My Aged Care Guide (2026): Phone, Portal & Referral

1. What is My Aged Care?

Established by the Australian Commonwealth Government, My Aged Care is the single statutory entry point for every senior seeking government-funded aged care support in Australia. Whether you need a cleaner once a week, daily nursing at home under the Support at Home program, or permanent admission into an accredited residential aged care facility, your journey must legally begin with My Aged Care.

My Aged Care is not a care provider itself; rather, it acts as the government's intake, registry, and regulatory clearinghouse. It is responsible for:

• Client Intake & Screening: Recording your personal medical history, Medicare details, and initial symptoms or care needs.
• Assessment Referral: Booking an in-home or hospital visit with a trained assessor from the Single Assessment System (incorporating ACAT).
• Issuing Referral Codes: Releasing statutory codes once clinical eligibility is confirmed so you can engage service providers.

2. Contacting My Aged Care: Phone, Hours & Preparation

The most direct way to initiate registration is via the national contact centre. Wait times can vary from 5 to 25 minutes depending on peak morning hours.

Checklist: What to Have in Front of You Before Calling

To complete the initial 20-minute phone intake smoothly, ensure you have:

• Medicare Card: Number and line number for the person requiring care.
• Current Address & Contact Details: Including any alternative contacts (adult children or carers).
• Pension Status: Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) or Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN) if applicable.
• GP / Specialist Details: Name and clinic of their primary medical practitioner.
• Specific Care Difficulties: Concrete examples of daily challenges (e.g., "Mum had a fall two weeks ago," "Dad can no longer safely enter the shower," or "Forgetting to take daily heart medications").

3. State Contacts: Adelaide, NSW, WA & In-Person ACSO Centres

A common misconception is that each state or capital city operates its own separate My Aged Care telephone switchboard. There is no separate local phone number for Adelaide, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, or Brisbane. The official telephone triage line is unified nationally:

Prefer Face-to-Face Help? Aged Care Specialist Officers (ACSO)

If you find phone menus overwhelming or require help completing paperwork in person, the Australian Government provides dedicated Aged Care Specialist Officers (ACSOs) stationed inside select Services Australia (Centrelink) service centres.

• Dedicated ACSO Appointment Line: Call 1800 227 475 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am – 4:30pm local time) to book a free 45-minute face-to-face consultation.
• What an ACSO Can Assist With:
  • Submitting your initial My Aged Care registration or MAC referral.
  • Explaining complex Centrelink financial assessment forms (e.g. SA457 / SA485 means testing).
  • Appointing a family member as your formal representative on the system.
  • Connecting you with culturally appropriate support or local aged care advocacy (OPAN).

4. MAC Referral: What It Is, Types & How to Make a Referral

In clinical and community healthcare settings across Australia, clinicians and social workers frequently refer to an aged care application as a "MAC Referral" (shorthand for My Aged Care Referral).

A MAC referral is the formal submission of an individual's personal and medical profile into the Commonwealth intake system to initiate an assessment under the Single Assessment System. Without a formal MAC referral, you cannot be assessed or approved for subsidised aged care.

The 3 Ways to Lodge a MAC Referral

5. The 4-Step Registration & Assessment Process

6. Navigating the My Aged Care Online Account

Older Australians and their authorised representatives can link their My Aged Care profile to their personal myGov account. This allows families to:

• Track assessment application progress and expected wait times.
• Download digital copies of your official ACAT approval letter and Support Plan.
• Manage authorised representative permissions without waiting on hold.
• Retrieve active referral codes if physical paperwork is misplaced.

7. The Official Fee Estimator: What It Does & Does Not Show

The My Aged Care website hosts an official "Fee Estimator". While useful for high-level compliance, many families find it frustrating and incomplete because:

• Demands Exhaustive Financial Inputs: You must enter every bank balance, superannuation account, and share portfolio before receiving an estimate.
• Zero Scenario Modeling: It cannot model whether it is better to pay a lump sum RAD versus a daily DAP, or how keeping versus selling the family home impacts Age Pension cash flow.
• No Commercial Transparency: It does not highlight room negotiation strategies, extra service fee traps, or provider capital retentions.

For transparent, anonymous financial modeling, use our independent RAD vs DAP Calculator to test room price tradeoffs in under 60 seconds.

8. Official Portal vs Independent Guidance