Allied Health NDIS Providers: Keep your eye on the ball in 2025!

Happy new year, allied health NDIS providers!

After the wild lead up to the end of 2024, we hope you managed to get a break and to reset for what promises to be another eventful year.

Media watch: Did you (like me) spend part of your break reading the steady stream of NDIS media reports, press releases, and commentaries?

Some providers are allegedly committing all sorts of alleged frauds, rorts, scams, misleading advertising campaigns, and worker abuses, warranting continuing ‘crack downs’ by regulators, including the NDIS Commission and the ACCC.
To some economists, the NDIS is a productivity drain producing jobs that take workers from other, “more productive” sectors, putting pressure on budgets and interest rates.
Investigations by Rick Morton and others suggest that children have been affected most by NDIS cuts and reforms to date.
The long-term funding of music therapy remains uncertain.
The costs of assessments remain a significant barrier for some looking to access NDIS supports.
Some allied health providers have gone into liquidation or otherwise gone out of business over the break.
Governments are establishing a National Disability Data Asset to consolidate 18 existing data sets to connect Federal and state information about people with disability (expected to be operational in 2026).
The NDIA has more representatives with disability.
We have a new national Autism strategy, but it is unclear as to how it will work with the NDIS and Foundational Supports.
Lots of positive anecdotal participant stories have been shared through NDIA press releases.
We have a new NDIS Minister.

Ignore the spin: Don’t be distracted by news cycles. Here are six issues I’m watching like a hawk in 2025:

1. Independent Assessments

Who will be eligible to do them, and how will independent assessors be hired, trained and paid (and by whom)?
How will independent assessors balance their legal and professional obligations to participants against their obligations to the NDIA? To whom will they be accountable?
Which assessment tools will be used and will they be valid and reliable for the wide range of people being assessed?
What reports and other outputs will be produced from assessments? Will they be detailed enough to enable allied health providers to work with participants and families to generate management and therapy plans with meaningful outcome measures?
Explore further

When will the agreement between states and the Federal Government be made and disclosed so we can understand funding arrangements?
How will funds be allocated, e.g., between cities and rural and remote communities? Will individuals (or groups) be funded, or organisations?
Who will be eligible to receive supports? Autistic children? Children with language or learning disabilities and disorders? Who will be ineligible?
Who will deliver? Will allied health professionals be involved, or will most front-line services be delivered by assistants or other paraprofessionals? What role (if any) will the private sector allied health providers play? Will allied health professionals be contracted or employed?
Where and access? Assuming Foundational Supports will be delivered in mainstream settings, like childcare centres and schools, how will access to settings work in states without integrated health and education systems (like NSW)?
How will supports be delivered? Whole class, small groups, 1:1, face-to-face, distance learning, and/or in other ways? Pull-out, inclusive?
‘Dosage’: The consultation documents to date contemplate ‘low dose’ or short-term interventions. Will dosage be determined by evidence, funding constraints, or in a different way?
Goals and outcomes: How will goals be set and outcomes measured to ensure supports are effective and value for money?
Explore further

When will the government respond to the recommendations made by the NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Task Force (released 2 July 2024) in relation to allied health professionals?
If the government decides to move forward with mandatory registration of allied health providers:
- will allied health workers with more than incidental contact with participants require worker screening? (This seems almost certain.)
- will Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registration suffice to fulfil the requirements for NDIS registration for registered allied health practitioners?
- will self-regulatory certification suffice for allied health practitioners who are self-regulated by peak bodies who themselves are National Alliance of Self Regulating Health Professions (NASRHP) members?
- what (if anything) will multidisciplinary and corporate allied health providers be required to do for registration assuming allied health professionals are registered with AHPRA or self-regulated by a member of NASRHP?
- what (if any) additional compliance requirements will currently unregistered providers be required to meet for registration, e.g. for complaints management or incidents reporting.
Explore further

We await the recommendations of the Independent Pricing Committee announced in September 2024 and headed by Stephen Anthony. These recommendations are expected in February 2025.
We understand this advice will be used to develop the Annual Pricing Review for the coming year.
If pricing limits are not lifted meaningfully this year, we predict an exodus of reputable providers from the sector as they will not be able to afford to train, pay and/or supervise their teams properly within current settings.
Explore further

Given all that’s happened – and is still happening – to music and arts therapy providers, we all need to be on guard for any announcements, proposals or changes to the definition or interpretation of allied health-related NDIS supports.
Explore further

As we work hard to adapt our supports and services to changing regulatory and business environments, providers must never lose sight of participants at the centre of the NDIS.
Two key questions:
- How will participant choice and control be protected as NDIS consultations and reforms continue to roll out at a rate of knots?
- Will participants and other stakeholders have an opportunity to participate meaningfully in the co-design of supports and services?
We should continue to resist any attempts to sow seeds of division between participants and providers.
Reputable allied health providers and the participants we serve are all in this together.

For those of you who want to do a deep dive into recent NDIS news, here are links to some of the key news stories published over the break:

Allegations some providers self-serving, fraudulent, running scams, etc: