{"id":780564,"date":"2026-07-05T12:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T12:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/780564\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T12:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T12:36:16","slug":"arcare-aged-care-vulnerable-aussies-charged-more-than-100-million-by-aged-care-provider-lawsuit-alleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/780564\/","title":{"rendered":"Arcare aged care: Vulnerable Aussies charged more than $100 million by aged care provider, lawsuit alleges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elderly and vulnerable Australians who are clients of a major aged care provider are being charged millions of dollars for services they don\u2019t need, want, or use, a current class action alleges.<\/p>\n

Jan Preuss, 85, moved into her Arcare home in August 2024, handing over a $500,000 deposit with an agreement to pay $40,000 a year for ongoing care.<\/p>\n

\"Jan<\/p>\n

Jan Preuss, with her daughter Brenda Lipsys by her bedside, is a resident at an ARCARE facility in Townsville.\u00a060 Minutes<\/p>\n

But buried on the last pages of the contract were\u00a0a number of\u00a0mandatory charges that would be added daily.<\/p>\n

These included extra fees for Foxtel, exercise\u00a0class,\u00a0the ability to choose a meal, and private dining room access.<\/p>\n

For Preuss, though, the most outrageous fee was $6.74 a day for a glass of wine or beer the teetotalling grandmother would never drink.<\/p>\n

Preuss is not the only resident\u00a0who has issues with\u00a0Arcare.<\/p>\n

Lesley Hollingsworth said her mother Dawn, who died aged 93 in late 2024 after complications from a stroke, had also been forced to pay for the \u201cluxuries\u201d that she was too unwell to enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first realised it was like ripping up $30 a day, I rang them,\u201d Hollingsworth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd their response was, you\u2019ve signed the contract, and they suggested that we get a contract lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal government last year ordered aged care providers to scrap compulsory fees,\u00a0to replace\u00a0them with a voluntary charge for luxury services called the Higher Everyday Living Fee, or HELF.<\/p>\n

\"Arcare<\/p>\n

Arcare is one of the largest aged care service providers in Australia.\u00a060 Minutes<\/p>\n

But providers decide what\u2019s a luxury and what isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

War veteran Keith, 92, an Arcare resident in Melbourne, opted\u00a0to not\u00a0pay the HELF fee, only to find he couldn\u2019t attend a planned outing to the Living Legends champion horse complex, even after offering to pay.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

92-year-old Keith was not allowed to swap his meal for a simple soup, because he did not opt to pay for Arcare’s “luxury fee”.\u00a060 Minutes<\/p>\n

\u201cGrandad has always bet on his horses. He just loves his horses,\u201d granddaughter Sarah Day said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the only thing out of all the activities they had on offer that he really wanted to do, and he just wasn\u2019t allowed to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not paying the HELF fee meant\u00a0that the frail senior also was unable to choose his meal, even though he was having\u00a0difficulties with digestion and was unable to eat enough.<\/p>\n

Day said it took three months of lobbying for Arcare to acquiesce and give Keith the option of a bowl of soup.<\/p>\n

Lawyer Damian Scattini has filed a class action against Arcare in the Federal\u00a0Court alleging\u00a0more than $100 million has been\u00a0bled\u00a0from elderly Australians.<\/p>\n

He accused Arcare of treating their elderly clients like a profit centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not acceptable. And this cohort of all cohorts, the group is so vulnerable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Arcade<\/p>\n

Arcare has been accused of charging its elderly residents a \u201cluxury fee\u201d that they do not need.\u00a060 Minutes<\/p>\n

Arcare provided a statement to 60 Minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cArcare is committed to providing high-quality care and services, including the option to access Higher Everyday Living services,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have fallen short of a resident\u2019s expectations, we welcome the opportunity to engage with them to address any concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the full episode of 60 Minutes on 9Now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elderly and vulnerable Australians who are clients of a major aged care provider are being charged millions of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-780564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}