Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) Scheme

What is the AT-HM Scheme?

The Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) Scheme is a separate Support at Home funding pool for equipment and home changes, split into three tiers: Low (up to $500), Medium (up to $2,000) and High (up to $15,000) a year. It sits outside your regular quarterly Support at Home budget (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025). The scheme began on 1 November 2025 alongside the wider Support at Home program, which replaced Home Care Packages for new participants on the same date. The split is simple: the quarterly budget pays for services such as personal care and cleaning, while the AT-HM Scheme pays for things, meaning walkers, shower chairs, grab rails, ramps and bathroom modifications.

How to choose a provider for this service

The list above is ranked using the criteria explained in the methodology above it. For AT-HM work, four checks narrow it further.

Registration. Confirm the provider’s occupational therapist is AHPRA registered, since Tier 2 and Tier 3 claims need an OT assessment before any quote is approved.

Carevo measures whether a provider accepts an enquiry, not when care starts or a practitioner contacts you. Confirm current capacity and a start date directly. How Carevo measures enquiry acceptance.

Pricing transparency. Ask for a written quote against the relevant tier cap, and confirm whether the OT assessment fee and any tradesperson quotes are itemised separately or bundled into the total.

Coverage. Carevo lists 4,325 aged care providers nationally, but AT-HM specialists who also handle building work are unevenly spread, so ask whether the provider actually visits your suburb.

Is the AT-HM Scheme paid from my quarterly care budget?

No, and this is the most misunderstood part of the scheme. AT-HM funding is approved on top of the quarterly budget attached to your Support at Home classification, and those classification budgets run from $11,031.56 to $80,294 a year across the eight classifications (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2026). Buying a walker or installing a grab rail does not reduce the care hours your budget can fund, so there is no reason to put off equipment to protect your services. The two pools are approved, tracked and claimed separately.

What are the three tiers, and when do I need a prescription?

Tiers are set by the cost and complexity of the items, not by your care classification. The Low tier covers off-the-shelf products such as walking sticks, shower stools and dressing aids, supplied on the written advice of an assessor or health professional. The Medium tier covers items such as wheeled walkers, pressure cushions and basic rail installations. The High tier covers complex equipment and building work: powered wheelchairs, mobility scooters, ramps and full bathroom modifications, with amounts above $15,000 possible in complex cases. Medium and High tier claims need an assessment and written prescription from a qualified health professional, usually an occupational therapist, before a quote is approved (My Aged Care, 2026).

How do I access the scheme?

Access runs through My Aged Care. You register or request a reassessment, an assessor from the Single Assessment System reviews your needs at home, and any AT-HM tier they approve is recorded on your Notice of Decision. For Medium and High tier items you then need the prescription: book it through occupational therapy at home or arrange a formal assistive technology assessment, and the OT’s report goes to your provider with the supplier quote. Funding is available for around 12 months from approval, with a 60-day claim window afterward, so unused tier amounts lapse (My Aged Care, 2025). If your needs change, ask for a reassessment rather than waiting for the tier to expire.

What does the scheme cover, and what does it not?

Covered: assistive products (mobility aids, bathroom and toilet equipment, bed rails and pressure care, low-vision aids, medication prompts and personal alarms), home modifications (grab rails, handheld showers, step wedges, ramps and bathroom conversions), and the wrap-around work of delivery, fitting, training and repairs. The scheme also supports loaned and refurbished equipment where a suitable item is available, which is often the fastest path. Not covered: general household appliances, gardening and routine home maintenance, renovations any homeowner would carry out regardless of care needs, and items that mainly treat a medical condition, which stay with the health system. Hearing aids sit under the separate Hearing Services Program rather than AT-HM.

What will AT-HM work cost you?

Equipment and home modifications are independence supports under Support at Home, so an income-and-assets-tested co-contribution applies to the goods and building work, while the clinical assessment itself is fully government funded (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025). The percentage depends on your means assessment, not on the tier. Ask the provider for an itemised quote showing the item price, delivery and installation against your tier cap, then confirm your co-contribution in writing before work starts. Exit fees are banned across Support at Home, and overheads must sit inside the quoted price rather than appear as separate administration charges.

Which funding pays for AT-HM Scheme work, and who qualifies?

The AT-HM Scheme sits within Support at Home and is the only funding stream that pays for it; NDIS participants access equivalent equipment and modifications through their Improved Daily Living or Home Modifications support categories instead (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025). To qualify, you need to be 65 or older, or 50 or older for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and hold an AT-HM tier recorded on your Notice of Decision following a Single Assessment System assessment (My Aged Care, 2025). Older people receiving basic aids through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme keep that arrangement while CHSP continues, which is to at least 1 July 2027, and veterans have separate aids and appliances arrangements under DVA-funded home care.

Availability across Australia

Carevo lists 4,157 aged care providers nationally, of which 494 have recently responded to new client inquiries, with AT-HM specialists concentrated most heavily in NSW, where OT and building trades are easiest to find together. For the equipment side, compare assistive technology for aged care suppliers or equipment hire and sales providers with loan stock; for Tier 2 and Tier 3 building work, compare home modifications and maintenance providers directly.

How the three AT-HM funding tiers work

The Assistive Technology and Home Modifications Scheme sits alongside your Support at Home quarterly budget rather than inside it, which is the single most useful thing to understand about it: spending on equipment does not reduce the budget that pays for your care hours (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025).

Funding is released in three tiers, and the tier decides how much evidence is needed before anything is ordered.

Low tier, up to $500 a year. Everyday aids: shower stools, raised toilet seats, grab rails, walking sticks, non-slip matting. Written advice from a health professional is generally enough, so this tier moves quickly.

Medium tier, up to $2,000 a year. More substantial equipment and small modifications: wheeled walkers, bed rails, ramps, handrails, bathroom changes. An assessment and a written prescription are needed, usually from an occupational therapist.

High tier, up to $15,000 a year. Major items and structural work: stairlifts, ceiling hoists, powered wheelchairs, full bathroom conversions. Requires an OT assessment, a written prescription and a supplier quote, all approved before purchase.

Two rules catch people out. Funding is available for around 12 months from approval with a 60-day claim window afterwards, so unused amounts lapse rather than accumulate. And splitting a large item across tiers or purchases to stay under a threshold is not permitted.

AT-HM or the NDIS: which applies to you?

You access one system or the other based on your eligibility pathway, never both for the same item.

The AT-HM Scheme is for people in aged care, assessed through My Aged Care and the Single Assessment System. NDIS participants fund equipment and home modifications from Capital Supports instead, with its own thresholds and its own assessment requirements.

The practical difference is the cap. AT-HM’s high tier tops out at $15,000 a year, while NDIS Capital Supports is assessed against what is reasonable and necessary with no equivalent annual ceiling, which is why complex equipment is more readily funded under the NDIS. Someone who turns 65 as an NDIS participant keeps NDIS funding rather than moving across.

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.