Can I buy headphones, a cleaner, or a gym membership with my funding?

There is no approved list and no banned list (beyond drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and illegal activities). Instead there is one test that every purchase has to pass: the spending must be reasonably attributable to your eligible disability, and it must help you overcome the barriers that disability creates. It also needs to fit your funding plan.

The policy itself uses two of these as examples. Noise-cancelling headphones are named as an example of an item. A gym membership is named as an example of a subscription. So both are the kind of thing flexible funding can buy, when they address a disability-related barrier for you. Exercise at a gym is also specifically excluded from the complementary-therapy approval rules, because it is something people generally do for their wellbeing.

A cleaner is a service, and Household Management is one of the funding types this policy covers. A cleaner addressing a disability-related barrier is a normal use of that funding.

Two cautions. Equipment needs prior approval from your host regardless of price. The line between an ordinary item and equipment is not always obvious, and your host makes that call, so ask before you buy rather than after. And replacing something similar before the old one has worn out needs approval too.

For things the policy does not name, like meal kits or driving lessons, the same test applies, and the honest answer is: your host decides. If you can say in one sentence how the purchase addresses a barrier linked to your disability, you have the conversation ready.