When Apenisa Matairavula goes to bed at night in his Sydney home, he can rest soundly knowing his smoke alarm will wake him if there is a fire.

Key points: Smoke Alarm Subsidy Scheme in NSW ended in June with transition to NDIS

Smoke Alarm Subsidy Scheme in NSW ended in June with transition to NDIS Those not eligible for the NDIS may have to pay full price for the specialised alarms

Those not eligible for the NDIS may have to pay full price for the specialised alarms Advocacy groups fear some will miss out due to cost or because they can't access another subsidy

But it's not an ordinary smoke alarm. It uses a bright strobe light and a shaker pad that vibrates under his pillow to wake him up.

Mr Matairavula is deaf. A standard noise-based alarm would be useless.

"I can see the flashing light, and I can also feel the tactile vibrations," he said through an Auslan sign-language interpreter. "I definitely feel safer."

Mr Matairavula had the device installed through the Smoke Alarm Subsidy Scheme in New South Wales.

Over the past six years, the scheme has helped more than 2,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing people purchase specialised alarms.

It ended in June as part of the state's transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

For those who aren't eligible for the NDIS, they may have to pay the full price for the specialised alarms.

They cost up to $700 — more than 20 times the cost of a standard one.

"I think that all deaf people, and people who are hard of hearing, need to have the smoke alarms in their houses," Mr Matairavula said.

Safety fears for those who can't access subsidy

The Deaf Society helped administer the subsidy scheme in NSW and it now fears many who aren't eligible for the NDIS will miss out.

Leonie Jackson said the issue was about "life and death". ( ABC News: Norman Hermant )

And it says others, like those who are hard of hearing, don't know how to access a subsidy for the alarms under the federally run My Aged Care program, which is for those over the age of 65.

"Our concern is those people who aren't able to access the NDIS or My Aged Care, to be able to get the specialised alarm," The Deaf Society CEO Leonie Jackson said.

"And if they don't have access to these devices, they potentially could die."

The NSW Department of Family and Community Services has told the ABC $2 million was allocated to pay for the scheme in 2011, and implementation was completed in 2016-17.

"Under the NDIS, people who are deaf or hard of hearing will be able to have adapted smoke alarms included in their plan," a statement said.

'Buying an expensive alarm may not be a priority'

Sue Daw's alarm was paid for through a subsidy in the ACT. ( ABC News: Luke Stephenson )

But advocacy groups such as Better Hearing Australia are worried many people won't be able to get a subsidy.

"I do worry a lot that the people that I meet working in Better Hearing … have not got a lot of money," said Sue Daw, who is hard of hearing and works with the organisation in Canberra.

Ms Daw has a specialised alarm in her home, paid for through a subsidy in the ACT. She worries about the impact the end of the subsidy scheme will have in NSW.

"A lot of [hard-of-hearing people] may find that buying an expensive smoke alarm may not be their top priority," she said.

Advocates said this was just the latest example of disability services being harmed in NSW in the state's rush to transition to the NDIS.

Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) said from changes to residential care in group homes, to ending funding for regional disability advocacy, and now to cancelling the Smoke Alarm Subsidy Scheme — they were all suffering as NSW shifted to the NDIS.

"The NSW Government is wilfully ignoring the fact that this loss of funding will have a direct damaging impact on NSW residents with disability," DANA CEO Mary Mallett said in a statement.

Other organisations worry this is just the beginning, and other states that currently subsidise specialised smoke alarms will also eliminate their subsidy programs when they transition to the NDIS.

"It's about life and death," Ms Jackson said. "As a community, we're responsible for this."