How can we connect resident deposits, refund obligations and prudential evidence?

• The current Financial and Prudential Management, Liquidity and Investment standards replaced the former four standards on 1 November 2025. Check which requirements apply to your provider.
• Refundable deposits can only be used for permitted purposes. Ordinary operating costs such as wages and consumables are excluded. Assess each proposal against the Act and Rules.
• Applicable providers calculate default and evaluated minimum liquidity amounts each quarter and maintain a written liquidity management strategy. Deposit balances alone do not establish compliance.
• Identify the correct refund trigger and retain the notice or estate evidence. The Department’s refund guidance explains the different deadlines and interest treatment.

Reference: Aged Care Act 2024 Chapter 4 (prudential framework and accommodation payments); Aged Care Rules 2025 Chapter 4; Department of Health prudential standards guidance; Quarterly Financial Report and Annual Prudential Compliance Statement frameworks (current version).

• Using RAD funds outside the Permitted Uses. This often happens inadvertently — capital works treated as maintenance, operational expenses treated as refurbishment, or transfers between related entities without a clear Permitted Use rationale.
• Not maintaining sufficient liquidity to meet refund obligations. Providers drift into a position where RAD outflows would exceed liquid assets under moderate stress — and don't know it until a cluster of residents leaves.
• Late prudential reports. The reports are complex, the data comes from multiple systems, and the submission is due at an awkward time — so it slips.
• Not maintaining an auditable link between RAD inflows/outflows, Permitted Use decisions, and the general ledger. When a regulator asks 'show me how this RAD was used', the provider can't produce a clean trail.
• Treating prudential as a finance-team problem isolated from operations. Prudential obligations are a governance responsibility, and the governing body needs visibility on liquidity, RAD holdings, and any Permitted Use decisions — not just the CFO.
• Not disclosing pricing and accommodation payment options transparently to incoming residents. The disclosure obligation is specific; a standard fee schedule isn't enough.

• Deposit oversight identifies overdue refunds and missing agreements, with links to the affected records.
• Facility liquidity views show recorded balances, deductions and refund exposure. Use them alongside your financial accounts and liquidity assessment.
• The permitted-use register holds recorded applications of deposit funds; provider assessment and approval remain necessary.
• Governance records support attestations, document evidence and external filing references.
• Annual financial-year RAD/DAP statements and resident disclosures can be prepared for a selected facility, with issue and acknowledgement status.
• Bring a sample refund and reporting period to your demo. Follow missing evidence through to the responsible team’s decision.

Use these records to structure your evidence review. In your demonstration, check their history, attribution and export options against your organisation's requirements:

• Deposit and agreement records relevant to the resident.
• The refund trigger, due date, recorded payments and supporting evidence.
• Permitted-use records and the decisions supporting them.
• Financial-year statements and resident disclosure issue or acknowledgement records.
• Governance attestations, board approval evidence and external filing references.