The Maximum Permissible Interest Rate for the October to December 2026 quarter has landed at 8.51%, up another 8 basis points on the 8.43%. The Base Interest Rate has moved further, from 3.25% to 3.75%, so refund interest exposure has moved along with conversion pricing. Both numbers matter, and this quarter both have gone the same way.
Start with the maths
At 8.51%, a full RAD priced at last month's national average of $621,072 now converts to a daily accommodation payment of about $144.80, roughly $1.35 a day higher than the September rate produced on the same room price. Small per bed. Meaningful across a 100-bed home over a year of new admissions, particularly where the resident mix is drifting toward DAP or combination payments.
The BIR jump is the number that will show up on a finance report sooner. The BIR governs interest payable on a departed resident's lump sum balance during the legislated refund period. At 3.75% it is 50 basis points higher than last quarter, and this rate applies from the first day of the refund period. Providers with a slower refund cycle, or a run of departures in October, will feel that in November's ledger.
For context, the last time the MPIR sat above 8.5% was Q1 2012. This is not a passing spike. The 90-day Treasury bond average that drives the formula has been elevated for several quarters, and there is nothing in the current fiscal outlook that points to a sharp reversal before the 2027 reform arrives.
What we'd act on
Update every rate table, everywhere. The MPIR for a new resident is fixed at the rate current on the day the resident agreed to a room price, so the 8.43% quarter is still live for anyone whose contract sits under it. Your admission calculator, your brochure, your website, your finance system and any Excel model your admissions team leans on should all show 8.51% for October to December agreements. The maximum daily accommodation supplement of $72.30 and the approval-free room price ceiling of $789,686 remain in force from the 20 September indexation.
Review your refund pipeline this month. Any resident who departed in late September and whose refund period runs into October will draw the new BIR of 3.75% from day one of that period. Which residents does that cover, what balances are involved, and how does the higher rate flow into cash and P&L? These are numbers finance should have ready before the October run.
Test any pricing decision against the 2027 reform. The Independent Accommodation Pricing Review recommended replacing the MPIR-based conversion methodology with a DAP-linked framework from 1 July 2027, and the Government has confirmed that intent in the 2026 Budget. Nine months out, that is close enough that anything you set today should be checked for how it behaves when the formula changes.
At 8.51% the RAD is doing more of the revenue heavy lifting for anyone still able to pay one, and the DAP path is dearer than it was a quarter ago. Providers who model their accommodation revenue across RAD, DAP and combination scenarios each quarter will price with confidence while everyone else reacts to the rate table. Our Metrics data gives that modelling a live market benchmark, updated monthly.
