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OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY · SERVICE GUIDE

NDIS & AGED CARE Home Modifications

Your home should work the way you do.
Let's work out which changes make it fit.

Home modifications are changes to your home that can make it safer and easier to get around, wash, cook, and look after yourself. At Optimum Health Solutions, our Occupational Therapists assess your home, work out which changes will help, and write the report your NDIS plan needs to fund them.

NDIS home modifications start with an Occupational Therapy assessment. The right changes can mean getting yourself into the shower, or making your own lunch, or heading out the front door without waiting on someone.

There’s a safety side to it as well. For people at higher risk of falls, checking a home for hazards and making safety changes reduces the rate of falls.

Participants and families

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Why Choose Optimum for your Home Mods?

For people coming home from hospital, the right changes are often what makes a safe return possible. They’re also what lets a lot of people stay in the home they’ve always lived in. And if you’ve tried to organise home modifications before, you already know what the process may look like.

One place does the assessment
the report goes somewhere else, the quotes come back to you
each step gets arranged on its own.

So which step is meant to tell you how long the whole thing will take? Arranged that way, none of them do.

That isn’t your fault, it’s the reality when home modifications traditionally sits across a run of separate providers who do the assessment, quotes, approvals, then the build, and the sign off. None of those steps report to each other.

Our fully accredited Occupational Therapists work with our own contracted builders across NSW and Tasmania so one team can carry your job from start to finish. Ensuring quick turnarounds of quotes and time estimates, so you’re not left coordinating therapists and tradies on your own.

How the NDIS funds home modifications

NDIS home modifications are funded through the Capital Supports part of your plan, under Home Modifications. This is a separate pool, set aside for one-off changes like these, so it doesn’t come out of your day-to-day support budget.

The OT Home Modifications assessment:
Your home visit, the assessment, and the report are usually funded through Capacity Building, under Improved Daily Living. This is the evidence the NDIS needs to approve the changes.
The building work:
The changes themselves are funded as a Capital support, approved as a set amount for the specific work.
Small changes vs big ones:
Some work is minor, like a small ramp. Some is complex, like rebuilding a bathroom. The NDIS looks at each differently, and your OT matches the report to the size of the work.
If you rent
You can still have home modifications. The NDIS needs written consent from the property owner before the work goes ahead, and we can help you sort that out.

Self-managed, plan-managed, or NDIA-managed, our Occupational Therapists work with all three. If you’re not sure how your plan is set up, call us on 1800 678 647 and we’ll walk you through it before you start.

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NOT ON THE NDIS?

Home modifications aren’t only an NDIS support. For older people, the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme under the aged care Support at Home program funds changes from rails and ramps through to bathroom modifications, in tiers that reach up to $15,000 for complex work. You can also fund an assessment and report privately, with no plan needed.

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Changes we help with

Grab rails and handrails

A rail in the right place can be the difference between managing on your own and waiting for someone to help. Rails beside the toilet, in the shower, along a hallway, or at the front step give you something solid to hold as you move and transfer. Your Occupational Therapist watches how you move first, then works out where a rail needs to go, how high, and which type suits your grip and your strength. It sounds like a small change. It’s also the change that matters most to a lot of people.

Ramps and stepless entry

Steps at the front door can shut you out of your own home, or stop you reaching the car or the garden. A ramp or a stepless entry can mean you come and go when you want. That holds whether you use a wheelchair, a walker, or just find steps hard going. The measurements matter more than people expect, so your Occupational Therapist works out the rise and the space you need to turn. Handrails and landings go in where they help. A threshold ramp may be all a small step needs, and some smaller items may be funded as assistive technology rather than a home modification.

Doorways and getting around

A door that’s too narrow, or a hallway with a tight turn, can make a wheelchair or a walker a daily battle. Sometimes the fix is small. Swing-clear hinges free up the width the door itself takes up, and lever handles are easier to grip than a round knob. Other times it’s a wider doorway, where the structure allows. Either way, your Occupational Therapist follows the route you take through the house before anyone touches a wall.

Bathrooms and toilets

The bathroom is where a lot of home modification work happens, because tight spaces and wet floors cause the most trouble. NDIS bathroom modifications usually start with a level-access shower, so there’s no hob to step over. Then comes the non-slip floor, rails set where you reach for them, a fold-down seat, and a toilet placed for an easy transfer. Put together, that can make a room you use on your own, with the door shut. It’s often structural work, so the builder and your Occupational Therapist work to the same plan from the start.

Bedrooms and transfers

How the day starts usually comes down to getting out of bed and getting to the bathroom. Changes here might mean room for a hoist, space to turn a wheelchair, a clear path to the ensuite, or rails to steady a transfer. Your Occupational Therapist takes in the whole transfer, including what anyone helping you has to do. A partner or a support worker notices that straight away, because it can turn a risky transfer into a manageable one.

Kitchens and living spaces

When you can’t reach the bench or the cooktop, making your own lunch turns into something you have to ask for. A lowered benchtop, knee space under the sink, appliances at a height you can reach, or more room to turn a wheelchair can hand the kitchen back to you. What goes in the report depends on what you want to do yourself, so tell your Occupational Therapist which jobs you miss most.

INSIDE THE CLINIC

What working with us looks like

No two jobs look the same. Fitting a couple of grab rails is a short piece of work. Rebuilding a bathroom so you can get in and out of it in a wheelchair is a much bigger one, with a builder, drawings and an approval sitting in the middle of it.

So here’s how we run it, whatever size yours turns out to be. It moves through the same four stages, and at each one you’ll know what’s coming next and how long it’s likely to take. And when the honest answer is that we’re waiting on the NDIS or on a builder’s diary, we’ll say that too.

1) the Home Visit

Your Occupational Therapist comes to your home and sees the house the way you use it. They’ll notice how you get in the front door, how you manage the bathroom, and where the tight spots are. They’ll ask what you want to be able to do more easily, and measure the spaces that matter. It usually takes about 60 to 90 minutes, because this is the visit the whole report is built on.

2) Recommendations & reports.

Your Occupational Therapist works out which changes will make the difference, from small additions like rails through to bigger building work. They’ll write the NDIS home modification report that explains each change and why it helps. The NDIS reads that report when it makes its decision. The NDIA makes that decision, and an assessment does not guarantee approval.

3) Coordinating with
your builder.

When the work is bigger, your Occupational Therapist works alongside the builder so the design matches what you actually need, the rail heights, the door widths, the turning space. We stay involved right through, so what gets built is what was planned.

4) the final sign off.

Once the work is done, your Occupational Therapist checks it over and shows you how to get the most from it. If something isn’t right, we’ll sort it. Home modifications are one part of what our Occupational Therapy team works on.

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NDIS

Home modifications through the NDIS

The NDIS funds changes that are tied to your goals, so that’s where your Occupational Therapist starts. Your goals might be getting into the shower without help, moving between rooms in your wheelchair, or reaching the bench to make your own lunch. The report ties every recommended change back to one of those goals, because that link is what the NDIS is looking for. The same home assessment can also feed into a broader functional capacity assessment if your plan needs one.

We handle the paperwork, the report and the back-and-forth with your plan manager or the NDIA, so you and your family can get on with the rest. Find your nearest team on our locations page.

12 clinics across NSW & Tasmania

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1800 678 647

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Where to Access This Support

[EDIT: locations intro for this page – the template line named the condition and its home/school/telehealth availability, which varies by service.]

Blacktown

Liverpool

Croydon Park

Sylvania

Hornsby

Campbelltown

North Rocks

Batemans Bay

Nowra

Cessnock

Mornington

Dodges Ferry

Moonah

Launceston

COMMON QUESTIONS

Common questions about NDIS home modifications

What home modifications does the NDIS cover?

The NDIS covers changes to your home that you need because of your disability, and that help you live more safely and independently. Smaller changes include grab rails, handrails, ramps and non-slip flooring. Bigger work includes a level-access shower, a wider doorway, or a bathroom rebuilt so you can use it on your own. It doesn’t cover general repairs, everyday furniture, or cosmetic upgrades like tiles chosen for the look. Your Occupational Therapist works out which changes fit your goals, then writes them into the report the NDIS uses to decide.

What is the difference between minor and complex home modifications?

Minor home modifications don’t change the structure of the house. Think rails, a small ramp, lever taps or a non-slip floor. Complex home modifications involve building or structural work, like rebuilding a bathroom, widening a hallway, or putting in a platform lift. That kind of work usually needs a builder, detailed plans, and sometimes a building professional alongside your Occupational Therapist. The NDIS looks at the two types a little differently, so your Occupational Therapist matches the report to the size of the work.

Why do I need an Occupational Therapist for home modifications?

The NDIS needs evidence that a change is the right one before it funds the work, and that evidence comes from an Occupational Therapist. They’ll look at what you’re trying to do at home, what’s getting in the way, and which change will actually help. That goes into the report the NDIS asks for. For bigger or structural work, the NDIS requires an Occupational Therapy assessment before it will approve funding. Getting it right early also means the work that gets built is the work that suits you.

How do I get home modifications through the NDIS?

It starts with an Occupational Therapy home visit. Your Occupational Therapist assesses your home and your goals, recommends the changes, and writes the NDIS report. The report goes to the NDIS, and once funding is approved, the work can be booked and built. On a bigger job, a builder and quotes come in before approval. One important thing: do not start any work until the NDIS has approved the funding, because work started early may not be covered. We guide you through each step so you know what’s happening and when.

Can I get home modifications if I rent?

Yes. Renting doesn’t rule you out of NDIS home modifications. Because the changes are to a property you don’t own, the NDIS needs written consent from the property owner before the work goes ahead. That’s a normal part of the process, and we can help you with the request and the paperwork. The same applies if you live in a home owned by family or managed by a community housing provider. If your landlord wants the changes taken out at the end of the lease, tell your Occupational Therapist early. The NDIS can sometimes fund that removal, but it has to be agreed before the modification is funded, not after. Lease length matters too. The NDIS looks at whether you’ll be in the home long enough for the work to be worth it, so a longer lease helps, especially for bigger structural jobs.

Does the NDIS pay for the modifications, or do I?

For changes that are funded, the NDIS pays providers for the approved work, so the cost of those changes may be covered in full. The funding sits in the Capital Supports part of your plan, set aside for the specific work. The NDIS funds the disability-related parts of a job, not cosmetic extras, so if you choose a premium finish beyond what’s needed, that part may be yours to cover. Your Occupational Therapist and the builder make it clear up front what’s funded and what isn’t.

Can I get home modifications through aged care instead of the NDIS?

Yes. If you’re an older person receiving aged care support, the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme under the Support at Home program can fund home modifications. That covers smaller changes like rails and ramps, through to complex work such as bathroom modifications. The funding is approved in tiers based on what you need, and an assessment is still the starting point. Our Occupational Therapists work across NDIS, aged care and private funding, so call us and we’ll help you work out which pathway fits.

CLINICALLY REVIEWED BY

Reviewed by Sarah-Louise higgins

BSc (hons) Occ Thy

Head of Clincal Development (Occupational Therapy)

With over 10 years of clinical experience practicing in the United Kingdom and Australia, Sarah-Louise is an Occupational Therapist with a strong background in mental health, assistive technology, and home modifications.

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