Occupational therapy is one of the most practical things a Home Care Package can buy, and one of the least used.
If you or a parent has a Home Care Package — now called Support at Home — occupational therapy is funded under it. You do not need a doctor's referral and you do not need a Medicare care plan. Your care partner or provider can arrange it, or you can contact an OT directly and they will speak to your provider.
Despite that, OT is one of the most underused services in the package system — usually because nobody has explained what it would actually do.
An occupational therapist looks at how you are managing day to day, in your own home, and works out what would make it easier and safer. Not in general terms — specifically, in your house, with your body, doing your routine.
Six areas come up most often.
Home safety and falls prevention. A room-by-room look at where the risks actually are: the step at the back door, the mat in the hallway, the bathroom floor, the lighting on the stairs, the chair that is too low to get out of. Most falls happen doing ordinary things in familiar places.
Equipment. Shower stools, bed rails, walking frames, kitchen aids, raised toilet seats, pressure care. Assessment, prescription, and — the part that gets skipped — showing you how to use it properly so it doesn't end up in the shed.
Home modifications. Grab rails, handrails, ramps, level-entry showers. We assess, recommend, write the report your provider needs, and work with the builder. These are funded through the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme rather than your ongoing budget.
Daily activities. Showering, dressing, cooking, laundry, getting in and out of the car. Often the answer is a different technique or a different sequence rather than any equipment at all.
Getting out. To the shops, to appointments, to the club. Community access is part of staying well and it is legitimate package territory.
Support for carers. Safe transfer techniques, managing fatigue, and an honest conversation about what is sustainable. This is frequently the highest-value visit of the lot.
Support at Home replaced the Home Care Packages Program on 1 November 2025. Existing recipients moved across automatically, kept their funding level and unspent funds, and did not need to change providers. Under Support at Home, occupational therapy sits in clinical supports, which the government funds in full — you do not contribute towards the cost the way you do for some other services.
Talk to your care partner or provider — they can arrange it, or you can ask them to contact the OT directly.
Equipment and home modifications are funded separately again, through the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme, which provides upfront funding rather than drawing on your ongoing budget. Check your own entitlements with your provider or at myagedcare.gov.au rather than relying on figures quoted online.
What changes between one package and another is how much of the budget is available for occupational therapy and how often you can be seen.
For many people, one assessment and a clear set of recommendations does most of the work: a visit, a written plan, and equipment the provider arranges. Where there is more room in the budget, ongoing sessions and more substantial modifications become possible.
A good OT will be honest with you and your case manager about what your package can realistically cover, rather than recommending a program the budget cannot fund.
It is a conversation and a walk through the house. Not a test, and not a checklist.
The OT will ask what a normal day looks like, what has become harder, and what you most want to keep doing. Then they will usually ask to see a few things — how you get in and out of the shower, how you manage the back step, how you get up from your chair. It is worth showing what actually happens rather than a tidied-up version.
Afterwards you get a written plan in plain English: what is recommended, why, and in what order.
You do not have to convince anyone of anything before an OT visit. The OT's job is to have the conversation, look at what is actually happening, and find the changes that make the most difference for the least disruption.
Most people are considerably more willing to accept a grab rail than a discussion about moving. Starting with the grab rail is not avoiding the bigger conversation — it is usually what makes the bigger conversation possible later.
More about OT under a Home Care Package on the Mornington Peninsula, or call 0478 687 771.
No. Your care partner or provider can arrange OT, or you can contact an OT directly.
Often, yes. An assessment plus a written set of recommendations does most of the work for many people, with the provider arranging equipment afterwards.
Home visits are the standard way this work is done, because the house is where the answers are.
Make a referral using the online form, ask a question, or just say hello. We reply within two business days.