When people think about home care funding, they picture help with showering or cleaning. But some of the most life-changing support comes in a different form: a ramp that lets you leave the house, a rail that prevents a fall, a piece of equipment that restores independence. Under Support at Home, these are funded through a separate scheme with its own rules, and understanding it is genuinely worthwhile. Here’s the plain-language guide to the AT-HM Scheme.
What AT-HM Actually Is
AT-HM stands for Assistive Technology and Home Modifications, and it is a distinct funding stream within Support at Home for exactly those things: equipment that helps you manage daily life, and physical changes to your home that make it safer and more accessible.
The key thing to understand is that it is separate from your regular quarterly service budget. Equipment and home modifications are often larger, one-off costs, so funding them separately means a wheelchair or a bathroom modification doesn’t have to compete with your weekly personal care and domestic help for the same pool of money.
What Assistive Technology Covers
Assistive technology is the equipment side. It ranges widely: mobility aids like walkers and wheelchairs, aids for daily living, bathroom and toileting equipment, and technology that helps with communication or safety.
The purpose test is what matters. AT is funded because it helps you do something your ageing or disability otherwise makes difficult, maintaining independence, safety and dignity, rather than as general convenience. The right piece of equipment can be the difference between managing at home and not.
What Home Modifications Cover
Home modifications are the structural side: physical changes to your home that make it safe and navigable. Common examples include grab rails, ramps, bathroom and shower modifications, and changes that improve access around the home.
Like AT, these are assessed on need. A modification is funded because it addresses a genuine safety or accessibility barrier tied to your ability to live independently at home, not as a general renovation. An occupational therapist typically assesses what’s actually needed.
How to Access It
The pathway runs through assessment. Because AT and home modifications are needs-based, you generally need the right professional to assess and recommend what’s appropriate, often an occupational therapist for home modifications and complex equipment. That assessment is what establishes the need and gets the funding moving.
An important planning point for families who transitioned from Home Care Packages: if you have legacy unspent funds, those are often used first for AT and home modifications before the AT-HM scheme funding applies, so it’s worth understanding your spend order before committing to a big purchase. The official detail sits on the Department of Health’s Support at Home page.
The Practical Traps
A few worth knowing. Start early, because assessments, quotes and approvals for equipment and modifications take time, and the thing you need urgently is best requested well before it’s urgent. Get the professional assessment rather than assuming what you need, since the assessment is what justifies the funding. And plan bigger purchases around your funding sources, especially if you have legacy funds that should be used first. Rushing any of these steps is where families come unstuck.
The Bottom Line
The AT-HM Scheme is one of the more valuable and least understood parts of Support at Home: separate funding for the equipment and home changes that genuinely keep older Australians safe and independent at home. Understand that it’s needs-based and assessment-led, start the process early, and plan around your funding sources. Done well, it’s some of the most life-improving support the system offers. This is general information, not aged care, medical or financial advice.
Epik Wire covers aged care in plain language for older Australians and their families. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed.
