Comfort First title card for the NDIS, Funding and Carer Support series, reading 'Every state, every scheme'

State Continence Schemes in Australia: A Guide for Every State and Territory
By Kim Hando , Owner & Founder │ 02 September 2026
Last reviewed: 02 September 2026

Last reviewed: 2 September 2026

The national pathways, and where the states fit

Move across a state border and your continence funding can change completely, even though nothing about your body has changed. State continence schemes in Australia are hard to pin down because the lists that do exist are incomplete. Continence Health Australia's state and territory page points to a scheme or a funding page in six of the eight jurisdictions, and Tasmania runs a continence scheme that page does not list. So people ring the wrong agency and start over.

Start with the national baseline. Continence Health Australia names three Federal Government programs, CAPS, the NDIS and the Department of Veterans' Affairs Rehabilitation Appliances Program, and for most people it is one of them rather than several. The Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS) is a payment from Services Australia for people with permanent and severe incontinence, the NDIS funds continence consumables inside a participant's plan, and the veterans' pathway has its own section below. Our complete guide to NDIS continence funding is the hub for the first two.

Most states and territories run their own continence assistance program alongside those, though the relationship differs by jurisdiction. This article maps that state layer: which program exists where, who runs it, and where to check the rules. It doesn't re-explain who qualifies for CAPS or how to lodge the form, which sits in the CAPS guide above and in our step by step guide to applying.

How state schemes work with CAPS and the NDIS

A state based continence subsidy does not always sit in the same relationship to the national schemes as its neighbour does, and that is the source of most of the confusion.

Some provide continence funding on top of CAPS and say so explicitly. EnableNSW policy requires eligible people to use their CAPS assistance each year before drawing on EnableNSW continence support.

Others run their own assessment against their own test, and some of those tests shut out people who can get help elsewhere. Western Australia says in terms that people can hold its Continence Product Subsidy Scheme and CAPS at the same time. Queensland's Medical Aids Subsidy Scheme does not name CAPS either way, and rules out people who are eligible for assistive technology under another government program.

If you're still working out which national scheme is yours, which of the two national schemes applies to you covers that decision and what the NDIS covers and how to access it covers the NDIS side. For the wider view, see the national overview of continence subsidies.

Worth noting before you read the table: in four jurisdictions the application is not yours to lodge. In Victoria a SWEP registered Continence AT Practitioner completes it on your behalf, in Queensland a prescriber applies to MASS for you, in the ACT a primary health therapist, GP or specialist completes it, and in the Northern Territory approved health professionals apply on behalf of their clients. People spend weeks hunting for a form that was never theirs to fill in.

State continence schemes in Australia, checked September 2026

State or territory Program name Who administers it Broadly who is eligible How it interacts with CAPS Where to verify
NSW EnableNSW continence assistance EnableNSW (NSW Health) NSW residents who use their CAPS assistance each year and whose need is greater than CAPS covers CAPS first. The annual CAPS assistance is used before EnableNSW support EnableNSW (enable.health.nsw.gov.au)
VIC Continence Aids Program, run under the State-wide Equipment Program (SWEP) SWEP, on behalf of the Victorian Department of Health Victorian permanent residents, protection visa holders and people seeking asylum who are frail aged or have a long-term condition or disability, assessed by a SWEP registered Continence AT Practitioner, not receiving other government funding for equipment or products other than CAPS, and not a hospital in-patient or a permanent resident of residential care Both can be held. SWEP states that a person receiving CAPS can still be assisted through its Continence Aids Program SWEP (swep.bhs.org.au)
QLD Medical Aids Subsidy Scheme (MASS) Queensland Health Permanent Queensland residents with a permanent and stabilised condition, holding an eligible concession card in their own name, and not eligible for assistive technology assistance or funding under another state or Commonwealth program. Children under 5 are not funded for continence pads and nappies. Ask MASS which cards it accepts Own assessment and application. MASS does not name CAPS either way, so confirm with MASS before applying Queensland Health (health.qld.gov.au/mass)
WA Continence Product Subsidy Scheme (CPSS) WA Department of Health, delivered under contract by a third party provider WA permanent residents with a chronic or intractable continence condition of six months or more, aged 16 or over with a Pensioner Concession Card or Health Care Card, or aged 3 or over under Continuity of Support Arrangements. Two separate tests rule people out. You cannot be in receipt of NDIS funding, a Commonwealth Home Care Package at Home level 1 to 4, continence appliances or continence financial assistance through the DVA Rehabilitation Appliances Program, or a compensation settlement where continence products are included, and you cannot be living in federally funded residential aged care. Separately, being eligible to receive assistance for continence consumables through DVA, the NDIS, Work Cover WA, motor injury insurance including catastrophic injuries support or a Commonwealth home care package also rules you out. Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders are not eligible Both can be held. WA encourages CPSS recipients to apply for CAPS too WA Government (wa.gov.au)
SA DHS Equipment Program, which funds equipment rather than continence consumables South Australian Department of Human Services South Australians who are otherwise unfunded for these services through Commonwealth options. It covers equipment and home modifications for mobility, access, transfers, bathing and personal care, pressure management, seating and communication, not pads, pull-ups, slips or catheters South Australia runs no subsidy for continence consumables, so CAPS and the NDIS are the pathways for the products themselves DHS Equipment Program (equipmentprogram.sa.gov.au)
TAS Continence Aids Scheme, listed separately from TasEquip, the state community equipment scheme Department of Health Tasmania Not published online. The department's page names a Continence Nurse Advisor on 1300 134 106 Not published. Ask the department Department of Health Tasmania service finder (health.tas.gov.au)
ACT ACT Equipment Scheme (ACTES), which supplies continence aids Canberra Health Services ACT residents of at least six months who are permanent Australian residents, with a permanent disability of more than two years, holding a current Centrelink Pension or Low Income Health Care Card. Receiving the equipment itself through a Home Care Package or another government funded scheme including the NDIS, or claiming the cost of the aid back through a private health fund, rules you out Applied for through a health professional. Check the CAPS interaction at assessment Canberra Health Services (canberrahealthservices.act.gov.au)
NT Territory Equipment Program (TEP), run alongside the Seating Equipment and Technical Service (SEAT) NT Health NT residents with a permanent or long-term functional impairment, living in or returning to live in the community, needing approved equipment on a permanent or long-term basis, above a published minimum item cost, on a full Centrelink Disability Support or Age Pension, and not able to get the equipment through aged care, the NDIS or DVA. Continence aids are one of the approved equipment categories. Ask NT Health which continence products that covers Not published. Ask NT Health NT Health (health.nt.gov.au)

Several of these pages still refer to Home Care Packages, which Support at Home replaced on 1 November 2025. If you are on Support at Home, ask the scheme how it treats you rather than reading it off the list.

Victoria and Queensland both publish what their scheme funds, and the two lists are not the same shape. Queensland's MASS list runs to disposable pads, pull-on pads and slips (the scheme's own term for a slip is an all-in-one pad, so that is what you will see on the form), reusable bed pads, chair pads and pants, catheters, catheter valves, sheaths, and leg and night drainage bags. Every absorbent item on Victoria's list is washable, as the Victorian section below sets out. Everywhere else, ask which product types your assessment can include before you plan around it.

What each jurisdiction runs

New South Wales

EnableNSW is the clearest case of a scheme built as a second layer rather than an alternative. Its policy has you use each year's CAPS assistance before drawing on EnableNSW continence support, and it takes people whose need runs beyond what CAPS covers. Our full guide to EnableNSW continence assistance covers the NSW pathway in detail.

Victoria

Victoria's continence support sits inside the State-wide Equipment Program as the Continence Aids Program, and its funded list is published. Our full guide to the SWEP Continence Aids Program covers the Victorian pathway in detail. It covers washable briefs and pads, washable bedding and chair pads, catheters and drainage equipment, condom drainage systems, anal plugs and irrigation systems and intra vaginal bladder supports. Disposable pants or pads, drip collectors, colostomy appliances and urinals are not funded.

SWEP rules an application out where you can claim the full cost through private health insurance, and where you receive other government funding for equipment or products other than CAPS, which SWEP states does not rule a person out. A discharge from a public hospital or extended care centre in the last 30 days rules you out where the products relate to that admission. An open WorkCover, transport accident or legal compensation claim is not an automatic no: SWEP asks you to ring and discuss your eligibility.

One aside on the wider program. SWEP's eligibility checker covers the Victorian Aids and Equipment Program rather than the Continence Aids Program. It says a DVA Gold Card holder, the card DVA also calls the Veteran Card (All Conditions), can apply only for a power wheelchair or scooter, and that a Home Care Package at level 3 or 4 or Support at Home at level 4 to 8 narrows it to home modifications, a power wheelchair or a scooter. Under-65s receiving NDIS support are directed to the Safety Link Assist Team on 1800 995 009 rather than a direct application.

Confirm what your own assessment can include with SWEP on 1300 747 937, or the National Continence Helpline on 1800 33 00 66.

Queensland

The Medical Aids Subsidy Scheme is a Queensland Health supply program rather than a payment. Our full guide to MASS continence aids covers the Queensland pathway in detail. A prescriber assesses the person and applies on their behalf.

MASS does not name CAPS either way, but it rules out people who are eligible for assistive technology assistance or funding under another state or Commonwealth program, including but not limited to DVA, the NDIS, the National Injury Insurance Scheme, Consumer Directed Care high care, palliative care services, and AN-ACC funding, which MASS defines as residents of an accredited residential aged care facility. Being eligible is enough, you do not have to be receiving it. Hospital in-patients, compensation claimants who have not acknowledged reimbursement and Home Care Package level 3 and 4 recipients are also out, and children under 5 are not funded for continence pads and nappies.

Supply runs on a cycle rather than on request. The MASS Application Guidelines for Continence Aids (version 2.1, May 2024) set a subsidised supply in six monthly calendar periods, with indwelling catheters and reusable bed and chair pads supplied twelve monthly instead. Ongoing supply is not automatic. Where the type of aid has not changed and the three yearly review is not due, you reorder by ringing MASS on (07) 3136 3665 or 1300 443 570 a month before the next supply, with the previous approval letter to hand.

A review of the continence management or care plan is required every three years, or sooner where health care needs change. The same guidelines name five things MASS does not subsidise: disposable liners or booster pads, miscellaneous items used for catheter or bowel management, treatment or evacuation, products for a catheter change including the pack and lubricant, disposable gloves, and urinals.

Western Australia

Western Australia runs the Continence Product Subsidy Scheme, administered by the WA Department of Health and delivered under contract by a third party provider. It works as an annual subsidy towards continence products rather than a direct supply. The eligibility, card and exclusion gates are in the row above.

South Australia

South Australia runs the DHS Equipment Program, which funds equipment and home modifications for South Australians who are otherwise unfunded for these services through Commonwealth options. It does not fund continence consumables, so pads, pull-ups, slips and catheters are not part of it. For the products themselves, CAPS and the NDIS are open to South Australians the same as they are everywhere else. Ring the National Continence Helpline on 1800 33 00 66 if you want to check where you sit.

Tasmania

The Department of Health Tasmania lists a Continence Aids Scheme separately from TasEquip, the state's community equipment scheme, which is the thing to know before you start ringing. The Continence Aids Scheme page names a Continence Nurse Advisor contactable on 1300 134 106 and publishes no eligibility criteria, so ringing is the only way to find out whether you qualify.

Australian Capital Territory

The ACT Equipment Scheme, run by Canberra Health Services, supplies continence aids among a wider equipment range. Eligibility is tightly drawn, and the row above carries the limbs and the exclusions. A primary health therapist, GP or specialist completes the application. Verify current eligibility at Canberra Health Services or the National Continence Helpline on 1800 33 00 66.

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory runs the Territory Equipment Program, which NT Health administers alongside the Seating Equipment and Technical Service. Approved health professionals apply for equipment on behalf of their clients, and continence aids are one of the approved equipment categories. The published eligibility also sets a minimum item cost, so ask NT Health which continence products that covers before you plan around it.

Veterans sit on a separate national pathway

The Rehabilitation Appliances Program, run by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, supplies continence products to people holding a Veteran Card (All Conditions), or a Veteran Card (Specific Conditions) where the treatment is for a covered condition, with an assessed clinical need and on the prescription of a qualified assessing health provider. It is national, so it doesn't change when you move interstate. Our full guide to DVA continence products covers the veterans' pathway in detail.

If you can get continence products through RAP, you cannot be paid CAPS. Confirm your position with DVA before you lodge anything with Services Australia.

How to find what applies to you

First, find your row in the table above. Continence funding by state is not standardised, so working out what your scheme is called is most of the battle.

Second, check the source named in the last column, because the agency's own page beats anything written about it, including this one.

Third, ring the National Continence Helpline on 1800 33 00 66 if the answer is still not obvious. It's free and run by Continence Health Australia, and the nurse continence specialists who staff it are not selling anything. For CAPS itself, Services Australia holds the criteria and the form.

Where Comfort First fits

There are two separate jobs here, sorting the funding and buying the products, and we only do the second one. Comfort First is a registered NDIS provider, so once a participant's funding is arranged we can supply through our NDIS ordering page. Many state schemes supply through their own contracted suppliers, so if your products come through one, your prescriber is the person to talk to.

Plenty of people buy their own products anyway, either because they don't meet a scheme's criteria or because a subsidised quantity doesn't stretch across a full year. Comfort First is Australian owned and run, based in East Bendigo, with a range covering pull-up pants, slips, pads, underpads and bed mats. You can browse the Comfort First range, and our free sample pack exists so you can test fit and feel before committing.

If you want to talk it through, call us on 03 5443 2239 or email sales@comfortfirst.au. We speak with people sorting out funding and fit, and we're happy to point you somewhere else when that is the right answer.

A note on currency

This page was last reviewed in September 2026. Scheme eligibility changes from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and from year to year, rarely everywhere at once. Every row names where to check the current position yourself, and if you spot something out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.

Related articles

Back to blog