If someone in your family has a disability, SG Enable is one of the first organisations worth getting to know. In this guide we explain what Singapore’s national disability agency does, how its Assistive Technology Fund works, where caregivers can find support, and how all of this fits alongside a live-in helper at home.
Families usually come to these questions at a turning point: a diagnosis, a hospital discharge, or a daily routine that has quietly become a full-time job. The list of agencies, grants and acronyms can then feel like a second job on top of the care itself.
The system is more joined up than it first looks. A few official starting points lead to most of the help available.
We are a maid agency, not a disability service provider, so this guide sticks to what the official sources say and links to them throughout. Schemes and income thresholds change, so always confirm the current criteria on the official pages before you apply.
What SG Enable is and who it serves
According to its own about page, the agency was set up by the Ministry of Social and Family Development in 2013 as Singapore’s national agency for disability. It is a registered charity and an Institution of a Public Character, and its stated mission is to create equitable opportunities for persons with disabilities to aspire and fulfil their potential.
Its work covers several areas that matter to families:
- Disability support: the Enabling Guide, community support hubs, the Special Needs Trust and a Future Care Planning Resource Centre.
- Assistive technology: the Assistive Technology Fund, plus Tech Able, its assistive technology initiative.
- Employment and community: help for jobseekers and employers, Enabling Village and the Enabling Academy.
It helps to know where the disability agency stops and the eldercare system begins. Many caregiver grants for older Singaporeans are run by the Agency for Integrated Care rather than by the disability agency. If your situation involves an older parent, our guide to the Agency for Integrated Care covers that side.
Where to start: the Enabling Guide and community hubs
The simplest first step is the Enabling Guide at enablingguide.sg, the agency’s online portal for persons with disabilities and their families. It pulls the schemes, services and resources into one place, including a section aimed at caregivers.
For face-to-face help, the agency lists Enabling Services Hubs, which it describes as community-based touchpoints. These hubs bring disability support closer to home and offer four kinds of help:
- information and referrals;
- social and recreational activities;
- caregiver support;
- continual education and learning programmes.
Eligibility varies by programme, so check the criteria with the hub serving your area. You can find your nearest hub through the Enabling Guide, or call the general line on 1800-8585-885 or email [email protected] for guidance.
Before you call, note down the diagnosis, which daily tasks need help, and which hospital or social service agency already supports your family member.
The Assistive Technology Fund explained
The Assistive Technology Fund, often shortened to ATF, helps with the cost of devices that make daily life, study or work possible. It is means-tested and can cover up to 90% of the cost of a device, based on household income per person, with a lifetime cap of $40,000.
Who qualifies
The Enabling Guide lists these criteria:
- a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident;
- a permanent disability, such as a physical disability needing some assistance with at least one of the six activities of daily living, moderate or worse visual impairment or hearing loss in the better eye or ear, intellectual disability, or autism;
- a Disability Verification Form completed by a relevant registered healthcare professional;
- monthly per capita household income of $4,800 and below, the threshold that applies from January 2026, or an Annual Value of residence of $21,000 and below for households with no income;
- an assessment by a qualified assessor to decide which device is needed.
Age matters too. Seniors who did not use the ATF before turning 60 are served by the Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund instead, so an older parent needing a first wheelchair at 70 would normally go down that route.
What it pays for
The fund can help to buy, replace, upgrade or repair assistive devices, such as wheelchairs and hearing aids. Devices can be for early intervention, education, training, employment, therapy, rehabilitation or independence in daily living. It does not cover consumables, so items you use up and replace regularly need to be funded another way.
How to apply
- Check disability status. You can check it on SupportGoWhere with Singpass. This step is optional but recommended.
- See a therapist or social worker at a touchpoint. A touchpoint is a public hospital or social service agency. If no touchpoint is caring for your family member, a polyclinic can refer you to a public hospital for assessment.
- Let the touchpoint apply. The application is submitted on your behalf by the touchpoint’s assessor or administrator, not by the family directly.
- Wait for the outcome. Processing takes up to 15 working days, and the result is emailed to the touchpoint.
Because the device is chosen through the assessment, talk to the assessor before buying anything yourself. Ask too about trying equipment first. The agency lists Tech Able among its assistive technology initiatives, and its website shows what is currently available.
Support aimed at caregivers
The person doing the lifting, feeding and reminding also needs support. Two AIC grants are especially relevant to families with a helper.
Caregivers Training Grant
The Caregivers Training Grant gives a $200 top-up every financial year, capped at $400, and eligible care recipients start with $400 in the first year they use it. The care recipient must be a Singapore Citizen or PR, and either aged 65 or above or living with a disability that permanently needs help with at least one activity of daily living, assessed through a Functional Assessment Report. Importantly, AIC states that the caregiver can be a family member or a domestic helper, as long as she is the main caregiver. Choose an approved course, tell the trainer you are using the grant at least two weeks before it starts, and expect a co-payment of at least $10.
Home Caregiving Grant
The Home Caregiving Grant pays up to $600 a month, in tiers of $600, $400 and $200 depending on household income per person and the number of properties owned. The care recipient must permanently need some help with at least three of the six activities of daily living. AIC says the grant can go towards care needs such as hiring a helper. Our guide to the Home Caregiving Grant walks through the application.
Caregivers also need breaks. The hubs offer caregiver support, and our guides to respite care options and caregiver support schemes cover what else is available.
How disability support fits with a live-in helper
Government schemes and a live-in helper do different jobs. The schemes pay for equipment, assessments and training. A helper provides the steady daily presence: washing and dressing, meals, medication reminders and accompanying appointments.
The levy concession for a person with disabilities
If your helper is employed to care for a family member with a disability, you may qualify for the concessionary levy of $60 a month instead of $300. MOM’s levy concession page sets out the conditions:
- a Singapore-registered doctor certifies that the person needs help with at least one activity of daily living;
- the person is a Singapore Citizen, or a PR with a parent, spouse or child who is a Singapore Citizen;
- the NRIC addresses match and the person is listed as a household member in FDW eService;
- you apply to AIC and receive its recommendation letter.
Once the steps are done, the lower rate is applied automatically and backdated. Our maid levy guide explains the rest.
Making the most of the equipment
A device only helps if the person using it every day knows how. When a therapist assesses your family member, ask whether your helper can attend to learn transfers, positioning and how to adjust the device. Write down a simple routine for charging, cleaning and checking the equipment. In a compact HDB flat, plan where a wheelchair or commode will sit so walkways stay clear at night.
A helper is not a nurse or therapist, and clinical tasks should follow the healthcare team’s instructions. If there is a sudden change in their condition, see a doctor, and call 995 in an emergency.
If you are considering a helper, we place helpers with caregiving experience and pre-train helpers before placement. You can also ask us for maid profiles that match your family’s care needs through our full-time helper page.
A simple plan for the first few months
- Get the needs documented. Ask the doctor or therapist to record which daily activities need help.
- Ask about equipment early. Raise the ATF, or the seniors’ fund for older family members, with the hospital therapist or social worker before discharge if you can.
- Check the money side. Look at the Home Caregiving Grant, the Caregivers Training Grant and the levy concession together.
- Decide on the care arrangement. Work out who covers mornings, nights and rest days, and whether a live-in helper is needed.
- Train whoever gives the care. Book an approved caregiving course and, where possible, include your helper in therapy sessions.
Related guides: Home Caregiver Singapore: When an Elderly Parent Needs Help and Maid for Elderly Care Singapore: How Agencies Screen Helpers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SG Enable only for children with special needs?
No. It is Singapore’s national agency for disability and serves persons with disabilities of all ages and their caregivers, although some schemes, such as the Assistive Technology Fund, have age rules that send older first-time applicants to the Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund instead.
Can the Assistive Technology Fund pay for adult diapers or other consumables?
No. The Enabling Guide states that the Assistive Technology Fund does not support consumables, so ask your social worker about other help for recurring supplies.
Can my domestic helper attend caregiver training with a subsidy?
Yes, if she is the main caregiver, because AIC’s Caregivers Training Grant allows the caregiver to be a family member or a domestic helper looking after an eligible care recipient.
Do I apply for the Assistive Technology Fund myself?
Not directly, because the application is submitted by a touchpoint such as a public hospital or social service agency after a therapist or qualified assessor has assessed your family member, and if no touchpoint is involved yet, a polyclinic can refer you to a public hospital for assessment.
Will I automatically get the levy concession if my family member has a disability?
Only after the steps are completed: a Singapore-registered doctor must certify the need for help with at least one activity of daily living, the person must be listed as a household member in FDW eService, and you must apply to AIC and receive its recommendation letter, after which MOM applies the lower rate automatically.
Conclusion
The disability support system in Singapore has several doors, but they lead to the same place. The Enabling Guide and the community hubs are the starting point for information, the Assistive Technology Fund helps with equipment through a hospital or social service touchpoint, and AIC’s grants support the caregiver, including a helper.
A live-in helper fits well into that picture when she is trained on the equipment and backed by the right schemes. Check each scheme’s current criteria on the official pages before you apply.
If you are weighing up live-in help for a family member with a disability, we can talk through what a suitable caregiver would need to handle. You can get in touch with the Femme5 team to discuss your family’s needs, read more about how we work with employers, or explore what a good placement looks like.
The Femme5 Team
Maid placement specialists, Femme5 Maid Agency
Our consultants work with Singaporean and expatriate families on helper matching, contracts and MOM compliance, and we verify the regulatory guidance in our articles directly against the Ministry of Manpower’s published requirements.
