Assistive Technology Assessment: Cost, NDIS and AT-HM Rules

What is an assistive technology assessment?

An assistive technology (AT) assessment is a face to face evaluation, usually led by an occupational therapist, that matches equipment and home modifications to a person’s daily tasks and goals. Under the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27, the assessment and its report sit in the Improved Daily Living support category, which is what funds the OT’s time before any equipment is purchased. The assessment covers the person’s physical function, the tasks they are struggling with, the home environment and the funding pathway, and it ends in a written report a funder can act on. For older people, the same evaluation supports a tier claim under the AT-HM Scheme.

How to choose a provider for this service

The list above is ranked using the criteria explained in the methodology above it. Four checks matter most when you compare AT assessment providers yourself.

Registration. Confirm the occupational therapist is AHPRA registered and, for NDIS funded assessments, that the practice appears on the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission provider register.

Response time. AT waitlists blow out fast when a provider is slow to reply at enquiry stage. Check the response time by state table further down this page before you book.

Pricing transparency. Ask for a written quote against the $193.99 hourly cap in the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27, and confirm whether travel and report writing are billed separately.

Coverage. Carevo lists 1,927 occupational therapists nationally, but availability is uneven; ask whether the therapist actually visits your suburb rather than a nearby one.

Why does the assessment come before the purchase?

Because the evidence the NDIS needs scales with the cost of the item. Equipment under $1,500 usually needs only written advice from an appropriate professional; items between $1,500 and $15,000 need an assessor’s report; items above $15,000 need a full assessment plus quotes before funding is approved (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). Buying first and asking later risks paying privately for something the plan would have funded, or funding equipment that does not fit the person or the home. The report also protects against abandonment, since equipment bought without assessment is the equipment most often left in a cupboard. The same logic applies in aged care, where Medium and High tier AT-HM claims need a prescription before a quote is approved.

Who assesses what: OT, physiotherapist or speech pathologist?

Occupational therapists handle most AT: daily living aids, bathroom and toileting equipment, beds and pressure care, and the majority of wheelchair prescriptions. Physiotherapists commonly assess mobility aids such as walking frames, and co-prescribe wheelchairs and complex seating where posture and movement are the main issue. Speech pathologists assess augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices, from simple communication boards to eye-gaze systems. OTs and physiotherapists must hold current registration to practise (AHPRA, 2026), while speech pathologists are certified through Speech Pathology Australia. Compare occupational therapy at home, physiotherapy at home or speech pathology at home depending on the equipment in question.

What happens in an NDIS wheelchair assessment?

The therapist measures the person and maps how the chair will actually be used: transfers in and out, posture and pressure injury risk, the home’s doorways and floor surfaces, car transport, and the person’s goals for getting around. The report recommends a specific configuration, seat width, cushion, backrest and wheel setup, and for mid and high-cost chairs it goes to the NDIS with supplier quotes. Powered wheelchairs and complex manual chairs sit at the top of the evidence bands, so allow time for trials before the report is finalised. See wheelchair hire and mobility equipment providers for the supply side of the same process.

Can I trial equipment before the report is written?

Yes, and for anything mid-cost or above you should. Most specialist suppliers keep trial and loan stock, and a short hire through equipment hire and sales doubles as an extended trial in the person’s own home, which shows up problems a showroom never will: door widths, carpet resistance, boot space. Documented trial evidence strengthens the assessor’s report and reduces the risk of funding equipment that gets abandoned. Ask whether trial or hire fees are credited if you go on to buy the same item.

What does an AT assessment cost?

Under the NDIS, occupational therapist time is billed at up to $193.99 an hour and physiotherapist time at up to $183.99 an hour, drawn from the Improved Daily Living category (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). The total depends on the complexity of the equipment, since complex seating takes more assessment and report time than a walking frame, so ask for a quote that splits assessment time, report writing and travel. For Support at Home clients the clinical assessment is fully government funded, with the co-contribution applying to the equipment rather than the assessor’s time (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025).

Which funding pays for an AT assessment, and who qualifies?

NDIS participants with a Capacity Building support category in their plan can fund the assessment itself, and often the resulting equipment, under Improved Daily Living (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). Support at Home clients qualify once an aged care assessment under the Single Assessment System assigns an AT-HM tier, Low (under $500), Medium (up to $2,000) or High (up to $15,000, more in complex cases), recorded in the Notice of Decision and available for around 12 months (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025). Veterans can access assessments through DVA-funded home care arrangements, and a GP Chronic Condition Management Plan gives a partial Medicare rebate for OT time only, not equipment.

Does assistive technology work the same way under aged care?

The equipment is often identical; the funding path is not. Under the NDIS, assistive technology is assessed and funded through your plan, with the assessment a separate line item from the device. Under aged care, it runs through the Support at Home Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme, which sits outside your quarterly budget and allocates funding in tiers rather than per item.

Three differences worth knowing before you start. Aged care AT is tiered, so what you can access is set at assessment rather than negotiated device by device. The prescriber is usually an occupational therapist in both systems, but aged care assessments are more often arranged through your provider than sourced independently. And there is no equivalent of the NDIS reasonable-and-necessary test: the question is whether the item supports you to keep living at home safely.

If you are on a Home Care Package or Support at Home, the Support at Home service list sets out the AT-HM tiers and what each covers, and the funding calculator shows how your classification budget works.

Availability across Australia

Carevo lists 8,918 suburbs with provider coverage nationally, with records updated 2026-08-26 and occupational therapists concentrated most heavily in New South Wales and Victoria. If your AT needs centre on mobility equipment rather than a general assessment, compare mobility equipment providers, or start with a home modifications assessment if the priority is your home layout. Before committing plan funds to a large item, sketch the numbers with the assistive technology budget calculator.

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What an assistive technology assessment covers

An AT assessment is carried out by an occupational therapist and results in a written recommendation and quote that the NDIS or an aged care assessor can fund against. Four assessment types run through this page.

General assistive technology. Matching equipment to the task, the home and the person, including trials of more than one option where the item is expensive or hard to return.

Specialist seating. Custom wheelchair seating, pressure mapping, tilt and recline, and postural supports. This is a distinct skill set: a general AT assessor will usually refer specialist seating to a seating clinic.

Upper limb, arm and hand function. Mobile arm supports, splints, adapted grips and workstation setup for people with limited reach, grip or endurance.

Computer and switch access. Switches, eye gaze, alternative keyboards, mounting and communication device access, often assessed alongside a speech pathologist where the device is used for communication.

Ask any assessor whether they are independent of a supplier. An assessment written by someone who also sells the equipment is a conflict worth knowing about before you commit.

What an AT assessment costs, and who should do yours

The NDIA publishes the evidence rules. What it does not tell you is what the assessment will cost or which discipline should do it, and both change the outcome.

Cost tracks the hours. Providers commonly quote 4 to 10 hours including the report, which at the 2026-27 occupational therapy cap of $193.99 an hour puts most assessments between roughly $800 and $2,000 (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). Complex seating, custom wheelchairs and communication devices sit at the top of that range because they involve trials, supplier liaison and re-measurement.

Discipline matters more than people expect. An occupational therapist covers most equipment, home modifications and seating. A physiotherapist is appropriate for mobility and gait-related prescription. A speech pathologist must lead any communication device assessment. Getting the wrong discipline produces a report the NDIA will not accept for that item, and you pay twice.

Ask three questions before booking. Have you prescribed this specific item before, and how often? Do you have supplier relationships for trials? And is the report writing time in the quote or billed on top?

Trialling equipment before you commit

For anything above the low-cost threshold, a trial is the difference between equipment that gets used and equipment that sits in a hallway.

Most suppliers will loan or hire a device for a trial period, and a good assessor arranges this as standard rather than prescribing from a catalogue. Trial the item in your actual home, not a showroom: doorway widths, turning circles, floor surfaces and thresholds are where equipment fails.

Two rules worth knowing. Nothing above the threshold should be ordered before the report and quote are approved, so if a supplier pushes you to order early, that is their commercial risk becoming yours. And bundling or splitting purchases to stay under a funding threshold is not permitted.

Where the item is aged care rather than NDIS, the same logic applies through the AT-HM Scheme, with tiers at $500, $2,000 and $15,000 a year (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025).

How this page is compiled

The provider rankings and figures on this page come from Carevo platform records, including provider registrations, measured response times and coverage, together with the cited official sources. Carevo is an Australian platform that connects families with NDIS and aged care providers. Carevo does not deliver care itself.

Funding sources and checks

Check the current NDIA pricing arrangements and Support at Home program rules for the proposed service. Funding depends on the approved support and available budget; a Carevo listing is not approval. Confirm availability and a start date directly with the provider.