Policy and Advocacy Disability Update 8 December

Foundational Supports 

OTA has provided submissions to inform two government-led consultations: ‘General Foundational Supports’ and ‘Foundational Supports for children with developmental concerns, delay, or disability and their families, carers and kin.’ The submissions are available on the OTA website.  

Thank you to the members who completed our survey on the work OTs do with children and their families, your feedback informed out submissions. The survey is still open, all input provided will be used to develop future consultation responses and support the on-going work we’re doing to develop position papers and resources that promote a clear vision for occupational therapy in our evolving disability system. Access the survey here.

The NSW Government has announced a consultation to be undertaken by the newly formed Select Committee on Foundational and Disability Supports Available for Children and Young People in New South Wales. Submissions to this consultation close on 31 March 2025. Information on the consultation is available here. 

NDIS Guidelines on Therapy Supports 

OTA understands that the NDIA will soon publish a new NDIA Operational Guideline on therapy supports. We will review this document once it has been released and update members on any impacts to occupational therapy practice. OTA understands that, following recent discussions between some peak bodies and senior NDIA staff, it has been confirmed that the following activities will no longer be funded under therapy supports according to the operational guideline: 

• Massage 

• Play therapy 

• Myotherapy 

• Art therapy 

• Music therapy. 

NDIA later confirmed that art therapy and music therapy will continue to be funded under social and community participation (i.e., a lower hourly rate) and that massage provided by a qualified allied health practitioner (e.g., physiotherapist) will still be funded.  

OTs can support music therapists who are calling for the reversal of this decision, by signing an online petition launched by the Australian Music therapy Association. Find out more here. 

NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee – EOIs now open 

NDIA has announced they are seeking expressions of interest for an Evidence and Advisory Committee (EAC) as well as technical subcommittees (AT, capacity building and economics.) The EAC and its sub-committees will review and assess evidence about disability supports. The EAC will make recommendations to Government on the safety, appropriateness, and cost effectiveness of supports for NDIS funding. 

We strongly encourage OTs who fit the criteria to consider applying, to ensure that the nuanced OT evidence base is recognised and understood by NDIA for decision making purposes. Please circulate to your networks, especially to allied health professionals with clinical experience in disability.  Please note EOIs close 17 December. Find out more including how to apply here. 

Spotlight on NDIA practice 

Following questions from members about interpretation of the new list of NDIS supports, OTA has received some additional clarification on sexuality services and parenting programs: 

Sexuality services 

• Under the amended NDIS Act sexual services can’t be funded by the NDIS

• ‘Sexual services’ is not specifically defined in the legislation, and so is given its ordinary meaning in NDIA operations

• Sexual services are taken to include any sexual conduct undertaken with a participant for payment or reward, including direct physical activity between a participant and another person for the purpose of sexual gratification

• This includes all services that may be provided by a sex worker

• The NDIS will continue to provide reasonable and necessary funding to participants to access the disability related supports and services they need

• This includes other sexuality related supports due to a participant’s disability, for example adaptive equipment, sex counselling and individualised sexual education supports. These supports still need to be reasonable and necessary for the individual participant and included in their plan. 

Parenting services 

General parenting programs   

The NDIS does not fund general parenting programs. By general parenting programs, we mean programs available to all parents that help build parenting skills and strengthen family relationships. Supports such as general parenting programs, counselling, or other services for families at risk of entering the child protection system fall under mainstream services rather than the NDIS.  

Disability-specific parenting supports  

• The NDIS may fund disability-specific parent and carer training programs, if a child has developmental delay or disability, or if a parent has a disability and the child is still living at home (i.e., not in out of home care provided by the state or territory government)

• The NDIS may fund supports that address a child’s disability-related needs. For children younger than 9 years, including those younger than 6 with developmental delay, the NDIS can fund evidence-based early intervention supports to improve long-term outcomes for both the child and family. These supports may include services from qualified professionals, like allied health specialists, through a key worker approach

• Early intervention supports focus on helping children, families, and carers work towards specific goals in their NDIS plan. Early intervention supports also build the family’s capacity alongside the child. Families may participate in one-on-one, or group sessions designed to maximise their child’s independence and development.  

Reasonable and necessary supports   

• For any support to be funded by the NDIS, it must meet the criteria of being reasonable and necessary. This includes being related to the participant’s disability, representing value for money, and being likely to be effective and beneficial.  

Automatic extension of some NDIS plans 

• NDIA has advised that due to a high number of requests this year, wait times for plan approvals and reassessments have been longer than usual. NDIA have advised that they won’t progress some participants to their scheduled plan reassessment. These participants’ NDIS plans have already been automatically extended to make sure participants don’t have gaps in their NDIS funding
  NDIA emailed some participants on 19 November to let them know this extension has happened, and to explain what this means for them. Participants and nominees who want to go ahead with their scheduled plan reassessment should contact NDIA. More information about these extensions is on the NDIS website.

OTA will continue to keep members updated.