The homeownership status of pensioners who entered a nursing home or hostel prior to 1 October 1997, was assessed according to the pre 1 October 1997 rules. More [2]
As hostel residents were assessed under the nursing home rules (home exempt for 2 years) or the hostel (entry contribution) rules depending on which is more beneficial, their homeownership status was assessed as per the rules applied.
Links
[1] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/32504%23comment-form
[2] https://clik.dva.gov.au/csrefpopref2-9