APA fronts Senate hearing to protect essential NDIS supports

Physiotherapy peak calls for stronger safeguards as provider confidence weakens

The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) will appear before the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee at Parliament House today, urging Parliament not to pass the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 without significant amendments while new polling shows confidence among physiotherapy providers is deteriorating.

APA National President Dr Rik Dawson said that the APA’s proposed changes to the current legislation will provide Parliament with a pathway to a more sustainable NDIS that preserves participants’ access to essential supports while maintaining a viable provider workforce.

‘The APA has long supported reforms to the NDIS which address fraud, quality, safety and Scheme sustainability,’ said Dr Dawson. ‘But we believe that some of the current mechanisms used in this bill risk reducing legitimate supports without establishing that an individual participant’s needs have changed or can be met elsewhere.’  

The APA’s principal concern is proposed section 34A, which would allow the Minister to reduce specified support budgets across groups of participants through a legislative instrument rather than through individual reassessments.

‘The reality is that improving the Scheme’s quality, safety and sustainability cannot be achieved by broadly cutting necessary clinical supports,’ said Dr Dawson. ‘Any changes for participants must be done in consultation with the Scheme’s providers, who best understand the needs of the participants they support every day.’

At today’s inquiry, in additional to calling for the removal of section 34A, key APA spokespeople, representing more than 36,000 physiotherapists and physiotherapy students nationwide, including thousands of practitioners who work with NDIS participants every day, will call for Parliament to:  

• Expressly protect clinically indicated disability-related health supports, including physiotherapy    
• Require functional capacity assessments to consider environmental and personal circumstances    
• Preserve individualised decision-making and relevant clinical evidence    
• Introduce proportionate regulation and transparent, sustainable pricing for allied health providers.    

Concerns over this legislation arise at a time when confidence among providers is already weakening.

‘Our new polling data shows that provider confidence within the NDIS is rapidly declining, with a large proportion of physiotherapists working in the Scheme actively considering departure,’ said Dr Dawson.

A recent quick poll of APA members found that nearly half (45%) of physiotherapists currently delivering NDIS services are considering departing the Scheme, with an additional quarter (27%) of providers unsure whether they will remain.

Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) of those who are considering departing the Scheme identified unfair pricing as a key rationale, while nearly 7 in 10 (68%) also identified uncertainty over proposed reforms to the Scheme.

‘These findings point to something more significant than provider dissatisfaction,’ said Dr Dawson. ‘They point to an experienced workforce questioning whether the Scheme remains viable for them.’

‘The recent Annual Pricing Review suggested that there was limited evidence of provider exits, but these results tell a different story.