This guide is written from EnableNSW’s Home Respiratory Program fact sheet and its eligibility and financial criteria page. EnableNSW’s site blocks scripted access, so we read archived 2026 copies of both pages; check the live pages before applying.
What the program supplies
The Home Respiratory Program (HRP) provides:
- home oxygen equipment, typically an oxygen concentrator
- continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and other respiratory support devices
- ventilators
- some respiratory consumables
Each product has its own clinical criteria, and a prescriber applies on your behalf.
Priority and waiting. EnableNSW funds the primary oxygen equipment used at home first. Waiting periods vary for CPAP, respiratory support devices, ventilators and consumables. Equipment is bought and supplied “as funding becomes available”.
Who is eligible
You must:
- live in NSW or on Lord Howe Island, or be an asylum seeker, refugee or humanitarian visa holder living there
- be enrolled with Medicare
- not be receiving, or eligible for, the equipment through insurance or another government scheme, such as the NDIS
The co-payment
EnableNSW charges a co-payment each financial year you receive equipment, consumable re-orders or repairs.
| Band | Who | Co-payment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adults on a full pension; children under 16 | $100 a financial year |
| 2 | Taxable income up to $42,000 (single) or $70,000 (couple), plus $2,100 per dependant | $100 a financial year |
| 3 | Taxable income above those limits | 20% of equipment costing $800 or more |
Band 3 consumers are not eligible for equipment that costs under $800. EnableNSW says its income bands come from the former Program for Appliances for Disabled People, adjusted for inflation since December 1998.
Short-term oxygen therapy has no co-payment.
What 20% means in dollars
For a Band 3 adult, 20% of an oxygen concentrator listed at $999 (the Philips EverFlo at Air Liquide’s online store on 14 October 2026) would be about $200, and 20% of a $1,495 auto-CPAP would be $299. EnableNSW’s own equipment costs may differ from retail.
Your responsibilities
To keep HRP equipment you must:
- have stopped smoking for at least four weeks
- follow the supplier’s safety precautions
- use the therapy as prescribed, including the hours of use
- buy some products and accessories yourself, such as CPAP masks
- return the device when you no longer need it or are not using it as prescribed
For mask prices, see CPAP masks in Australia.
How an application runs
- Application. Your prescriber sends EnableNSW the application.
- Review. EnableNSW checks it against the program guidelines.
- Decision. You and your prescriber are told in writing whether it is approved or declined.
- Purchase. As funding becomes available, the device is bought and supplied.
Electricity help
EnableNSW notes HRP clients may also qualify for the NSW Government’s Life Support Rebate, claimed through the electricity retailer. See life support electricity registration and rebates.
Other states run their own programs; see home oxygen funding in Victoria and Queensland.