Personal Safety Assistance
Medical alarm rental and monitoring
You may be eligible for a Disability Allowance assisting with the costs of a medical alarm if:
- an alarm is necessary for your normal daily living, your life or health would be put at risk without one, or your disability would be aggravated without one;
- the need for a medical alarm will result in an ongoing, additional cost directly related to your disability or personal health need; and
- the medical alarm is approved and supplied by an MSD approved medical alarm company.
Disability Allowance cannot be paid to cover the costs of:
- buying a medical alarm or smoke alarm (often marketed with medical alarms) – this is a one-off cost, not an ongoing cost;
- alarms installed for security reasons - this is not a cost directly related to a disability; or
- medical alarm expenses that are included in the standard service fee of the retirement village or complex where you are living.
In order to have the cost of a medical alarm included in Disability Allowance, you will generally be required to obtain your medical alarm from an approved medical alarm company.
This is because the approved suppliers have been assessed and accredited as providers of a monitored medical alarm service.
Any applications for assistance with the cost of a medical alarm provided by a non-approved supplier will need to be considered on an individual basis.
Essential home telephone costs
If you do not have a landline telephone, and you need one to help ensure your personal safety or security, Work and Income may be able to help you with certain essential home telephone costs.
Telephone costs for personal safety or security need to be verified by any of the following:
- the Police
- court orders
- Women’s Refuge
- previous case history held by Work and Income, Child Youth and Family, or any other relevant organisation.
You will need to provide proof of your circumstances and your telephone rental costs (excluding toll call charges, mobile phone expenses, Internet and cable/satellite TV charges).
In some instances, you may be granted assistance with the cost through Disability Allowance and/or Temporary Additional Support.
