Stand up for disability care: Stop the NDIS cuts to physiotherapy
The Australian Physiotherapy Association is calling on the federal government to reverse the reduction in National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) pricing limits for physiotherapy and travel funding that threaten the sustainability of physiotherapy services and the choice and control of NDIS participants.
From 1 July 2025, the revised NDIS pricing limits will make it financially unsustainable for many physiotherapists to deliver the high-quality, individualised care required to manage complex conditions for some of our most vulnerable people.
This comes on the back of a five-year NDIS pricing limits freeze that has not kept pace with inflation and the rising costs of providing therapy supports to people living with disability.
Protect access to physiotherapy under the NDIS—sign the petition
The NDIA’s pricing cuts will limit access to essential care under the NDIS—especially for people in rural and remote communities. The Australian Physiotherapy Association is coming together with other peak industry bodies to call on the federal government to reverse these changes and protect fair, person-centred care.
Sign the petition to help defend access and equity for people with disability.
Four fixes the NDIA must make—Now
The APA calls on the NDIA to act immediately on these critical issues to protect participant access and the viability of physiotherapy services:
- Abolish the price reduction and index prices properly: Physiotherapy price guides in the NDIS have not changed since 2019, ignoring rising operational costs putting immense pressure on providers. This further decrease critically devalues vital care and disrespects the essential and life-changing care that physiotherapy provides to participants within the NDIS. The APA calls unequivocally for this decrease to be abolished and that the NDIA rectify the neglect of a five-year price freeze by indexing the physiotherapy price guide to 13.5%.
- Restore travel funding: The intended 50 per cent reduction in travel funding will force clinicians to make difficult decisions about travelling to provide care in homes and natural environments such as schools and sporting facilities. The APA calls for the NDIA to reverse this decision and restore travel budgets.
- Support rural and regional community needs: The NDIA intends to eliminate the higher price loadings previously applied in Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. This change will result in a net reduction of up to $40.06 per hour in those regions, critically impacting the availability of physiotherapy service delivery in communities in very real need of sustainable care.
- Remedy gender-based undervaluation: The Fair Work Commission has rightly identified that physiotherapy has long been devalued as a female-dominant profession and has recommended substantial pay rises across the board. The NDIA has a responsibility, and a moral obligation, to ensure it works to support, not obstruct, these legal requirements.
What does this mean?
If left unchanged, these cuts put at risk:
- the sustainability of physiotherapy supports in the NDIS
- access to physiotherapy services in regional and rural communities, and in a participant’s natural environment, and
- NDIS participant-led decision making.
This is not just about fees—it's about fairness, equity and the right to essential care.
Why does this matter?
People with disability require a multifaceted approach to care that is tailored to their needs. For some, physiotherapy is essential to maintaining basic function and for others it is an essential service to maintain their quality of life.
Physiotherapists play a vital role in the NDIS. They help participants manage pain, avoid hospital admissions and improve long-term outcomes through evidence-based care. The pricing framework must reflect the true cost of delivering physiotherapy and support a viable physiotherapy workforce, or services will be impacted—especially in areas already facing workforce shortages.
A breaking point we must face together
This issue affects us all:
- NDIS participants will lose choice and control and may face the need to travel long distances to access care.
- Physiotherapists will need to consider limiting services or leaving the NDIS altogether.
- Communities will bear the brunt as more people with disability miss out on timely care, impacting health outcomes and their ability to participate in their communities, daily activities and the workforce—the core intention of the NDIS.
We’re taking action and we need your voice
We are mobilising physiotherapists and NDIS participants to tell the government: this isn’t close to ‘good enough’.
Physiotherapy must remain viable within the NDIS so that all Australians with disability can access the care they need and deserve. Together, we can demand change—before it's too late.
Choose your path to action: