From 1 November 2025, the new Support at Home program (SAH) replaced the current Home Care Packages (HCP) and Short‑Term Restorative Care programs. This represents a significant shift in how aged‑care support – including assistive technology (AT) – will be assessed, funded and delivered.
As a specialised national provider of AT, Independent Living Specialists (ILS) is ready to support therapists, providers, and older Australians with the transition to the Support at Home program.
What’s Changing?
Here is a practical outline of what the move to the Support at Home program involves, and how AT funding and service delivery will be affected:
- A new fee‑for‑service funding model, replacing the pooled package structure of HCPs.
- Assistive technology and home modifications (AT‑HM) will be ring‑fenced, with equipment funding more directly accessible.
- Assessment and documentation requirements will become stricter: budget allocations are quarterly, claims must align with evidence and ISO classification standards.
- Clients and families will have clearer transparency over support choices, expenditure and equipment outcomes.
Therapist Responsibilities Under the Support at Home Program
If you’re a therapist prescribing assistive technology, the Support at Home program will change how you assess needs, submit clinical evidence, and work with providers to ensure funding is approved. Here are the key implications:
- Assessments will shift to a different structure (single assessment system with funding bands rather than flexible yearly packages).
- Budgets will be time‑bounded (quarterly) and less able to accumulate, so timely decisions are more important.
- AT funding is now clearly defined, and higher‑tier items will need robust clinical justification, accurate quoting, and compliance with standards such as ISO 9999.
- Evidence and documentation will become more critical: prescriptions, trial outcome data, itemised quotes and service delivery details must support claims.
- As a therapy partner, you’ll need suppliers who understand the new funding architecture, workflows, quoting and claim processes — and can respond quickly and reliably.
What This Means for Older Australians and Their Families
If you or a family member currently receives a Home‑Care Package, your service continues until the transition date. Under the Support at Home program you can expect:
- Greater choice in support services and a clearer understanding of what’s funded and how it’s delivered — including assistive technology equipment.
- Dedicated funding for essential equipment rather than relying on accumulating budget over years.
- Faster access, clearer approvals, and potentially shorter wait‑times for lower‑risk items.
- ILS is a trusted partner who understands the system and can help you navigate it, choose the right equipment and ensure it’s set up for success.
Our FREE Trial Service: Try‑Before‑You‑Decide
One of the most important support tools we offer is our free trial service – designed to give therapists, clients and families confidence that the equipment selected will truly meet the daily‑life needs of the individual.
Here’s how our trial process works and why it matters:
Why the trial matters
- Choosing AT isn’t just about features, it’s about how it fits into a person’s home, routines, goals and mobility.
- A trial reduces risk of mis‑match, replacements, or rejected funding claims because the solution didn’t demonstrably meet the need.
- Under the Support at Home program, clear evidence and demonstrated fit will help support fast and valid AT‑HM claims.
How our trial process works
- Request a free trial: either in‑showroom or in‑home, at no cost. Trial assistive technology under the Support at Home program here.
- In‑home trial: We deliver the equipment into the individual’s living environment, set it up, adjust it and support you and your client to use it in real‑life conditions.
- Showroom trial: For shorter evaluations or if you prefer comparing multiple options, with therapists, family and client present.
- Support and review: During the trial we provide expert clinical oversight, installation, adjustments, training and ongoing follow‑up. At the end of the trial we review outcomes, gather feedback and assist with decision‑making on purchase, rental or alternate options.
- Flexible outcomes: If the trial demonstrates the equipment is right, we support purchase or rental (short‑term or long‑term) depending on the client’s funding pathway. If the fit isn’t right, we work with you to trial other alternatives at no extra cost.
What this means for you as a therapist or provider
- You can confidently prescribe knowing the client has tested the equipment in real life, reducing uncertainty.
- You receive trial outcome data and observations which strengthen your clinical justification in the Support at Home program funding process.
- The client is empowered: they know what works for them, they’ve tried it, they’re engaged in decision‑making.
- We’re partnered with you, making the trial process efficient and clinically focused – not just a sales exercise.
How ILS Is Supporting You
We’ve taken key steps to ensure we are fully ready to support therapists and clients under the Support at Home program:
- Our trial service (outlined above) is fully operational – across our network, with home and showroom options.
- Our quoting, supply, delivery and service systems are ready to meet more rapid timelines and regulatory demands.
- We continue to engage closely with therapists, care‑providers and funding bodies so that our equipment recommendations, trials and delivery align with SAH expectations.
- We emphasise collaboration: you, your client, their family and our team work together to select, test, adjust and implement the right AT solution.
Let’s Move Forward, Together
Change can bring uncertainty, but it also brings opportunity. At ILS we believe the shift to the Support at Home program is a chance to improve outcomes, make AT selection more precise and responsive, and reinforce genuine independence and safety in the home.
Support Resources
For a full list of available resources, visit Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website
