The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has made a devastating pricing decision—one that freezes therapy support rates for the seventh year in a row and slashes travel funding for occupational therapists by 50%. These changes are already driving providers out of the system and leaving participants without essential care.
Occupational Therapy Australia (OTA) needs your voice. Whether you’re an occupational therapist, a participant, or a supporter, your action can make a difference. Email your local MP now and call for urgent intervention.
This is a critical moment for the future of occupational therapy under the NDIS. Cuts to travel claiming and frozen rates threaten to gut NDIS services, especially in regional and outer-urban areas. Without urgent action, more people will miss out on the support they need to live safely and independently.
Take action now – tell your MP to stop cuts to OT services under the NDIS
Need more information? Contact OTA at [email protected]
Visit the OTA website https://www.otaus.com.au/advocacy
I’m writing as your constituent—and as [an NDIS occupational therapy provider / NDIS participant receiving occupational therapy / carer of an NDIS participant receiving occupational therapy] to express my alarm at the NDIA’s recent pricing decision.
I would like to meet with you to discuss my concerns.
Therapy support rates have been frozen for the seventh year in a row, and travel funding has been slashed by 50%. This decision is not just unfair—it’s unsustainable and dangerous.
Occupational therapists are being asked to deliver life-changing, complex care for the same rate they were paid in 2019, while the cost of doing business has soared. Fuel, insurance, rent and wages have all increased. The result? Therapists are burning out and being forced to walk away. More than 8% have already left the NDIS, affecting over 7,000 participants.
I’m one of the people who will feel the impact of this.
[Insert a line or two about your personal experience here – e.g. struggling to find a therapist, facing service gaps, being forced to travel far, or the impact on your work as an OT.]
Cutting travel rates sends a clear message: the NDIA doesn’t value outreach or home-based support. But many of the most critical OT services - like home modifications, assistive tech and functional assessments - can only be done in the home. If OTs can’t afford to get there, people will miss out. That’s the reality.
Worse still, the NDIA made these decisions with no real consultation. There was no engagement with OTs, participants, or peak bodies. Data showing that up to 1 in 5 providers may close was ignored. This isn’t just tone-deaf - it’s dangerous. The NDIA is gambling with participants’ lives by sidelining the providers who keep this scheme running.
OTs are not asking for luxury. They’re asking for the basics: fair funding to keep doing their jobs. To keep people safe. To keep the system going.
I join Occupational Therapy Australia in calling for:
Please raise this with your federal colleagues as a matter of urgency. These changes risk gutting access to therapy services and will leave more people without the support they need to live independently.
Feel free to contact OTA for more information by emailing [email protected]
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has made a devastating pricing decision—one that freezes therapy support rates for the seventh year in a row and slashes travel funding for occupational therapists by 50%. These changes are already driving providers out of the system and leaving participants without essential care.
Occupational Therapy Australia (OTA) needs your voice. Whether you’re an occupational therapist, a participant, or a supporter, your action can make a difference. Email your local MP now and call for urgent intervention.
This is a critical moment for the future of occupational therapy under the NDIS. Cuts to travel claiming and frozen rates threaten to gut NDIS services, especially in regional and outer-urban areas. Without urgent action, more people will miss out on the support they need to live safely and independently.
Take action now – tell your MP to stop cuts to OT services under the NDIS
Need more information? Contact OTA at [email protected]
Visit the OTA website https://www.otaus.com.au/advocacy
I’m writing as your constituent—and as [an NDIS occupational therapy provider / NDIS participant receiving occupational therapy / carer of an NDIS participant receiving occupational therapy] to express my alarm at the NDIA’s recent pricing decision.
I would like to meet with you to discuss my concerns.
Therapy support rates have been frozen for the seventh year in a row, and travel funding has been slashed by 50%. This decision is not just unfair—it’s unsustainable and dangerous.
Occupational therapists are being asked to deliver life-changing, complex care for the same rate they were paid in 2019, while the cost of doing business has soared. Fuel, insurance, rent and wages have all increased. The result? Therapists are burning out and being forced to walk away. More than 8% have already left the NDIS, affecting over 7,000 participants.
I’m one of the people who will feel the impact of this.
[Insert a line or two about your personal experience here – e.g. struggling to find a therapist, facing service gaps, being forced to travel far, or the impact on your work as an OT.]
Cutting travel rates sends a clear message: the NDIA doesn’t value outreach or home-based support. But many of the most critical OT services - like home modifications, assistive tech and functional assessments - can only be done in the home. If OTs can’t afford to get there, people will miss out. That’s the reality.
Worse still, the NDIA made these decisions with no real consultation. There was no engagement with OTs, participants, or peak bodies. Data showing that up to 1 in 5 providers may close was ignored. This isn’t just tone-deaf - it’s dangerous. The NDIA is gambling with participants’ lives by sidelining the providers who keep this scheme running.
OTs are not asking for luxury. They’re asking for the basics: fair funding to keep doing their jobs. To keep people safe. To keep the system going.
I join Occupational Therapy Australia in calling for:
Please raise this with your federal colleagues as a matter of urgency. These changes risk gutting access to therapy services and will leave more people without the support they need to live independently.
Feel free to contact OTA for more information by emailing [email protected]