Evidence-led guidance · Mornington Peninsula
How we compare costs
A short, source-linked method for local cost comparisons — not a current price quote or a cheapest-place ranking.
Published by Tom Le Cerf · Sources retain their individual dates.
The principle
Money committed upfront, money actually spent and money returned later are different things. A refundable contribution is not automatically a fee. A departure-fee percentage is not a complete refund. We report village, land-lease and aged-care arrangements separately.
| Stage | Retirement village | Residential aged care |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront | Entry contribution or purchase price, deposits, non-refundable entry fees. Separate cash commitment from expenditure. | Published maximum price for the exact room type and agreed refundable accommodation deposit/contribution, where applicable. |
| Ongoing | Base maintenance plus separately billed capital contributions, rates, utilities and optional services. | Basic daily fee, applicable means-assessed contributions, accommodation daily payments and optional services. |
| Leaving | Applicable deferred fee, selling/refurbishment, capital adjustments and contractual repayment timing. | Applicable refundable-deposit retention and agreed deductions; remaining deposit balance. |
The first two benchmarks
Retirement village recurring charges: record each eligible non-owner independent-living unit’s current source-dated base maintenance, original billing period, known capital-fund additions and what is included or extra. We will not mix these with owner-title, serviced-apartment, rental or land-lease amounts.
Aged-care room prices: record the maximum price displayed on My Aged Care for each exact room type, with single/shared occupancy, ensuite, size and source date. Compare like room types, rather than treating every room as interchangeable. The published maximum can differ from an individual negotiated price. Personal assessed care fees are not a provider-price benchmark.
Source: CAV: ongoing village charges
Units and assumptions
To show annual nominal equivalents, multiply weekly amounts by 52, fortnightly by 26, monthly by 12 and quarterly by 4. Retain the original amount and period. Daily charges × 365 are only an unchanged-rate illustration; actual government rates can change. Money is calculated before rounding, then displayed to cents.
Any multi-year scenarios are separately labelled hypothetical inputs, never a local property-growth prediction, expected stay length or a promised refund. We do not calculate personal aged-care means assessments, age-pension results or suitability rankings.
Sample coverage and exclusions
Every published summary must identify the geographic boundary, eligible arrangements, source dates, number of distinct places, number of observed room types, operator coverage, inclusions, exclusions and missing records. Multiple rooms in one home do not mean multiple homes.
We use sample ranges and medians, not an unqualified “typical Peninsula price”. Fewer than five comparable observations, less than half the eligible population, unresolved included-versus-extra charges or stale unverified terms are labelled source-dated observations only. They do not qualify as a current regional market benchmark.
Where we are now
The project has seven 2026 statement-dated non-owner independent-living maintenance observations. They cover different inclusions and payment conditions, so we are reconciling them before publishing any all-in Peninsula average. The directory also identifies 24 local aged-care homes; we have not yet completed and accepted a current room-by-room price collection for those homes.
Nothing missing is recorded as $0. We do not inflate old fees to simulate a current quote, assume that listed rooms are available, or borrow an exit formula from another contract. A specific home or resident’s written offer remains the authoritative decision input.
Sources, corrections and ongoing review
Every accepted price must have the exact entity, source URL, internal document/effective date, date retrieved, substantive review date, units and the applicable room or contract option. A changed PDF link is a prompt to review; it does not automatically approve new claims. Our proposed cadence is monthly for published room prices/high-impact fees and quarterly for lower-risk descriptions, with immediate review of material changes.
Corrections can be sent through our public contact. This method is version 1.0, dated 11 November 2026. The underlying benchmark data are being prepared; this document does not claim a full local study is finished.
Source: CAV: entry costs
Source: CAV: leaving costs
Source: My Aged Care: care fees