The big picture
The government has signalled it wants to fundamentally reshape the NDIS. With the scheme now costing $50 billion
annually and growing at around 10% per year, Minister Butler has put fiscal sustainability front and centre —
alongside serious concerns about integrity and fraud, and critically scheme sustainability for future generations.
However, let's be clear: the people at the centre of these reforms are not a budget problem.
For many of your clients, NDIS funding is the difference between participating in daily life and not. It funds
supports for safe and enjoyable mealtimes, communication supports, and the therapy that makes employment, education
and connection possible. This cannot be reduced to a Federal budget issue.
We will be watching closely and advocating for the reforms to keep the original purpose of the scheme in focus –
supporting people with disability to live a full life. We know you see that value every single day in your work, and
we will make sure that reality is heard in every reform conversation.
What’s changing – and what it means for speech pathologists working in the NDIS
1. New eligibility framework
Legislation will be introduced this year to replace the current diagnosis-based eligibility criteria with standardised
functional assessments. An advisory group, states and territories, and the disability community will co-design the new
criteria – but the detail is yet to be confirmed.
For speech pathologists, this raises important questions:
- How will communication and swallowing needs be assessed in functional assessment tools?
- What happens to clients who don’t meet the new criteria?
- What role will speech pathologists play in conducting or informing assessments?
We will seek a seat at the table in the co-design process and will advocate for communication and swallowing needs to
be explicitly and appropriately represented in any new framework.
2. Expanded mandatory registration
Mandatory registration requirements for NDIS providers will be expanded. Minister Butler cited integrity concerns as a
key driver, with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission identifying organised crime infiltration of the
scheme – including kickbacks, unexplained large cash withdrawals, and in some cases coercion of participants and their
families.