It’s a busy and important time for advocacy, and your voice matters. There are many ways to get involved this week – register for our member forum, complete the survey, support the petition and lobby your local MP.

Your input is critical to strengthening our collective impact and ensuring occupational therapy is heard where it matters most.

Thriving Kids Initiative – Member Forum, 24 February 2026

Following the recent release of the Thriving Kids Advisory Group Final Report, we want to hear directly from OTs working in early childhood, schools, mental health, community settings, private practice and beyond.

Foundational Supports are supposed to change the game – not just for children with developmental delay or autism, but for adults with psychosocial disability as well.

With so much attention on the Thriving Kids Initiative, the key questions remain: Will this be enough? And where do occupational therapists fit within the broader Foundational Supports system?

In our Member Forum on 24 February, we will provide an update on Thriving Kids, discuss OTA’s advocacy, and provide an opportunity for Q&A.

This is a free member event and is suitable for OTs working under the NDIS and/or with children and families. Registrations close at 11.55pm on 22 February 2026.

Find out more and register.

South Australian Election – Email your local MP

South Australia’s state election is on 21 March 2026. OTA has met with Ministers, Shadow Ministers and crossbenchers to keep OT workforce solutions on the agenda, informed by SA member input and workforce evidence. Now we need South Australian OTs to help amplify these election-ready proposals across health, Thriving Kids early childhood reforms, and return to work. You can use our pre-written email tool to write to your local MP – it only takes two minutes. Just add one sentence and, ideally, request a meeting.

See OTA’s South Australian Election Campaign page for all the details. This is where you will find the election proposals and a helpful guide for meeting with your local MP.

The more constituents MPs hear from, the more impact we’ll have.

NDIS New Framework Plan Rules – Member survey now open!

The Department of Health, Disability & Ageing (DHDA) is consulting on the draft NDIS New Framework Plan Rules, which will guide how planning will work from mid-2026 for some participants aged over 16. The rollout will be phased, and participants will be notified by the NDIA before anything changes for them.

OTA is preparing a submission to Government and we want member input to shape our response.

Please complete our short survey by 12 noon on 3 March 2026.

Public consultation on these rules is open until 6 March 2026. We will use your feedback to support OTA’s submission to Government.

Help end placement poverty for OT students

OTA supports Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) in calling for the expansion of the Commonwealth Prac Payment to include all allied health students.

A petition launched this week by Independent Dr Helen Haines MP and Senator David Pocock, alongside AHPA, calls for equitable placement support across health disciplines. Allied health students – including occupational therapy students – complete extensive mandatory unpaid placements, often at significant personal cost. Expanding placement support would reduce financial hardship, strengthen the workforce and remove barriers to completing training.

Equitable access to placement support must be a national priority.

Sign the petition today.