How to Read a SAH Provider's Price List

A SAH price list isn't the document people imagine. It's not a glossy brochure or a list of packages. It's a one-page (occasionally two-page) document that should set out exactly what a provider charges for every service category and every time slot. The good ones are easy to read. The bad ones use formatting tricks to hide costs in plain sight.

This post is a walkthrough of what to expect, with the things to look for and the things to push back on.

The six sections of a complete price list

A well-formatted SAH price list has six sections. If any are missing, ask why.

1. Hourly rates by service type, personal care, domestic assistance, social support, transport, allied health, nursing.
2. Time-band hourly rates, weekday standard, weekday after-hours, Saturday, Sunday, public holiday.
3. Care management fee, usually expressed as a percentage of quarterly budget.
4. Package management fee, same.
5. Basic daily fee, usually quoted as a daily figure indexed quarterly.
6. Other charges, equipment hire, kilometric travel, cancellation, after-hours surcharges.

Some providers also include a section on transitional or self-management terms. That's a bonus, not a requirement.

Section 1: Hourly rates by service type

The headline line items. Typical range:

The first thing to check: are clinical services priced at all on the price list? They should be, even though they're 100% government-funded, the price determines how many hours of clinical care your government-funded budget buys.

A provider whose clinical hourly rates are at the top of the range is delivering fewer hours per government dollar than one with mid-range rates. That matters even if it doesn't show on your invoice.

Section 2: Time-band hourly rates

This is where some providers quietly increase margin. A standard weekday rate looks reasonable, but the public holiday rate may be 2.5x or 3x, much higher than penalty rates would justify.

Look for:

If a multiplier is materially above the high end of those ranges, ask why. The award rates (what the worker is actually paid in penalty rates) are a known number; some providers add a margin on top.

Section 3: Care management fee

This should be expressed as a percentage of your quarterly budget, and you should be able to convert it to a dollar amount immediately:

• "We charge 10% of your quarterly budget for care management. For a Classification 5 participant ($10,053 quarterly budget), that's approximately $1,005 per quarter."

That's a clean disclosure. Lookers for:

• A flat percentage between 6% and 10%. Lower is unusually lean. Higher is now illegal.
• A clear scope statement, what does care management include? Care plan reviews, coordinator hours, clinical referrals, family communication.
• A reduction for self-management if the provider supports it.

Section 4: Package management fee

Should be similarly clear:

• "We charge 7% of your quarterly budget for package management. This covers scheduling, payroll, compliance, billing and reporting."

Look for the percentage and the scope. Combined with the care management percentage, the total should be 10-20%. Beyond 20% is now illegal under SAH rules.

Section 5: Basic daily fee

A specific dollar figure (currently around $12.75/day, indexed quarterly). Should state:

• The current rate
• That it's indexed quarterly to the age pension
• That it's separate from your means-tested contribution

If the BDF is buried in a footnote or quoted as a percentage, ask for a clear daily figure.

Section 6: Other charges

This is where the most variability is. Items that should be listed (with $0 if they don't apply):

• Travel charges, typically should be $0 in standard service delivery. Some providers charge per-kilometre over a threshold; the threshold and per-km rate should be clear.
• Cancellation fees, typically waived if you give 24 hours notice; some providers have a 48-hour or 72-hour notice period. The fee should be reasonable (often capped at one hour of the service rate).
• Equipment hire, should usually be against the AT pool, not your operating budget. If hire is charged against your package, that's a yellow flag.
• Setup fees, exit fees, package activation fees, banned under SAH. Should not appear at all.

Items that shouldn't be there

Specific things to question if they appear on a price list:

• "Administration fee" outside care management and package management, what is it for? You may be being charged twice.
• "Care plan fee", should be inside care management, not separate.
• "Initial assessment fee", this is what My Aged Care does, not what your provider does.
• "Ongoing support charge", typically a relabelling of package management.
• "Exit fee", banned. Push back hard.

How to compare price lists across providers

Once you have two or three price lists, lay them out side-by-side and check three numbers:

1. Personal care weekday hourly rate, proxy for general hourly competitiveness
2. Combined care management + package management percentage, proxy for overhead
3. Public holiday multiplier, proxy for whether they're aggressive on penalty rates

A provider who's competitive on all three is likely competitive overall. A provider who's middle-of-the-pack on the headline number but expensive on penalty rates is using the headline to attract you and the small print to recover margin.

Version control matters

A price list is a contract reference. Best practice:

• Keep a PDF of every version your provider sends you
• Note the date
• If a price increase is communicated, ask for a written change notice
• Cross-check that the new price list reflects the change accurately

If you sign a service agreement that references "the price list as varied from time to time," that's standard but not unlimited, providers must give reasonable notice and the changes must be in line with industry norms. Dramatic price increases are challengeable.

Compare price lists before you commit

The price comparison tool extracts the headline numbers from provider price lists in your suburb so you can compare before requesting full documents. Once you've shortlisted, ask each provider for a complete price list and apply the six-section check above.

If you want a deeper dive into specific fee categories, see our guides to hidden costs of SAH providers and care management fees explained.