The NDIS Can’t Work Without Us – But Right Now, It’s Breaking Us
- Kate Hoad
- Jun 12
- 4 min read
I honestly, truly try not to write posts like this often. I’m usually too busy doing the actual work—with my team, with my family, with my clients. And this is the second post recently I've felt drawn to write about NDIS changes. But they're real, they impact me, they impact my family, and they impact you.
Today, I need to speak as both a parent and a provider. Because the proposed 2024–25 NDIS pricing changes don’t just affect my business—they affect my children, my brother, and the people I support every day. And I just can’t stay silent.
I’m the proud mum of three children with disabilities. I’m also the plan nominee for my older brother, who has significant and complex needs. The NDIS is woven into every part of our lives. It funds the therapies that help my children thrive, the supports that keep my brother safe, and the professionals who walk alongside us as we build a life of inclusion and dignity.
I’m also the director of a small OT practice, home to a handful of dedicated, brilliant clinicians who show up every day because they believe in doing good work with real impact. My team are amazing, truly. We train, we meet people where they are (physically and mentally), we supervise, we mentor, we care. We don’t chase volume. We do it properly. Because ALL people deserve that.
And it’s getting harder. Much harder. There's been no raise in the OT rate by NDIS since 2019. That's coming up to 6 years in a row... Lets look at that in real terms with the RBA inflation calculator:
OT Australia (our Peak Body) today reports:
In 2023-24 60% of OT practices expected to report a loss or only break even, with that figure expected to rise in 2025-26 if pricing remains unchanged.
At least 8 percent of occupational therapists have already exited the NDIS market since last year’s pricing decision, affecting over 7,000 participants.
Additionally, the new Annual Pricing Review (APR) proposes to cut travel rates (to 50% - meaning it won't financially viable for therapists to travel to clients), to freeze OT pricing yet again (Which, as proven above, means a huge 20.5% + cut in real terms), and reduce pricing for other essential therapies like physio, podiatry, and dietetics. These aren’t fringe changes. They aren't insignificant. They hit the core of what makes quality community-based disability support even possible.
Let me be blunt:
These recommendations will push good providers out of the sector.
This will see participants forced to attend clinics, when that may well not be what they actually need.
They will shrink choice and control for people with complex needs.
They will increase costs elsewhere in the scheme.
They will see our hospitals and community health organisations even more overwhelmed than they already are.
They will see increased illness and disability.
They will result in deaths that could have been prevented with timely community-based supports.
And they will harm families like mine, and yours.
We’ve reached a point where pricing no longer reflects value or demand—it reflects what providers are forced to tolerate. It’s not sustainable. Not if we want experienced, ethical, skilled clinicians to stay.
I want to be crystal clear:
I don’t run a massive corporation. Nor do I want too. I simply want to retain a small team who is passionate about what they do, and about learning everything they can to best support those they can support. And I have this.
As a director, and OT with 18 years experience, I don’t own a decked-out beach house or a fancy car. In fact, I pay myself less than a first year OT earns! I built this business from the ground up while raising a family and caring for a sibling. The sacrifices in the past 10 years have been enormous—but I believed in the vision. I still do... I want to continue to... But it's getting hard. But going into the 6th year of struggling to pay the bills, the fatigue sets in, and the vision starts to fade...
Because BELIEVING doesn’t pay wages. Because PASSION doesn’t cover rising insurance premiums, car costs, rent, or superannuation. Because A VISION does not encompass increasing electricity expenses and therapy consumption
Providers are at breaking point.
So here’s my open invitation to the NDIS CEO and Ministers:
Come and talk to me.
Come see what it’s really like to deliver high-quality allied health services under the current model.
Come understand how pricing decisions affect real people—not just providers, but participants.
I’ll gladly share our figures. I’ll share my family’s story. I’ll share what this sector could be if we had the trust, stability, and investment it deserves.
Because the truth is: no one wins if the good providers close their doors. The biggest players are not always the best. And no one is safe if people with disability can’t access the support they need, when and where they need it.
Let’s not let short-sighted decisions unravel the very thing we’re all supposed to be protecting.
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