee, and what happens if we decline it? It is optional and has to be agreed in writing. What an aged care home costs covers this.

What to do rather than ask

• Go back a second time, unannounced, at a different hour.
• Eat a meal.
• Talk to a resident or a visiting family member out of earshot of staff.
• Look at whether staff greet residents by name in the corridor.
• Notice the noise. A silent lounge in the middle of the afternoon is worth asking about.

Take the numbers with you

You do not have to remember all of this. Look the home up before you go and take the two or three numbers that stand out, so you can ask about that home rather than in general terms. Every home page on this site shows its star ratings, its care minutes against its target, and how its own residents answered each of the twelve questions.

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