Every year in June, families and clinicians who rely on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) wait for an announcement from the government to find out what the next 12 months are likely to look like. Each year, The NDIA uses a mix of market data, research, and (apparently) public and industry engagement to inform changes to pricing arrangements and price limits through its Annual Pricing Review. This tells the disability sector what the government will pay, under the NDIS, for a long list of services.
As a clinician and a business owner, this annual announcement impacts what fees I will charge for my services over the next 12 months. I now no longer wait for it with any hope, but with dread. For the past 6 years the therapy cap has remained the same at $193.99 per hour, despite sky rocketing costs in all of our business overheads. This June, our worst fears were realised. The price guide showed a reduction in the amount the scheme will pay for clinical services. I am grateful that the hourly rate for speech pathologists has not dropped. I feel for my colleagues in physiotherapy, podiatry, and dietetics who have had their hourly rate decreased. What has dropped for speech pathology is the amount that the NDIS will pay for travel. They are now only going to pay 50% of the hourly rate for the therapist to travel to the client. Interestingly, the NDIS website states that they are “Increasing the price limits for psychologists, nurses and other supports based on how much wages and the cost of living have gone up.” – apparently this does not apply to most other clinicians.
There is a lot that could be said about these decisions, but I will stick to the facts:
- NDIS will pay for $193.99 per hour of service for speech pathology.
- NDIS will pay for $86.79 per hour of service for an Allied Health Assistant.
- NDIS will pay for 50% of the above rate for a therapist to travel to the appointment location. This was previously 100%. The new rates are:
- $97 per hour for a speech pathologist
- $43.40 per hour for an Allied Health Assistant
- NDIS will pay for $1 per km of provider travel.
For a number of complex reasons, Talking Fish Therapies has made the decision to NOT change its prices. We will continue to charge the following:
Speech Pathologist:
- $387.98 for assessment and report
- $193.99 for 1 hour therapy session (45 minutes face to face, 15 minutes admin)
- $193.99 for support letters/application forms
- $1.00 per km travelled for mobile therapy; and $193.99 per hour travelled for mobile therapy
Allied Health Assistant:
- $87.79 for 1 hour therapy session (45 minutes face to face, 15 minutes admin)
- $1.00 per km travelled for mobile therapy; and $87.79 per hour travelled for mobile therapy
We will be simplifying and clarifying how we charge for travel. From 1 July 2025, we will record the travel time and kilometers travelled to your appointment and include these in our invoice, as per the above fees. If your therapist needs to return to their office after your appointment, we will include that time and those kilometers as well. If there is more than one client seen at that location, the travel fee will be equally divided between those clients.
For example, if your therapist travels 30 minutes and 30km to a school and sees 3 clients at that school. The travel charge will be:
- $193.99 x 0.5 hours = $97. A ⅓ share of this fee = $32.01
- $1 x 30kms = $30. A ⅓ share of this fee = $9.90
- $32.01 (time) + $9.90 (kms) = $41.91 (total travel fee)
Please be aware that travel fees often vary depending on the number of clients available at any given location on any given day. Where the therapist is travelling from can also change, so you will likely see different travel fees on different days. Any shared travel expenses will show on invoices as a discount.
We thank you for your kind understanding at this time as we make these complex and difficult billing changes. We understand that some families will be impacted and others will not. If you have any concerns about these changes that we are being forced to make, I encourage you to contact your local MP to let them know how the changes to the NDIS are impacting your family. You can find a list of who represents you on the Parliament of Australia website.
