NSW will rebate up to $1,000 of a duress alarm purchase.
SafeWork NSW lists personal duress alarms as an eligible safety item under its small business rebate. For a small team, that can cover most of the cost of getting started.
Personal duress alarms are explicitly on the eligible list. SafeWork NSW groups eligible items by hazard, and under being hit by moving objects or isolated at work the "isolated at work" group names personal duress alarms, alongside two-way radios, EPIRBs and satellite phones. The rebate reimburses up to $1,000 excluding GST, once every five years.
Four steps, and the first one trips people up
- 1
Do the SafeWork NSW education activity first
This is the step that costs people the rebate. The activity has to be completed in the 12 months before you apply, so doing it after you have bought and applied does not count. Check the current list of qualifying activities on the SafeWork NSW site and book one before you get too far.
- 2
Buy the equipment
Your invoice has to be dated within the 12 months before your application. Keep the tax invoice and the proof of payment: a bank statement, or written confirmation from the supplier if you paid cash.
- 3
Apply, in the business owner's name
The application must be submitted by the registered business owner. An employee, co-owner or accountant cannot submit it on their behalf.
- 4
Get reimbursed up to $1,000
The rebate reimburses up to $1,000 excluding GST. Spend less and you are reimbursed what you spent; spend more and it caps at $1,000.
Full conditions, the current list of qualifying education activities and the application form are on the SafeWork NSW scheme page, and the item list is on the eligible safety items page.
Whether this is you
- You have an ABN and are registered or operating in NSW
- You employ between 0 and 50 full-time equivalent workers, or 1 to 50 if you are a charity or not-for-profit
- You have been operating for at least six months
- You have not claimed this rebate in the past five years, whatever has changed about your ownership structure since
- You have not received another government rebate for the same item
- You are not a large business, a subsidiary, a voluntary association or a government department
Conditions above were checked against the SafeWork NSW scheme and eligible-items pages on 2 August 2026. Government scheme conditions change, and whether any particular purchase qualifies is SafeWork NSW's decision, not ours. Confirm your own eligibility and your specific purchase with SafeWork NSW before relying on a rebate. Duress is not affiliated with SafeWork NSW and has no role in assessing claims.
What $1,000 covers
For a small team, this is most of the way to a working setup. A duress alarm is hardware plus a monthly licence that includes accredited 24/7 monitoring, so the rebate applies to the part you buy up front. Our pricing is published rather than gated, so you can work out the number before you talk to anyone.
Other states and territories
Funding support for safety equipment differs by jurisdiction and changes over time, so we are not going to tell you what exists in your state from here. Two places worth asking, in this order:
- Your state or territory WHS regulator. Ask specifically about rebates, grants or small business safety programs. Our legislation guide links to each regulator.
- Your workers compensation insurer. Insurers frequently fund or part-fund risk-reduction equipment, particularly where you can show a documented hazard assessment and a claims history that the equipment addresses. This route is less advertised than a public rebate and is often the one that pays.
In both conversations, a completed risk assessment does most of the work. It turns a request for a device into a documented control for an identified hazard, which is the form these decisions are made in.