The AT-HM List Explained: What Support at Home Will Fund (and Where Personal Alarms Fit)

What Is the AT-HM List?

The AT-HM List is the official government list of products, equipment and home modifications that people on Support at Home can pay for through the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme. If an item is not on the list, the scheme will not fund it. If it is on the list, it can be funded when an assessed need is recorded in your support plan.

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing publishes the list, and the current version was last updated on 17 July 2026. You can read the full document on the AT-HM List page on health.gov.au. It is a long, technical document, so many families find it hard to follow.

You may also see it written as the ATHM list. It is the same document. This guide explains it in plain English: how the list is organised, what the prescription categories mean, where personal alarms sit, what you may pay, and how to get an item funded. Occupational therapists and care coordinators will find the professional side, including what to put in a written recommendation, in our separate AT-HM scheme guide for OTs.

Where the List Fits Within Support at Home

Support at Home has two kinds of funding. The first is your ongoing budget, which pays for services such as personal care, nursing and cleaning. The second is the AT-HM scheme, which has its own funding for products, equipment and home modifications.

According to the My Aged Care AT-HM scheme page, this funding is upfront and separate from your other Support at Home services. A personal alarm does not come out of your budget for ongoing services. You can also start using AT-HM funding as soon as it is available, without waiting for your other services to begin.

An aged care assessor decides whether you get assistive technology funding, home modifications funding, or both. The result is recorded in your Notice of Decision, the letter that confirms your assessment result, and in your support plan. Assistive technology and home modifications each have three funding tiers:

• Low tier: up to $500 for assistive technology, and up to $500 for home modifications
• Medium tier: up to $2,000 for assistive technology, and up to $2,000 for home modifications
• High tier: up to $15,000 for assistive technology (more can be approved with evidence), and up to $15,000 for home modifications

Each tier is usually available for 12 months. A tier is a funding amount for you, not a label on an item. The list tells you what you can buy, and the tier tells you how much you can spend. For the bigger picture of how Support at Home budgets, classifications and contributions work, see our plain English guide to the Support at Home program.

How the AT-HM List Is Organised

The list has three parts. Inclusions are items you can fund where an assessed need is documented in your support plan. Conditional inclusions are items with extra conditions, such as evidence of a specific need. Exclusions are items the scheme will not fund.

Conditional inclusions need extra evidence of an assessed need. They include washing machines and dryers where there is ongoing and severe incontinence that cannot otherwise be managed. They also include portable items that control air temperature or air quality for a specialised need such as asthma. Portable computers are included where software is also prescribed and the person has no capacity to buy one.

Inclusions are sorted into six categories:

• Managing body functions, including pressure cushions, anti-oedema stockings and memory support products
• Self-care, including adaptive clothing and products for toileting, bathing and showering
• Mobility, including walking frames, wheelchairs and lifting devices
• Domestic life, including products for preparing food, eating and drinking, and house cleaning
• Communication and information management, including products for reading and writing, communication aids and personal alarms
• Home modifications, including accessible showers, grab rails, fixed ramps and safety barriers

Inside each category, items are grouped by what they do, which the list calls a function. Each assistive technology item has an ISO code and a prescription category. ISO 9999 is the international standard for naming assistive products, and the list uses the 2022 version. The code simply tells you which type of product an item belongs to.

Exclusions fall into two groups. The first is items that other programs already fund, such as incontinence consumables. The second is items outside the scheme, such as general household appliances, workplace items and children's items. The AT-HM scheme guidelines explain both groups.

What the Five Prescription Categories Mean

Every item on the list has a prescription category. Prescription here means a recommendation from a suitably qualified health professional, such as an occupational therapist, physiotherapist or registered nurse. The list uses five categories:

• Low risk (recommended): Simple, relatively low-cost daily living products that generally need no prescription or customisation
• Under advice (recommended): Items that may benefit from professional advice to make sure they meet the person's needs
• Prescribed (recommended): Items that may benefit from a prescription from a suitably qualified health professional
• Prescribed (required): Items that need a prescription from a suitably qualified health professional
• Under advice (evidence required): Items that may benefit from professional advice, where evidence is also needed to support the purchase

The list describes these categories as a guide only. Providers are still expected to seek health professional input and meet their obligations under the scheme. All home modifications need a prescription, and evidence is also needed for conditional inclusions and for assistive technology funding above $15,000.

Where Personal Alarms Sit on the AT-HM List

Personal alarms are on the list. They sit in the category Communication and information management, under the function Signalling, alarming and localisation. That function includes:

• Signalling devices (ISO 22 29 03)
• Personal emergency alarm systems (ISO 22 29 06)
• Environmental emergency alarm systems (ISO 22 29 09)
• Localising and tracking systems (ISO 22 29 12)
• Marking materials and marking tools (ISO 22 29 15)

Every item in this function is in the Prescribed (recommended) category. That means a prescription from a health professional may help, but the list does not say it is required. Your provider is responsible for arranging any prescription that is needed, so ask them early what they require.

Two of these items matter most for safety at home. A personal emergency alarm system is a device a person uses to call for help. A localising and tracking system shows where a person is. A device that does both, such as one with an SOS button and built-in GPS, is relevant to both items.

Safety devices are on the list for a reason. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that in 2024-25, people aged 65 and over were hospitalised for falls 12 times more often than adults aged 25 to 44. A fast way to call for help after a fall is one of the most practical supports a person living alone can have.

Why Ordinary Phones Are Not on the List

The list does include some communication products, such as multifunctional communication systems, under a separate function called Distant communications. But its exclusions section rules out "devices mainly for speech communication", along with items such as intercoms and entry phones. In plain terms, a phone used mainly for everyday calls is treated as a usual household expense, not as assistive technology.

A personal emergency alarm system is a different type of product. It is built to raise an alarm and connect the person with help. If you want a device funded through AT-HM, choose one that works as a personal emergency alarm system rather than as a phone.

What AT-HM Funding Can Pay For

AT-HM funding can pay for more than the item itself. According to the Support at Home program manual, it can cover:

• The product or equipment from the list
• A prescription from a health professional, where one is needed
• Wrap-around services, such as delivery, set-up, training on safe use and follow-up visits
• Provider administration, such as sourcing the item and arranging delivery (capped at 10% of the item cost or $500, whichever is lower)
• Repairs and maintenance for items first funded through Support at Home or another government aged care program

Prescription and wrap-around services come out of the same funding. If your tier is too small to cover them, your provider can ask for a Support Plan Review to move you to a higher tier. In a review, an assessor looks at your needs again.

Does AT-HM Funding Cover Monitoring and SIM Costs?

Families often ask this question about personal alarms. The Support at Home program manual lists "personal care alarms and associated base subscription costs" as examples of assistive technology. The AT-HM scheme guidelines also say that a SIM card can be funded if the alarm needs it to work and it is bought as part of the alarm.

The documents do not spell out whether a 24/7 monitoring plan counts as a base subscription. AT-HM funding is also usually available for 12 months only. Ask your provider two questions before you order: will they fund the monitoring plan from your AT-HM funding, and how will monitoring be paid for after the 12 months end?

What You May Pay

You may need to make a contribution towards AT-HM items. Your contribution rate for these items is the same as for the "independence" group of Support at Home services. Services Australia sets your actual rate through an income and assets assessment. The manual gives these rates as a guide:

• Full pensioner: 5%
• Part pensioner and self-funded Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holder: between 5% and 50%
• Self-funded retiree without a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, or means not disclosed: 50%

Prescription and wrap-around services have a contribution rate of 0%, because the government fully funds clinical supports. As an example, if a provider agreed to fund a $1,418 package, a full pensioner would pay about $71 at 5%, and a person on the 50% rate would pay about $709. If only the $698 device is funded, those figures are about $35 and $349.

Different rules apply to some people who were already on a Home Care Package, so ask your provider how they affect you. If you are experiencing genuine financial hardship, you may also be able to apply for the fee reduction supplement.

A Worked Example: How a Personal Alarm Uses Your Funding

Numbers are easier to follow with an example. Say a person has Medium tier funding of up to $2,000, and their provider agrees to fund a personal alarm package costing $1,418, including 12 months of monitoring. The provider's administration charge is capped at 10% of the item cost, or $500, whichever is lower. For a $1,418 package, 10% is about $142, so the cap here is about $142.

If the provider charges the full administration amount, that leaves roughly $440 of the tier for anything else, such as a health professional's prescription, a follow-up visit or delivery. The exact figures will depend on the provider's prices. This example is only a guide to show how the pieces share one pool of funding. If the provider funds only the device, more of the tier is left for other items.

The person's contribution is a separate question. It applies to the item at their contribution rate, while prescription and wrap-around services carry no contribution.

How to Get an Item From the List Funded

The process follows the same steps for most items:

• Step 1 - Get assessed: Funding starts with an aged care assessment. Apply through My Aged Care online or by calling 1800 200 422.
• Step 2 - Check your Notice of Decision: Confirm that it records assistive technology funding and which tier you have.
• Step 3 - Talk to your provider: Your Support at Home provider discusses which equipment you might need. For more complex items, they can organise an assessment with a health professional.
• Step 4 - Agree the item and the price: Your provider sources the item, and it is added to your care plan and budget with your agreement.
• Step 5 - Receive and set up: The item is delivered and set up, and you are shown how to use it safely.
• Step 6 - Use the funding in time: AT-HM funding must be spent, not just committed, within the funding period. The funding period starts on the date you sign a service agreement with your provider. After the funding period ends, unspent AT-HM funding can no longer be used. Complex home modifications can be extended by another 12 months if the work has started, and people with some progressive conditions can use assistive technology funding over 24 months.

If you were already on a Home Care Package when Support at Home started, you can use the AT-HM scheme without a further assessment. The Commonwealth portion of your unspent Home Care Package funds is used first, and your provider must document the need for the item. If you have no unspent funds, or not enough, your provider can refer you for a Support Plan Review.

You do not have to buy everything outright. You can buy, rent or borrow assistive technology. If you only need an item for a short time, your provider can arrange to rent it from a supplier.

Before you agree to an item, ask your provider these questions:

• Which AT-HM tier is recorded in my Notice of Decision?
• Do you need a prescription or a health professional's recommendation for a personal alarm?
• Will you fund the monitoring plan from my AT-HM funding, and for how long?
• What administration charge will you apply?
• What is my contribution rate, and how much will I pay?
• When does my 12-month funding period start and end?

Being on the List Does Not Guarantee Funding

Three things need to line up before an item is funded. The item must be an inclusion on the list, or meet the conditions for a conditional inclusion. Your support plan must record an assessed need for it. You must also have enough funding left in your tier.

The list says AT-HM funding may only be used for an item that helps you manage everyday activities, a disability or a decline in what you can do as you age. Always check the date on the list you are reading. The current version was last updated on 17 July 2026, and older copies of the list are still circulating online.

Where the KISA Guardian Fits

The KISA Guardian is a personal emergency alarm and monitoring device made for older Australians on Support at Home. It is relevant to the list's personal emergency alarm systems (ISO 22 29 06) and localising and tracking systems (ISO 22 29 12), which are both in the Prescribed (recommended) category.

The Guardian is designed to be easy for the wearer to use. It has:

• An SOS button on the back of the device, always labelled SOS
• Contact buttons on the front, which can be labelled with text, a photo or braille
• A loud speaker for two-way calls
• No screen and no menus, and it is worn around the neck on a lanyard

On a KISA plan, the Guardian is $698 and comes with a KISA SIM, and KISA Care is $55 per month from the second month. An annual plan with the device, 12 months of KISA Care and accessories is $1,418. You can see every option on the KISA pricing page, and both prices are within the Medium tier amount of up to $2,000.

KISA Care covers 24/7 monitoring by an Australian-based team, unlimited two-way communication, GPS tracking and fall detection. With fall detection, a light flashes, the device buzzes and it may speak a voice prompt, giving the wearer 15 seconds to cancel before alerts are sent. When an alert is sent, up to five nominated contacts receive an SMS with a location link.

Prescription, wrap-around and administration costs come out of the same funding. Before you decide, ask your provider for the full cost and whether the monitoring plan can be included. KISA can give your provider a formal quote, and the Support at Home page explains the funding options. For a broader look at what personal alarms cost, see our personal alarm cost guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the AT-HM List the same as the Support at Home service list?

No. The Support at Home service list sets out the services you can receive, such as personal care, nursing and cleaning. The AT-HM List covers products, equipment and home modifications, and it is funded separately.

Are personal alarms on the AT-HM List?

Yes. Personal emergency alarm systems (ISO 22 29 06) and localising and tracking systems (ISO 22 29 12) are listed under Signalling, alarming and localisation. Both are in the Prescribed (recommended) category.

Do I need a prescription for a personal alarm?

The list marks personal alarms as Prescribed (recommended), not Prescribed (required). It describes the categories as a guide only, and your provider is responsible for arranging any prescription they need. Ask your provider what they require before you order.

Can AT-HM funding pay for monitoring fees?

The Support at Home program manual lists personal care alarms and associated base subscription costs as assistive technology. It does not say whether a 24/7 monitoring plan counts. Check with your provider, and ask how monitoring will be paid for once the 12-month funding period ends.

How often is the AT-HM List updated?

The department updates the list from time to time. The current version was last updated on 17 July 2026, and the date appears at the top of the document. Check that date before relying on any summary of the list, including this one.