What Is AT-HM Funding? Assistive Technology and Home Modifications Explained

You opened a statement from My Aged Care, saw the letters AT-HM, and thought: hang on, this isn't what I was expecting.

Maybe you were waiting on a full package. Maybe you already have some help through CHSP and now there's this extra thing with a strange name. Either way, you're trying to work out what AT-HM funding actually is, why you've been given it, and whether it means what you hoped it would.

Let's untangle it. Slowly, and in plain English. You are not the problem here. The system is genuinely confusing, and almost none of this is explained anywhere in one place.

1. What AT-HM funding actually is

AT-HM stands for Assistive Technology and Home Modifications. It's a scheme within the Support at Home program that gives you separate funding for the equipment and the changes to your home that let you keep living safely where you are.

The word doing the heavy lifting there is separate. The government describes the scheme as giving participants access to this equipment without needing to save up funds from their ongoing services quarterly budget. It's its own pot. Using it doesn't eat into your cleaning or personal care hours.

It comes in two halves.

Assistive technology is the equipment: things that help you do something more easily, or do something you can no longer manage alone:

• Mobility equipment: walking sticks, walking frames, wheelchairs
• Bathing equipment: shower chairs, non-slip mats
• Toileting supports: commodes, bedpans

Home modifications are changes to the house itself:

• Internal and external handrails
• Ramps and stair lifts
• Bathroom redesign to improve accessibility
• Widening doorways and passages, for example for wheelchair access

Usefully, the funding covers more than the item itself. It also pays for a prescription from a health professional where one is needed, and for home modifications it covers the associated work: trade services, installation, building approvals, plan drafting, council fees, even asbestos removal or removal of what's being replaced. That matters, because those costs can dwarf the price of the ramp.

What AT-HM is not is money for ongoing help: the personal care, the cleaning, the someone-comes-on-Tuesdays support. That sits in your ongoing services budget, funded separately. This is exactly where the confusion tends to start.

There are also some exclusions. AT-HM won't fund items better provided by other mainstream government or community services, ordinary household or discretionary purchases, equipment for use in a workplace, or anything for public transport.

2. How much AT-HM funding do you get?

You're assessed for AT-HM as part of your aged care assessment, and if you need it you're approved for a funding tier: an assistive technology tier, a home modifications tier, or both. Your Notice of Decision and support plan spell out which.

Both halves use the same three tiers.

Assistive technology tiers

• Low: under $500
• Medium: up to $2,000
• High: up to $15,000, or more if your assessed needs require it

Home modifications tiers

• Low: under $500
• Medium: up to $2,000
• High: up to $15,000, capped at $15,000 per lifetime

A few things worth knowing about how long it lasts and what happens at the edges.

• Funding generally runs for 12 months. If you have a specific progressive condition, you may be allocated a medium or high assistive technology tier over 24 months instead, with the option to apply for a further 24-month extension, taking it to 48 months in total.
• Assistive technology can go above $15,000 where your assessed needs require it. Your provider lodges a request form with a quote and a valid prescription from a suitably qualified health professional.
• Low and medium tier home modifications can be approved as needed to meet your assessed needs, rather than being a once-only allocation.
• If your tier isn't enough, it can be reviewed. Your provider can request a support plan review and submit evidence of need to move you to a higher tier. You don't have to accept a tier that doesn't cover what you actually need.

One important exception. If you transitioned across from a Home Care Package, you must use any unspent HCP funds first before drawing on the AT-HM scheme. If you've been sitting on an unspent balance, that's what pays for the ramp.

But don't worry if you change your mind. If you realise the provider isn't the right fit, you can switch providers once your Support at Home funding has been allocated. The key is to take your time, understand your options and choose a provider that can support you both now and as your needs change.

3. Why you might get AT-HM funding before anything else

Here's the bit that catches people out, and there's a clear answer to it.

AT-HM funding is allocated through its own priority systems: the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications Priority Systems, which are entirely separate from the Support at Home Priority System that handles ongoing services. Two separate queues, moving at their own speeds.

So if you were expecting a full package and got AT-HM instead, it does not mean your package was refused. It means one queue reached you before the other.

And the genuinely good news, which surprises most people: you can use your AT-HM funding straight away. You don't have to wait for the rest. Once the funding is allocated, you've found a provider, and that provider notifies Services Australia, you can start, even while you're still waiting on funding for your other approved services.

If a fall risk or an unsafe bathroom is the thing keeping you up at night, that can be dealt with now.

One important thing to note. You can only choose one provider to deliver what you need with your AT-HM funding and your Support at Home services. That's why it's important to choose a provider that's the right fit for all your care needs, rather than choosing one simply because they can help you with your AT-HM funding.

4. How AT-HM sits alongside CHSP

The Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) is the entry-level program: lower-intensity help, often a service or two, for people who need a hand but not a full package. Its funding was recently extended to 30 June 2029, so it isn't going anywhere.

Here's the thing that clarifies most of the confusion: the AT-HM scheme sits inside Support at Home. It's described as providing "Support at Home participants" with separate funding for equipment and modifications.

So if AT-HM is showing on your statement, you've been assessed and approved as a Support at Home participant. That's usually the missing piece for people who thought of themselves as "just on CHSP". The AT-HM allocation is a signal that your assessment has moved you into the Support at Home program, at least for this part of your support.

What that means for the CHSP services you already receive is worth confirming against your own record rather than a general rule, because it depends on what your assessment approved and when. Ring My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 and ask them to read out what's on your record and how your existing services are affected. That's a five-minute call that saves a lot of guessing.

5. Why your funding amount might look different from what you expected

This one has a specific and very common explanation, so it's worth being precise.

Support at Home has eight funding classifications for ongoing services, each with a quarterly budget and an annual amount:

• Classification 1: $2,752.50 a quarter ($11,010.01 a year)
• Classification 2: $4,112.84 a quarter ($16,451.35 a year)
• Classification 3: $5,634.20 a quarter ($22,536.81 a year)
• Classification 4: $7,617.13 a quarter ($30,468.51 a year)
• Classification 5: $10,182.38 a quarter ($40,729.53 a year)
• Classification 6: $12,341.32 a quarter ($49,365.27 a year)
• Classification 7: $14,915.00 a quarter ($59,660.00 a year)
• Classification 8: $20,034.28 a quarter ($80,137.12 a year)

These figures are current as at 1 July 2026 and are indexed each 1 July.

The most common misreading: seeing roughly $40,000 against classification 5 and taking it as a quarterly figure. It's the annual amount. The quarterly budget for classification 5 is $10,182.38. If a number looked impossibly generous, this is usually why.

The second most common: interim funding, also called a 60% allocation. If demand is running ahead of the funding available, you can be allocated interim funding instead of your full classification amount. It is 60% of your total funding classification, released so you can get critical services started rather than waiting for the whole amount. The remaining 40% comes when funding becomes available. Two things worth knowing: it does not change your classification, so you have still been approved at your assessed level and are simply receiving part of it early; and the remaining amount is not backdated, so it counts from when it is allocated, not from when you were approved. You can still choose a provider and enter a service agreement in the meantime, and it is worth sitting down with them to decide deliberately which services run now and which wait for the balance.

The third most common: using Home Care Package language. HCP had four levels; Support at Home has eight classifications, and they don't map one-to-one. A figure that looks unfamiliar often just reflects the new structure.

Three more things that shape what you see on a statement:

• 10% of your budget is allocated to care management, which is the coordination work behind your services. That's built into the amounts above, so not all of it lands as direct service hours.
• Unspent funds carry over to the next quarter, up to $1,000 or 10% of your budget, whichever is greater.
• AT-HM sits outside all of this. Your AT-HM tier is a separate figure from your ongoing classification, so a statement can show numbers that don't add up to the single package amount you had in your head.

One exception on interim funding. It applies to ongoing services only. If you're on one of the short-term pathways instead, the Restorative Care Pathway or the End-of-Life Pathway, interim funding doesn't apply to you.

If a number still doesn't make sense, that's a completely reasonable thing to query. Don't assume you've misread it, and don't assume it's correct either. Ring My Aged Care and ask them to walk you through the line items. You're allowed to ask.

6. What to do next

If you've been allocated AT-HM funding, here's a sensible order of things.

1. Confirm what's actually been approved. Check whether you've been given an assistive technology tier, a home modifications tier, or both, and whether an ongoing services classification is also in train. Your Notice of Decision and support plan spell this out, and My Aged Care can read it back to you.
2. Check the AT-HM list before you buy anything. Funding can only be used for items on that list that address an assessed need in your support plan. Confirming an item is covered first is how you avoid being left out of pocket.
3. Sort the urgent safety items first. If there's a fall risk or a bathroom that's become dangerous, that's precisely what this funding exists for, and you can act on it now rather than waiting for anything else.
4. If your tier won't cover it, say so. Ask your provider about a support plan review with evidence of need. A tier isn't final.
5. Ask about ongoing support separately. If you also need help with daily tasks, that's a different queue and a different allocation. Don't assume the AT-HM allocation is the whole story.
6. Get help reading the statements. You shouldn't have to fight this hard on your own, and you don't have to.

7. Being allocated AT-HM isn't a downgrade

It's not a dead end either. In most cases it's the system doing the practical thing first, making your home safer while the rest catches up. That's genuinely useful, even if it wasn't what you pictured when you opened the envelope.

And if you're still not sure what you're holding or where it goes next, that's normal. None of us are taught any of this. We can help you make sense of the statement, work out what the funding covers, and find a provider who can get the work done.