Mobile physios in South Australia

Where can I find physiotherapists who do home visits?

Every practising physiotherapist in Australia appears on the public register held by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, searchable by name and location (AHPRA, 2026). That register tells you who is qualified, not who travels. The ranked list above narrows the field to physiotherapists and allied health providers on the Carevo platform with measured response times and current home-visit coverage, which is the part that matters when you need mobile physio rather than a clinic.

What is home physiotherapy?

Home physiotherapy is assessment and hands-on treatment delivered in a person’s own home by an AHPRA-registered physiotherapist, covering pain management, post-surgical rehabilitation, falls prevention and neurological rehabilitation. Under the NDIS it sits within the Therapeutic Supports registration group, price code 0128, at a national price limit of $183.99 an hour in standard areas (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). Mobile physio is the same clinical service as clinic treatment. The therapist brings a portable plinth and equipment, and treatment happens where you actually move: your stairs, your bathroom, your kitchen.

How to choose a physiotherapist from the list above

The list above is ranked using the criteria explained in the methodology above it. Four checks matter when you compare physiotherapists.

Registration. Physiotherapists must hold current AHPRA registration to practise, and if a participant is agency-managed the provider must also be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission under the Therapeutic Supports group.

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. Check whether the quoted rate already includes travel or whether it is billed separately, since NDIS providers can claim travel time at up to 50 per cent of the service rate plus vehicle costs of a separately agreed travel charge (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27).

Coverage. 1,796 physiotherapists are currently listed on Carevo, and coverage thins outside metro areas, so confirm a therapist already services your suburb before booking an initial assessment.

How much does home physiotherapy cost?

What you pay depends on the funding stream, not the therapy. NDIS participants are billed against a limit of $183.99 an hour in standard areas, with higher limits in remote and very remote regions (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). Support at Home funds allied health at prices each provider sets rather than a capped rate, indicatively around $185 an hour, and clinical care under Support at Home carries no participant contribution regardless of income or assets (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025). Medicare rebates part of the fee for up to five allied health sessions a calendar year under a GP Chronic Condition Management plan, previously called a Chronic Disease Management or CDM plan (Services Australia, Medicare Benefits Schedule, 2025); any gap between the rebate and the fee is yours. Private health extras policies also rebate physiotherapy, though home visits sometimes carry a travel loading over the clinic rate, so ask for the mobile price in writing.

Which funding pays for home physiotherapy?

The NDIS funds physiotherapy for people under 65 with a permanent, significant disability, under Capacity Building, Improved Daily Living, where a planner accepts it as reasonable and necessary for the participant’s goals; self-managed and plan-managed participants can book directly without a referral (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). For people 65 and over, or 50 and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Support at Home funds physiotherapy as a clinical care service after assessment through the Single Assessment System (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025). The Commonwealth Home Support Programme covers entry-level allied health for people not yet assessed for Support at Home and continues to at least 1 July 2027. Veterans with a Gold or White Card can compare DVA-funded home care, and anyone can pay directly; see private funding options.

What conditions does a home physiotherapist treat?

Falls prevention is the most common referral for older clients. The physiotherapist assesses balance, gait and lower-limb strength, then prescribes a progressive program using the actual hazards of the house: the front step, the bathroom, the bed transfer. Post-surgery rehabilitation follows hip and knee replacements and other orthopaedic procedures, restoring range of movement and strength in the critical weeks after discharge. Neurological physiotherapy supports people living with stroke, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, working on movement quality, spasticity and safe transfers over the long term. Chronic pain work combines graded activity, manual therapy and education rather than hands-on treatment alone. For families searching for physio for elderly at home, the home is often the better clinical setting, because the therapist treats the exact environment where falls and daily difficulty actually happen.

What happens at the first home physio visit?

Expect the first appointment to run longer than a standard session. The physiotherapist takes a history, reviews any discharge summaries, imaging or specialist letters you have, then watches you move: standing up from your own chair, walking your hallway, managing your steps. You leave the visit with a written assessment, agreed goals and a recommended visit frequency, plus the first exercises to start on. Have your medication list and hospital paperwork ready, wear clothes you can move in, and have a family member or support worker present if you want a second set of ears.

Do home exercise programs between visits actually matter?

Yes. Most of the gains from physiotherapy happen between appointments, not during them. A good therapist leaves a short program matched to your home and your baseline, then progresses it at each review. Ask how the program will be delivered: printed sheets with photos, or an app with video demonstrations, and whether a family member or support worker can supervise practice. NDIS participants can also fund supervised practice through a therapy assistant at a lower hourly rate between physiotherapy reviews.

Where mobile physiotherapists are available

Carevo lists 1,796 physiotherapists among 32,033 NDIS-registered providers, with coverage across 8,918 suburbs nationally and records updated 2026-08-26. For a broader functional assessment before starting a therapy plan, see functional capacity assessments. Physiotherapy is often paired with exercise physiology for combined strength and mobility goals, with occupational therapy when equipment or home modifications are on the table, and with post-hospital care in the weeks after discharge.

Home physio or clinic physio: what actually differs

The profession, the AHPRA registration and the evidence base are the same. What changes is the environment, and for some goals that is decisive.

The home wins for falls prevention and daily function, because the physiotherapist assesses the actual stairs, the actual bathroom, the actual rug, and can prescribe against them. It also wins where travel is the barrier: someone who cancels one clinic appointment in three because of transport gets more therapy at home even if each session costs more.

The clinic wins where equipment matters. Gym-based strength work, hydrotherapy, gait retraining with parallel bars and rehabilitation after joint replacement all benefit from kit that cannot travel in a car.

Home visits add travel, billed under the NDIS at an agreed rate plus a portion of the therapist’s travel time (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27), so the same hour of therapy costs more at home. Many people run a mixed model: assessment and home program setup at home, then a block of clinic sessions when the goal shifts to strength.

Falls prevention, and why it is the most under-used referral

One in three Australians over 65 falls each year, and falls are the leading cause of injury hospitalisation in that age group (AIHW). Physiotherapy is one of the few interventions with a genuine evidence base for reducing that risk, and it is routinely left until after the first fall.

A falls assessment covers balance and gait testing, lower limb strength, footwear, medication review referral where relevant, and a walk-through of the home for hazards and equipment. The output is a prescribed exercise program, usually strength and balance work performed several times a week, plus equipment or modification recommendations that often go to an occupational therapist.

The reason it is worth funding before a fall rather than after: post-fall referrals start from a lower baseline, often with a fracture and a fear of falling that reduces activity further. Ask a GP for a referral if there has been any near miss, unsteadiness, or a change in walking.

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.