Home/Personal alarms & fall detection/Funding
Support at Home ยท funding guideWhat Support at Home will pay for when a parent keeps falling.
Since November 2025, the government's in-home aged care program has a separate pot of money for equipment, called the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme. Personal alarms are on the list, and so, with the right assessment, is more capable monitoring. Here is how it works in plain language, and what it means for a fall alarm in the home.
The short answer
If she is 65 or over and has been assessed for Support at Home, the scheme can fund a personal alarm without any further paperwork, up to the low tier. A radar fall sensor, room call points and a monitored service usually need an occupational therapist's recommendation and fall into the medium or high tier. The money is separate from her quarterly care budget, and her Support at Home provider orders the equipment from a supplier like us.
If she's under 65, this program doesn't apply; see the NDIS note further down.
Three steps between "Mum fell again" and a funded system.
Get assessed through My Aged Care
Call My Aged Care or apply online. An assessor visits and works out a Support at Home classification, and whether she's approved for assistive technology, home modifications, or both. Say the word "falls" early and often; it drives everything after.
Weeks, sometimes longerGet an AT-HM tier
The assessor sets a funding tier for equipment: low, medium or high. Low-tier items need no further evidence. Medium and high need a recommendation or a formal prescription from an occupational therapist or similar, which the scheme also pays for.
Tier is valid for 12 monthsHer provider orders it
Her chosen Support at Home provider sources the item, claims the cost, and arranges any prescription. We supply and install through the provider, so families don't have to pay and claim back. A modest contribution may apply, based on her means assessment.
Install in a day once approvedThree tiers, one of which fits almost every home.
Amounts are as published by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and are indexed over time, so treat them as a guide. For assistive technology the high tier isn't a hard ceiling; more can be approved with evidence.
| Tier | Funding per 12 months | What it needs | What it typically covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | under $500 | No professional assessment. Low-cost, low-risk items. | A basic personal alarm pendant, an alert button, grab rails, night lights. |
| Medium | up to $2,000 | Evidence such as a clinical recommendation or a supplier quote. | A monitored pendant service, a bedroom fall and bed-exit sensor, a couple of room call points. |
| High | up to $15,000, or more if needed | A comprehensive assessment and a prescription from a qualified health professional. Above the cap needs further evidence. | A whole-home system: sensors in bedroom and bathroom, voice in every room, monitored response, plus home modifications. |
Home modifications share the same tiers but the high tier is a lifetime maximum for building work. People with a progressive condition such as Parkinson's are given 24-month funding periods rather than 12.
Where our equipment sits in the scheme.
The item has to be on the scheme's assistive technology list and match her assessed need. Personal alarms and alert buttons are named on the list. Sensor-based monitoring is assessed case by case, which is why the OT's write-up matters.
Pendant or wristband alarm
A waterproof fall pendant with a button, linked to family phones. Named on the list, so it can be ordered with no prescription.
- Good if she will reliably wear it
- Usually the starting point while a tier review is pending
Bedroom Watch
A ceiling radar sensor that detects falls and night-time bed exits with nothing to wear, plus alerts to family phones. Fits the medium tier with an OT recommendation that she can't reliably use a pendant.
- Dementia, Parkinson's, night-time falls
- We write the product sheet in the assessor's language
Whole Home
Bedroom and bathroom sensors, a two-way voice call point in every room, a pendant, and optional 24-hour monitored response. Needs a formal prescription; the scheme pays for that assessment too.
- Living alone with a history of falls
- Can be combined with rails and bathroom modifications in the same tier
Ongoing costs are the catch. The scheme buys equipment. A monthly monitoring fee or a 4G data plan is a service, which comes out of her regular quarterly budget as an independence service, not out of the equipment tier. Ask the provider to allow for it when the care plan is set.
Contributions, timing and what's excluded.
Will she have to pay anything?
Possibly a contribution. Equipment is classed as an independence service, and contributions for those depend on an income and assets assessment through Services Australia. Full pensioners contribute least. Assessments, prescriptions and the wraparound services are fully covered.
How long does the money last?
Twelve months from approval, and unused funds don't roll over. That's an argument for getting the whole system in one order rather than adding pieces later. Progressive conditions get 24 months.
Can the tier be increased?
Yes. If her needs change, or the OT's assessment supports a bigger system, the provider can request a Support Plan Review with evidence and move her to a higher tier.
What isn't covered
Anything another government program already funds, ordinary household items, equipment for work or public transport, and items for children. General-purpose consumer gadgets are a grey area; the safest path is a product that appears on the assistive technology list with a clinical reason behind it.
What if she isn't in Support at Home yet?
Start the My Aged Care assessment now and install privately if the risk is immediate. Families often do this, then move the ongoing costs onto the package once approved. Equipment bought before approval isn't reimbursed, so keep the first install modest if you expect funding.
Under 65? This program is for people 65 and over (50 and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people). For a younger person with Parkinson's, MS or an acquired brain injury the equivalent path is the NDIS. We are not a registered NDIS provider, which means self-managed and plan-managed participants can use their funding with us, and agency-managed participants can't.
Straight answers.
Is a personal alarm covered by Support at Home?
Is a fall detection sensor covered?
Who chooses the supplier?
Do we need an OT before we contact you?
Does the equipment tier come out of her care hours?
What about Home Care Packages?
Not sure which tier she'd land in? Ask us before you ask the assessor.
A free home assessment, a written recommendation in the assessor's language, and a quote in the format her provider needs.
Scheme details summarised from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's Support at Home and AT-HM scheme publications as at September 2026. Tier amounts are indexed annually. Eligibility, tiers and approvals are decided by My Aged Care assessors and Support at Home providers, not by Peninsula Smart Care. We are an equipment supplier and installer, not a Support at Home provider or a registered NDIS provider.