Physiotherapy in Aged Care Homes: What Residents Get and How to Add More

When a parent or partner moves into residential aged care, families often ask the same question: what nursing home physiotherapy will they actually get? The short version is that physiotherapy is part of the clinical care every government-funded aged care home must provide to meet a resident’s assessed needs. How often a resident sees a physio, and what those sessions look like, varies from home to home.

Aged care rules changed when the new Aged Care Act started on 1 November 2025, so some of what you read online is out of date. This guide explains what homes must provide now, how families can arrange extra physiotherapy, and how a visiting physio works alongside the care team. It is general information only, not medical advice. The aged care home, My Aged Care or your GP can confirm what applies to your family member.

The short answer

• Government-funded aged care homes must deliver the care and services in the Residential Care Service List to meet each resident’s assessed needs.
• Clinical care on that list includes therapy programs such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy to help residents maintain or improve mobility and independence.
• Homes must also provide mobility support, including help with walking and aids such as walking frames and wheelchairs (not motorised or customised ones).
• Families can arrange extra physiotherapy from an outside physio, paid privately or through private health extras, Medicare or DVA where eligible.
• A visiting physio should work with the home’s care team, not around it.

What physiotherapy must an aged care home provide?

Under the Aged Care Act 2024 and the Aged Care Rules 2025, registered providers must deliver the care and services set out in the Residential Care Service List. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing groups these into four categories: accommodation, everyday living, non-clinical care and clinical care.

Two of those categories matter most for mobility:

• Clinical care includes nursing, medication management, and therapy programs such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and other allied health services to help residents maintain or improve mobility and independence. It also includes access to health professionals, including allied health, when needed.
• Non-clinical care includes mobility support, such as help with walking and providing aids like walking frames and wheelchairs. Motorised wheelchairs, electric mobility scooters and customised aids are excluded.

The home is funded through government subsidies based on an assessment of each resident’s care needs. Homes must also meet the Aged Care Quality Standards and are regulated by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

What the rules describe is what the home must provide to meet assessed needs. In practice, how often a resident sees the home’s physiotherapist, whether sessions are one-on-one or in a group, and how much individual exercise is included can differ between homes. The best way to find out is to ask the home directly.

What aged care physiotherapy usually involves

Moving into aged care often means less walking and fewer everyday tasks, such as cooking, gardening or doing the washing. Over time, that can lead to weaker legs, stiffer joints and a higher risk of falls. Physiotherapy in an aged care home usually focuses on keeping residents as mobile and independent as possible, and often includes:

• an assessment of strength, balance, walking and pain
• recommending the right walking aid and checking it is set up correctly
• strength and balance exercises, either one-on-one or in a group
• practising real tasks, such as standing up from a chair, getting in and out of bed and walking to the dining room
• pain management, including for arthritis
• rehabilitation after a fall, fracture, illness or hospital stay

Many residents live with dementia. Dementia Australia reports that 54% of people living in permanent residential aged care have dementia, so good aged care physiotherapy adapts to memory and communication changes, with simple instructions, familiar routines and close contact with staff and family.

Can families arrange extra physiotherapy?

Yes. Some families want more one-on-one physiotherapy than their loved one currently receives, especially after a fall, a hospital stay or a noticeable decline. An external physiotherapist can visit the resident in the home, as long as the home is informed and the sessions are coordinated with the care team.

Common ways to fund extra sessions include:

• Paying privately. No referral is needed for private physiotherapy.
• Private health insurance extras. If the resident’s policy includes physiotherapy, the fund may pay a rebate. Check the annual limit and whether the policy covers visits in an aged care home.
• Medicare. Residents of an aged care home who have a multidisciplinary care plan can access up to 5 Medicare-supported allied health services each calendar year, with a referral from their GP. From 1 July 2026, the rebate for a physiotherapy service (MBS item 10960) is $63.40, and each service must last at least 20 minutes. Our guide to whether Medicare covers physio explains the rules.
• DVA. Since 1 October 2022, eligible DVA clients living in residential aged care can access allied health services, including physiotherapy, regardless of their level of care. See our DVA physiotherapy page.

Private rates are quoted on enquiry. A travel fee applies to home visits and depends on your location. Contact our team for the cost to your area.

How a visiting physio works alongside the home

An external physio should add to the home’s care, not duplicate or contradict it. Good coordination makes a real difference to safety, especially when it comes to walking aids, transfers and falls.

At Khy Physio, we visit residents directly in their aged care home. Here is how it usually works with us:

• You contact us. Tell us about your family member, their goals and any recent changes, such as a fall or hospital stay.
• We speak with the facility. We contact the home and discuss the plan with the care team so everyone is working together.
• First visit and assessment. We bring the equipment we need and complete a full assessment of strength, mobility, balance and pain. Copies of medical letters, hospital reports or scans are helpful if you have them.
• Treatment where it suits. Sessions take place in the resident’s room, the gym or any space the facility allows.
• Timing. We can normally see new residents within 1 week, and we try to arrange a time sooner for urgent situations such as a recent fall, sudden decline or hospital discharge.

Learn more on our aged care physiotherapy page.

Questions to ask the aged care home

Before arranging extra physiotherapy, it helps to understand what the home already provides. Useful questions include:

• How often does the home’s physiotherapist see each resident, and when was my family member last assessed?
• Are sessions one-on-one or in a group?
• Which walking aid has been recommended, and has the height been checked?
• What happens after a fall, and who reviews mobility afterwards?
• Can an external physiotherapist visit, and who should they coordinate with?
• How will the external physio’s recommendations be shared with care staff?

Write down the answers, and ask for any mobility or falls plan in writing if one exists. It makes conversations with the home, the GP and any visiting physio much easier.

When to ask for a physio review

Some changes are a signal to ask the home for a physiotherapy review straight away, or to arrange one yourself:

• a fall, even without an obvious injury
• returning from hospital after surgery, a fracture or an illness
• walking more slowly, shuffling or holding onto furniture
• new pain, or pain that stops them joining in activities
• spending much more time in bed or in a chair

If a change is sudden, such as new confusion or being unable to stand, contact the nursing staff and GP first so a medical cause can be checked. Our guide to physiotherapy after hospital discharge explains what the first weeks back usually involve.

Frequently asked questions

Is physiotherapy included in aged care fees?

Physiotherapy is part of the clinical care that government-funded aged care homes must provide to meet a resident’s assessed needs. Extra physiotherapy arranged privately by the family, on top of what the home provides, is paid separately, for example privately, through health insurance extras, Medicare or DVA.

Can we choose our own physio for a family member in aged care?

Yes. You can arrange for an external physiotherapist to visit, as long as the home is informed and the physio coordinates with the care team.

Does Medicare cover physio in a nursing home?

It can. A resident with a multidisciplinary care plan and a GP referral can claim a Medicare rebate for up to 5 allied health services per calendar year. Those 5 services are shared across all allied health types, such as physiotherapy and podiatry.

Do aged care homes have to provide walking frames?

Yes. Mobility support, including aids such as walking frames and wheelchairs, is part of the non-clinical care homes must provide. Motorised wheelchairs, electric scooters and customised aids are not included.

How soon can a visiting physio start?

With Khy Physio, we can normally see new residents within 1 week, and sooner where possible after a fall, sudden decline or hospital discharge.

Arrange physiotherapy for a family member in aged care

If you would like more focused, one-on-one physiotherapy for someone living in an aged care home in Melbourne or the Geelong region, we can help and will coordinate with the care team. Make a referral or contact our team on 03 8824 0712 to talk it through.

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