The information on this website is intended to make assessment, policy, procedure and work management information relating to home modification for people with a disability more accessible (see Intended Audience). The website is not intended to convey advice for any specific individual or service. The HMinfo team accepts no liability for any loss or damage a person may suffer as a result of directly or indirectly relying on any information stored on this server. The information contained on this website does not cover all possible home modification scenarios or interventions; it is not complete, nor exhaustive. Consequently, these are by no means the only approaches that could be taken to any given home modification issue. The Home Modification and Maintenance (HMM) Service Provider should rely on their own skill and judgements when interpreting information contained on this site. The Service Provider is responsible for providing appropriate interventions, based on an assessment of an individual client's needs and goals. The HMinfo team, as manager of this site, is not liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or other damages arising from application of any of the information provided.
If you are a home modification consumer seeking information from this site, you should understand that the information presented is intended and designed for the use of the professional audiences identified in section 5, (see Intended Audience). We recommend you contact your local Home Modification Services Providers to interpret and apply the information appropriately to any specific case. While the HMinfo team members strive to keep information stored on this server current, and all research aims to be as accurate as possible on the date of its publication, having been reviewed by either our specialist panels or otherwise qualified individuals, we make no guarantees or warranties regarding the currency, accuracy or completeness of the information. The information is provided "as is", with no express or implied warranty. Any mistakes in this information that are brought to our attention will be corrected as soon as possible. The HMinfo team reserves the right to change at any time, without notice, any information stored on this server. Information that the HMinfo team publishes on the World Wide Web may contain references or cross references to other agencies, products, programs or links. The HMinfo team does not endorse, nor qualify, any of the products, programs or links. The listing of these products, programs and services is intended for informational purposes, and individuals must use their own caution and judgement when utilising these resources.
The HMinfo team does not hold any liability or personal interest in any of these agencies, products or services. Any reference in the HMinfo materials created by our team, or in material linked to the HMinfo Clearinghouse, which refers to a specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, or manufacturer, does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation or any favouritism by the HMinfo team.
Permission and requirements regarding reproduction and downloading of respective documents and files are specific to each guideline, and related documents in the HMinfo database. Please read carefully and comply with specific notices on downloading and reproduction contained with each document. Documents available from this site may be protected under national and foreign copyright laws, unless otherwise noted. Permission to reproduce or disseminate information further may be required. If you do wish to reproduce, modify, store, transmit or distribute any content on this site for commercial or non-personal use, you are welcome to contact us at the HMinfo Clearinghouse.
UNSW claims copyright ownership of all information produced by the HMinfo team from August 2008 and stored on this server, unless expressly stated otherwise. All publications produced prior to this date are copyrighted by the University of Sydney.
Other educational institutions may reproduce and distribute any information on this server for educational use only. All reproductions are to include appropriate acknowledgement of UNSW or University of Sydney or the copyright owner, where the copyright owner is not either University. The copyright notice shown above is to be inserted at the head of any copies made. No information stored on this server may be used for commercial purpose, unless and until the University gives its written permission. Please contact us for enquiries regarding such permission.
The HMinfo Clearinghouse is a website intended to make unique and relevant information more widely available to National Home Modification Services Providers, their consumers and the occupational therapists, builders and subcontractors who work with them. The HMinfo Clearinghouse is operated by UNSW, in partnership with the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability, and Home Care. Some guidelines and other related materials on this site are the products of named organisations, which remain solely responsible for their content. Objective summaries and factual comparisons of such guidelines are provided on our website. The HMinfo team prepares these documents in consultation with the relevant organisations. The authors and publishers are identified at the beginning of documents posted on this site.
Although funding for this website has been provided by the Australian Government, the material contained herein does not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Australian Government.
The primary target audience for this site are National Home Modification Services Providers funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and the National Disability Insurance Schemes. Other user groups include:
Best practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to support practitioners and consumers in making decisions regarding home modification interventions for specific disability circumstances. These guidelines are not fixed protocols. Deviations from best practice guidelines may be justified by individual circumstances. They are not presented as a substitute for advice from an architect, occupational therapist, builder or other knowledgeable service provider. The guidelines identify and describe commonly recommended courses of intervention. The guidelines are not entirely inclusive or exclusive of all strategies that could achieve the desired outcomes. While guidelines can consider variations in service settings, resources or common consumer characteristics, they cannot address the unique needs of an individual, or the combination of resources available to a particular service provider.
Therefore, we recommend application of guidelines using professional judgement that considers the individual consumers' needs.
To assure the integrity of information on this site, and to make it responsive to public needs and demand requirements, the HMinfo team will monitor system access against actions to disable these online services, and against deliberate efforts to gain unauthorised access to restricted portions of the HMinfo Clearinghouse web site. By accessing this site, you are consenting to system monitoring for law enforcement and other purposes. The HMinfo team has not restricted linked sites from obtaining information about visitors to their sites.
The HMinfo Clearinghouse cannot guarantee that users will have reliable access to this site at all times. At times, the website functionality may be impacted by circumstances beyond our control, such as server failure. While we endeavour to have the site running smoothly across all web browsers, unexpected browser changes and system updates may interfere with the operation of the site.
When you browse any website, read pages or download information, certain information about your visit can be collected. HMinfo Clearinghouse automatically collects and temporarily stores the following information about your visit. Please note this information does not identify you personally.
We use this information for statistics on the traffic to our site, to determine general user interest in various areas of our site and to help us make our site more useful. HMinfo Clearinghouse tracks the keywords that are entered into our search engine and the browse terms used to measure interest in specific topics. We do not monitor which terms a particular user enters.
A "cookie" is information stored on your computer by a web server and used to customise your web service in some way. HMinfo Clearinghouse uses cookies to store information about your interactions that may be needed later to perform a function. Currently, the HMinfo web site uses "cookies" to remember whether a user has viewed our Privacy Statement and Disclaimer. The "cookies" store information in the users' Guideline Collection. We do not use "cookie" information for any other purpose. We do not make the information available to anyone else. You can choose not to accept cookies and still use the HMinfo Clearinghouse website, however you will be unable to use cookie-dependent features. Refer to the help information in your browser software for instructions on how to disable cookies. No additional information is collected about your visit and we do not record information about individual behaviour or use of the site.
You do not have to provide personal information to visit our website. If you choose to provide us with additional information about yourself through an email, form, survey, etc, we will retain the information only as long as needed to respond to your question or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication. The information provided is handled on a confidential basis. However, email is not secure against interception. If your message is sensitive you may prefer to send it by postal mail instead. Contact details of HMM services, including the names of service coordinators, may be subject to searching by Google and other search providers, e.g. Yahoo. This may allow people outside of your work environment to search for and obtain your contact details. If you do not wish this to be possible, please provide alternative naming options, such as listing yourself as a ‘service coordinator' rather than using your personal name.
Except for authorised law enforcement investigations, HMinfo Clearinghouse makes no attempt to identify individual users or usage patterns. We do not give, share, sell or transfer any personal information to a third party. Personal information listed on our site as part of HMinfo's contact details will, naturally, be accessible to all who access the site.
For site security purposes and to ensure this service remains available to all users, we employ software programs to monitor traffic and identify unauthorised attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage. Such attempts are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.
Access to this website is a personal risk. HMinfo takes no responsibility for any lost information or computer damage that occurs as a consequence of your use of the HMinfo web site, or any links that take you away from the site. Please take all precautions to make sure your computer is appropriately protected by virus software, to prevent viruses that may lead to damage.
Electronically submitted information is maintained and destroyed according to the principles of the Federal Records Act and regulations and guidance from the National Archives and Records Administration. In some cases, this information may be subject to the Privacy Act. If information you submit is to be used in a Privacy Act system of records, there will be a Privacy Act Notice provided.
HMinfo Clearinghouse website has links to government departments and agencies and selected links to other web resources. The privacy policy described here does not necessarily apply to those other sites. Once you link to another site, you are subject to the privacy policy of that site.
In the event you are concerned about any material that appears on this site, please contact the HMinfo Clearinghouse in the first instance, so we may seek to amend any inappropriate material. If, on the other hand, you appreciate the material on our site, and wish to let us know, please contact us via email or telephone 1800 305 486.