Funding, in plain words

Government-funded personal alarms and fall detectors: Support at Home, AT-HM and the NDIS, by age.

Personal alarms and fall detectors are not cheap to buy outright, and the monitoring fees add up. There are two real government funding pathways in Australia, and age decides which one applies: My Aged Care at 65 and over, through the Support at Home program that replaced Home Care Packages, and the NDIS under 65. Here is the plain version of who pays for what, including where HCP funds went.

Last reviewed: 13 September 2026

Government-funded personal alarms in Australia: the short version

There are two government pathways, and age decides which one you use. If the person is 65 or older, it runs through My Aged Care. If they are younger than 65 and live with disability, it runs through the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the NDIS. Both can fund personal alarms and fall sensors as assistive technology: the equipment that helps someone stay safe and independent at home. If you knew the aged-care side as Home Care Packages, that funding now lives inside the Support at Home program; more on that below.

You do not need to know any dollar figures before you start. Funding is worked out from an assessment of what the person needs, and the assessor confirms what applies. The one thing worth knowing up front is that fall-safety equipment is a fundable category, so it is always worth asking.

Do HCP funds cover a personal alarm or fall detector?

Plenty of families ask this in exactly these words, because Home Care Packages were the funding everyone knew. The short answer: the budget still exists, it just moved. On 1 November 2025, Home Care Packages were replaced by the Support at Home program, and anyone already on a package had their level and budget carried across. The same change replaced the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme, and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme is transitioning by 2027.

Equipment now sits in its own scheme inside Support at Home, called AT-HM (Assistive Technology and Home Modifications), which names personal alarms and safety alerts as things it can fund. So if you were planning to put an alarm or fall detector on HCP funds, the same request now goes through AT-HM, and it may be funded there after an assessment. Ask your provider or assessor about the AT-HM pathway by name; the detail, including how the funding tiers work, is in the AT-HM section further down this page.

Aged 65 and over: My Aged Care personal alarms and fall sensors

My Aged Care is the government's front door to aged-care support. You qualify for an aged care assessment from 65, or from 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Personal alarms and fall sensors sit under assistive technology: equipment that helps you stay safe and independent at home.

Since November 2025, help at home has been delivered through the Support at Home program, and equipment is funded through a scheme inside it that gives upfront funding for products that make the home safer, matched to your assessed needs. The funding comes in levels rather than one flat amount, so a monitored fall sensor and its setup usually sit comfortably within them.

The process, roughly:

  • Register with My Aged Care, online or by phone, and ask for an assessment.
  • An assessor works out your supports, including any assistive technology you are eligible for.
  • Once approved, you choose a device that fits, funded up to the level that applies to you.

You do not need to know the exact figures before you start; the assessment sets your level. If you want the detail on how the aged-care equipment levels are structured, we set it out in the three assistive technology tiers below.

Support at Home and the AT-HM scheme: the three assistive technology tiers

Under Support at Home, assistive technology and home modifications are funded through their own separate scheme, the AT-HM scheme, rather than eating into your everyday care budget. That matters. It means a one-off safety item like a fall sensor is considered on its own terms, with its own funding, instead of competing against the hours of help you rely on each week.

The assistive technology side of AT-HM is organised into three tiers, set by how much a person needs and how involved the item is. The tiers are ceilings for a twelve month period, not amounts you are handed automatically, and the figure that applies to you comes from your assessment.

Low tier: up to 500 dollars a year

This tier covers simple, off-the-shelf safety items that do not need a formal clinical assessment before you buy them. Many personal alarms and alert buttons sit here. It is the fastest, lightest path, meant for lower cost aids that are straightforward to choose and use.

Medium tier: up to 2,000 dollars a year

The middle tier is for items where a bit of professional advice helps you choose the right thing and set it up safely. At this level you would usually provide some supporting evidence, such as a clinical recommendation or a supplier quote, so the funding is matched to a genuine need.

High tier: up to 15,000 dollars a year

The top tier is for more complex equipment or significant home changes that call for a proper assessment and a formal recommendation from a qualified health professional. Most fall sensors and personal alarms do not need this tier, but it exists for the situations that genuinely do.

Alongside the three tiers there is an equipment loan scheme, and co-contributions may apply depending on your means. The assessment itself is arranged through My Aged Care.

Where a fall sensor fits

Personal alarms and alert buttons are named inclusions in the assistive technology list, which is the clearest sign that safety monitoring belongs inside the scheme. A fall sensor serves the same purpose as a personal alarm. It is there to get help to someone quickly after a fall, so it is weighed up in that same category of personal safety aids.

How it lands in the tiers depends on the sensor and your situation. A single safety aid that is simple to choose tends to sit in the lower tiers, closer to how a personal alarm is treated, rather than up with major home modifications. If you would like the plain picture of how these sensors work before you talk funding, that is set out in our full fall monitoring guide, and the different kinds of device are weighed up in our comparison of fall detection devices.

One honest note, because it matters when you are budgeting. A fall sensor is a safety and wellbeing aid, not a medical device. It does not diagnose, treat or prevent anything, and no system detects every fall. The scheme funds it for what it is, a way to help someone stay safer at home, and it is worth being clear about that when you talk to an assessor.

These figures come from the published AT-HM scheme and are current at the time of writing. Always confirm the amounts and your own tier through My Aged Care, because your assessment decides what applies to you.

One-off and owned, or an ongoing fee

This is the part families most often miss, and it is worth getting straight before you sign anything. AT-HM funding is an allocation for a twelve month period, and after that a reassessment decides what happens next. But the equipment itself can work in two very different ways.

Some safety devices are a one-off purchase that you own outright once it is installed. Nothing keeps ticking over after the funding pays for it, because there is no rental and no monthly service riding on top. The passive in-home sensor we install is that kind: owned, not rented. Other services, especially monitored pendant and alarm plans, run on an ongoing subscription, and that recurring fee is treated separately from the equipment funding.

Neither model is wrong. But they cost very different amounts over five years, so ask any provider plainly which one applies to their product before you commit. A funded device you own is a very different arrangement from a funded first month on a plan that then bills you every month after.

Under 65: NDIS-funded personal alarms and fall detectors

Can the NDIS fund a personal alarm or fall detector? It can. If the person is younger than 65 and lives with disability, aged care is not the pathway; the National Disability Insurance Scheme is. The NDIS can fund assistive technology within a participant's plan when the equipment relates to their disability and supports their goals, and staying safe and independent at home is a common goal. Fall sensors and personal alarms are the kind of safety equipment that fits.

How a device is chosen and bought can depend on how the plan is managed and on the value of the item. Those rules change, so confirm the current detail on the NDIS website or with your planner, who can tell you exactly what your plan allows.

Within a plan, a fall or safety sensor generally sits under assistive technology, in the assistive products for personal care and safety category. The test is whether the item is reasonable and necessary for the participant. Lower cost items, under the low-cost AT threshold of 1,500 dollars, can sometimes be accessed without a formal AT assessment, and a self or plan managed participant can arrange the install without the provider being NDIS registered. An AT assessor or advisor can guide what is claimable.

If neither pathway fits: DVA, the Commonwealth Home Support Programme and private pay

DVA support may apply for eligible veterans, and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme still applies to people not yet transitioned to Support at Home. If none of these fit, private pay is straightforward and there is no waitlist. We can help you work out which door to knock on.

A note on us: Alien IT Solutions is not NDIS registered, and we do not decide your funding. What we can do is help you check eligibility and provide the quotes and documentation you will need to take to your planner, assessor or My Aged Care.

Funding aged care falls alarms and falls watches, and the no-wearable option

If you are searching for funding for an aged care falls alarm or a falls watch, the funding logic is the same for both: a pendant, a wrist button and a watch-style wearable are all raised at the assessment as assistive technology, and the assessment decides what is funded for that person. Whether a watch is the right tool is a separate question, which we cover honestly in is a smartwatch enough for fall detection.

Worth knowing before you choose: traditional falls alarms are pendants or wrist buttons. They work, but only when they are worn and only when the person can press them. In real homes they get taken off in the shower, where many falls happen, left on the bedside table overnight, or not pressed at all if the person is knocked out or confused.

Passive fall detection works differently. Sensors in the home detect a fall on their own and raise the alarm, through an app notification, a text, or a call to family or a monitoring service, with nothing to wear and nothing to press. It keeps working in the shower and at three in the morning. For someone who will not wear a pendant, or cannot reliably press one, that can be the difference between a fall being caught and a fall being missed. These are wellbeing and safety aids, and no device detects every fall, so it is sensible to pair any device with a clear plan for who responds, which we cover in setting up the response plan before the fall.

Both types can be funded through the pathways above. If a pendant has already been refused, a no-wearable option is worth raising by name at the assessment.

What to do next

  • Work out the pathway by age: 65 and over goes to My Aged Care; under 65 with disability goes to the NDIS.
  • Ask for an assessment, and name the safety concern and any past falls directly.
  • Talk to the person's GP about their falls risk too; a GP can support the assessment and point to local help. A falls assessment is the thing to ask for by name.
  • Once approved, choose the device that suits the person, including no-wearable fall sensors, not only pendants.
  • If you are paying privately in the meantime, keep the receipts; some costs can be recognised once a plan is in place.

How to raise it with an assessor

You do not need to know the scheme inside out to have a good conversation. A few plain points make it easier for an assessor to see where a fall sensor fits.

  • Describe the risk in daily terms. Talk about the shower, the stairs, the long hours home alone, the past falls. Assessments respond to real need, so describe the person and the home honestly rather than reaching for jargon.
  • Ask which tier a safety alert sits in. Personal alarms and alert buttons are named inclusions, so it is fair to ask where a fall sensor lands and what evidence, if any, they need from you.
  • Be clear about wearables. If your parent will never wear or press anything, say so. A non-wearable, passive sensor may be the only option that genuinely works, and that is worth putting on the record.
  • Ask about the twelve month cycle. Check what happens at reassessment, and whether the item you are considering is a one-off you keep or a service that recurs.

It also helps to be clear on whether a device is a one-off you own or a service you keep paying for, because the two add up very differently over a few years. We compare those two models in subscription versus owning the sensor, and if you are still weighing up which device suits, the two-minute quiz is a good place to start.

The short version: if the person is 65 or older it is My Aged Care, through Support at Home, which is where Home Care Package funds now live; under 65 with disability it is the NDIS. Both fund fall sensors and personal alarms as assistive technology, often covering most of the cost, including modern no-wearable options that catch a fall on their own. Ask for an assessment and name the safety concern directly.

General information only, current as of the review date. Funding levels, eligibility and program rules change. Eligibility for Support at Home and the AT-HM scheme is decided through My Aged Care and an assessment, not by any supplier. We are not the funding body and cannot approve anything, and this page is general information, not financial or legal advice. Confirm the current detail with My Aged Care or the NDIS, or talk to an assessor.

Where this comes from

The official sources behind the above, so you can check any of it yourself rather than take our word for it:

Common questions

Do HCP funds cover a personal alarm or fall detector?

The budget behind a Home Care Package still exists, it just moved. On 1 November 2025 Home Care Packages were replaced by the Support at Home program, and anyone already on a package had their level and budget carried across. Equipment now sits in a scheme inside it called AT-HM, which names personal alarms and safety alerts as fundable assistive technology, so an alarm or fall detector may be funded there after an assessment. Ask your provider or assessor about the AT-HM pathway by name.

Is there a government funded personal alarm in Australia?

There is no single national free-alarm scheme, but there are two government pathways that can fund one as assistive technology: My Aged Care and the Support at Home program for people 65 and over, and the NDIS for people under 65 who live with disability. Funding is never automatic. It comes from an assessment of the person's needs, so the honest phrasing is that a personal alarm may be funded, not that it will be.

Can the NDIS fund a personal alarm or fall detector?

It can, for people under 65 who live with disability, when the equipment relates to the disability and supports the participant's goals. Personal alarms and fall sensors are the kind of safety equipment that fits within assistive technology in a plan. How a device is chosen and bought depends on how the plan is managed and the value of the item, so confirm the current detail with the NDIS or your planner.

Does aged care funding cover a falls alarm or a falls watch?

A falls alarm pendant, a watch-style wearable and a no-wearable fall sensor are all raised the same way: through an assessment, where assistive technology for staying safe at home is a fundable category. The assessment decides what is funded for that person, so name the device type you have in mind and any past falls directly.

Does My Aged Care cover personal alarms?

Personal alarms and fall sensors sit under assistive technology in the aged care system, funded through the Support at Home program for people who qualify from 65, or from 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Register with My Aged Care, ask for an assessment, and name the safety concern directly. The assessment sets what applies.

Can Support at Home fund a fall sensor?

It can help. Under the AT-HM scheme that sits inside Support at Home, personal alarms and alert buttons are named as fundable assistive technology, and a fall sensor is assessed in the same family of safety aids. Funding is never automatic. It depends on an assessment of your assessed need, so the honest answer is that it may be funded, not that it will be.

What is the AT-HM scheme?

AT-HM stands for Assistive Technology and Home Modifications. It is the part of the Support at Home program, which began on 1 November 2025, that funds equipment and home changes separately from your ongoing care budget. Assistive technology has three funding tiers, and personal safety alerts sit within it.

How much funding is available under AT-HM?

Assistive technology under AT-HM has three tiers based on your assessed need: up to 500 dollars, up to 2,000 dollars, and up to 15,000 dollars in a twelve month period. A personal safety alert usually sits in the lower tiers. These are ceilings, not guaranteed amounts, and the exact figure comes from your assessment.

Do I have to keep paying every month if AT-HM funds my device?

Not necessarily. AT-HM funding is an allocation for a twelve month period, and some devices are a one-off purchase that you own, so there is nothing to keep paying once the equipment is in. Monitored subscription services work differently, and their ongoing fees are treated separately. Ask any provider plainly which model applies before you commit.

Is a fall sensor a medical device under Support at Home?

No. A fall sensor is a safety and wellbeing aid, not a medical device. It does not diagnose, treat or prevent any condition, and no system detects every fall. Support at Home funds it as assistive technology that helps someone stay safe at home, which is a different thing from medical treatment.

How do I find out if I am eligible?

Eligibility for Support at Home and the AT-HM scheme is decided through My Aged Care and an assessment, not by any supplier. We are not the funding body and cannot approve anything. What we can do is explain how a fall sensor fits the scheme so you can raise it clearly with your assessor. This page is general information, not financial or legal advice.

Wondering how a sensor would fit your funding?

Tell us about the person and the home. We will explain plainly how a fall sensor fits each pathway, so you can raise it clearly with your assessor.

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