Equipment and Modification Services

Before you apply

Most of the equipment is a loan, free of charge, for as long as you need it. Wheelchairs, adjustable beds, visual or vibrating alert systems. People assume they have to buy or fundraise for these things and they often do not.

The way in is an occupational therapist, not a form. Ring your local hospital and ask for Community Health Services — most EMS assessors sit there. The assessor works out what you need, helps find the most cost-effective option, and submits the request to Enable New Zealand or Accessable on your behalf. You cannot apply directly.

Two providers split the motu. Accessable — 0508 001 002, info@accessable.co.nz. Enable New Zealand — 0800 17 1995. Whichever covers your region handles your request.

What is covered: portable equipment like bathing and toilet aids and mobile hoists, mobility aids like walking frames and wheelchairs, communication and vision devices, customised seating and standing frames, fixtures like handrails, alterations to the property, and vehicle modifications including special seating, safety restraints, ramps, hoists and wheelchair carriers. In some situations funding may help toward buying a vehicle.

What is not: housing modifications costing less than $200, soft furnishings, general maintenance, and modifications for work, social or financial reasons. Items under $50 such as special cutlery or reachers are treated as low-cost equipment you buy yourself.

Two things worth planning for. If you are over 16, an income assessment may be needed for housing modifications. And where a request is likely to exceed $25,000 excluding GST it goes to a review panel — for housing modifications that threshold includes the value of any modifications already funded for you, so earlier work counts against the ceiling.

Complex housing modifications need an occupational therapist who is a credentialed assessor for them, which is a smaller pool. Ask early whether yours is credentialed.

The Lottery equipment fund that used to sit alongside this closed in May 2026 and is listed here separately.

Re-checked 16 September 2026: disabilitysupport.govt.nz has restructured this section into narrower sub-pages (hearing, vision, low-cost equipment) under a 'Housing and transport' area separate from the general 'Equipment and aids' page. The general page no longer shows the $25,000/income-assessment detail directly — it likely now sits under the Housing and transport pages specifically. Nothing found contradicts the figures above, but worth a direct check of the housing-specific page next time rather than assuming this URL still covers it.