How we work

Comparison services in aged care have a trust problem: too many only show families the providers who pay them. We built CareShortlist to be the opposite, structurally, and this page puts that in writing.

Who pays us

Families never pay us anything, and we do not sell leads. Our only revenue is a success fee paid by partner providers when a family we introduced actually commences care, is admitted, or settles, under a written partnership agreement. Under Australian rules, those fees cannot be passed on to you and cannot be drawn from a government care budget. If nobody we introduce ever chooses a partner, we earn nothing; our incentive is a placement that genuinely fits, not a name on a list.

What partner providers get, and what money can never buy

  • Partners CAN receive warm introductions from our care team when a family reviewing their options asks to be connected.
  • Nobody can pay to rank higher, to appear with us, to remove or soften a Star Rating, to push a competitor off a page, or to be recommended.
  • Every government-listed provider appears here, partner or not, and your options are ranked identically (distance and official ratings) either way. Partnership changes who June can actively connect you with; it never changes what you see.

Where the data comes from

Service details come from the Australian Government aged care service list (30 June 2025). Star Ratings come from the official quarterly extract (May 2026). Cost figures carry the date they were last verified against government sources. When something we publish is out of date, we want to know: hello@careshortlist.com.au.

Our promises to families

  1. No pay-for-ranking, ever. The order we show you is never sold.
  2. Official ratings shown verbatim, for every home, favourable or not.
  3. No pressure mechanics. No countdown timers, no manufactured scarcity, no repeated sales calls. Take the time the decision deserves.
  4. Your data is not for sale. Details you give us are used to build your options and connect you with providers you choose to hear from, and nothing else. See the privacy policy.
  5. Dated facts. Every figure shows when it was verified. Aged care rules change constantly; undated advice is how families get hurt.

Our team, and June

CareShortlist is Australian owned and operated. Requests are handled by our care team, and the guide who writes to you, June, is the AI assistant our team built and oversees. She matches your situation against the official government data for your area and sends back a clear, ranked set of options with the ratings and real costs beside each one, at any hour of the day. She is warm on purpose, because this is a hard decision to face, but she is not a person, and she is not a nurse or a financial adviser. When you reply, a real member of our team reads it. Nobody here, June included, is paid to favour any provider, and for anything clinical or financial we will always point you to the right professional.

What we are not

We are not a government service, not an aged care provider, and not financial advisers. Assessments and funding decisions belong to My Aged Care and Services Australia. For personalised financial advice on aged care, see a licensed adviser.

Why we published this at all

Most services in this category do not explain how they are paid, and families only discover the commercial arrangement afterwards, if ever. We would rather put the model on the table before you use the service than after, because a page like this is only worth anything if it is published before you need to trust it.

The practical test of any comparison service is simple. Ask whether it shows you providers who do not pay it. If the answer is no, you are looking at a filtered picture, however good the advice around it may be.

Questions about how we work

Is CareShortlist really free for families?

Yes, entirely. We never charge families and we do not sell your details. Our only revenue is a success fee paid by partner providers when a family we introduced actually commences care, under a written agreement. Australian rules also prevent that fee being passed on to you or drawn from a government care budget.

Can providers pay to rank higher on CareShortlist?

No, and this is the line we will not cross. Ranking is by distance and official Star Ratings only. No provider can pay to appear higher, to appear at all, to remove or soften a rating, or to push a competitor off a page. Partnership changes who we can actively introduce you to; it never changes what you see.

Do you show providers who do not work with you?

Yes. Every provider in Australia appears with us whether or not they have any commercial relationship with us. That is the whole point of the model, and it is what separates a directory built on official data from a referral network.

What happens to my personal information?

It is used to build your personalised options and to connect you with providers you choose to hear from, and nothing else. We do not sell data. You can unsubscribe from any email in one click and ask us to delete your details at any time. See our privacy policy for the detail.

Who is June?

June is the AI care guide our Australian team built and oversees. She reads every request as it arrives, matches it against the official government data for your area, and is available at any hour. A real person on our team reads anything you send back. June works only from the official data and has no provider she is paid to favour.

Something here not stack up, or a figure out of date? Tell us at hello@careshortlist.com.au and we will fix it.