Aged care and home modifications for occupational therapists in Australia: Support at Home and the AT-HM scheme

Written by Callum Trevorrow. Last checked 28 October 2026 against official sources.

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Since Support at Home replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025, OT for older people on Support at Home sits under “clinical supports”, which carry no participant contribution, so the client doesn’t pay towards it. Home modifications are funded through the AT-HM scheme within Support at Home, up to A$15,000 at the high tier (only assistive technology can go higher if needed), and prescribed assistive technology must be prescribed by a suitably qualified health professional such as an OT.

For an OT, that puts assessment and prescription at the centre of the funding rules. I’m a physio, and I’ve worked in community, inpatients and rural hospitals, so this page sets out how the funding works rather than what the work feels like day to day.

Support at Home in brief

The AT-HM scheme: tiers and prescription

• Prescription. Prescribed assistive technology items must be prescribed by a suitably qualified health professional, such as an OT or physio. Low-risk items don’t need a prescription.
• How long the funding lasts. Assistive technology funding is generally available for 12 months. Home modification funding is 12 months, extendable to 24 for the high tier.
• What counts as a home modification. The department’s examples include grab rails, ramps, stair lifts, bathroom redesigns and widened doorways.

Why the time limit matters to you. Home modification funding has a window, so the work you prescribe needs to be completed within it. If you’re looking at a community aged care role, ask how the provider manages that and who coordinates the trades.

Residential aged care, briefly

In residential care, AN-ACC funds providers to make allied health available but doesn’t link funding to specific treatments, so how much OT a home offers is the provider’s decision. How AN-ACC and care minutes work, and what to ask before taking a residential role, is on aged care physio; the funding rules are the same for OTs.

Pay

There’s no separate aged care pay scale in the sources we checked. As an employee under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, an OT’s minimum is A$1,308.80 a week at Level 1 year 1 (full-time, from 1 October 2026); a master’s degree doesn’t lift the award minimum for OTs. Queensland Health’s HP3 scale, A$83,824 to A$120,740 a year from 1 September 2026, is a useful comparison.

Before you can prescribe

Everything on this page assumes you’re registered with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia. If you’re overseas, that’s step one: see Ahpra registration for overseas OTs. For how aged care fits alongside Medicare, the NDIS and other streams, see how allied health is funded. For the wider OT market, see OT jobs in Australia.

Your next step

Check which OT Board route your qualification is on (comparable regulator, recognised qualification, or portfolio assessment), because every role on this page starts with registration. If you’ve done home modifications or equipment prescription at home, keep a dated record of it now, with the kinds of items and settings, so you can describe it clearly when you apply. The pathway check below asks the registration questions in a few minutes and shows which route applies, so you know your first step before you apply for aged care roles.