Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie calls out NDIS cost review
Concerns have been raised over Tasmanians losing access to critical at home services — such as occupational therapy — through cuts to NDIS. LAMBIE’S BLAST >>
Tasmania
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Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has slammed the NDIS over its Annual Pricing Review, calling it a “betrayal.”
The review was released June 18 and since then Ms Lambie said she had been receiving calls from people concerned over losing access to therapy services like occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech pathology.
“Allied health professionals are being pushed to the brink,” she said.
“Some will be forced to stop delivering services, especially in regional and remote areas, because of a reckless 50 per cent cut to travel under the NDIS. I have heard from Tassie healthcare workers that they won’t be able to see anyone outside the CBD. On top of that, occupational therapy rates have been frozen for seven years while costs are going up.
“It’s a betrayal to vulnerable Australians who rely on these services”
The NDIS and federal government have given a 5.6 per cent price cut to therapists’ pay rates, dropping it to $183.99 an hour.
They have also slashed provider’s travel rates by 50 per cent, meaning a worker will only be paid 15 minutes during a 30 minute trip.
“I have also been told that from 1st July 2025, Tasmania’s North West Therapy Services, Occupational Therapy Australia and other service providers will stop delivering essential allied health services across Tasmania,” Ms Lambie said.
“I know from first hand experience that these services are absolutely critical.”
Speech Pathology Australia echoes these concerns in a statement on their website and calls for urgent action to “scrap the 50 per cent cut to the provider travel rate, index therapy pricing in future to match inflation and transfer pricing decisions to an independent body.”
A spokesperson from the National Disability Insurance Agency said it was important that NDIS participants are paying prices that are fair and in line with industry standards.
“In some cases, NDIS price limits exceeded the market rate by up to 68 per cent,” they said.
“This year’s Annual Pricing Review release was informed by the most comprehensive collection of data used by the NDIA to support its therapy recommendations, covering more than 10 million additional transactions including benchmarking with Medicare, private health insurance and 13 comparable government schemes.”
The spokesperson said that participants had told them that excessive travel claims from therapists were draining their plans faster than expected.
The updated travel claim rules are aimed at encouraging “more efficient scheduling by providers”.
Originally published as Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie calls out NDIS cost review
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