The NDIS just saved, but at what cost?
For the 12 months from June 2024, NDIS expenses came in around $600 million below the 2024–25 budget estimate, signalling slower-than-expected cost growth.
While the numbers look good on paper, the reality on the ground tells a different story.
Therapy rates haven’t moved since 2019, travel funding has been cut in half, OTs are leaving, and participants are waiting longer.
The people left behind are doing more with less, trying to hold together a system that’s stretched thin. Every saving has a cost, and lately that cost has been people, both the ones who give care and the ones who need it.
The NDIS was built to care for others, but right now it’s burning out the very people who help and care, the OTs and allied health professionals keeping this system running.
So the question is, who will care for the carer, and who will help the helper?
Who Will Care for the Carer When the System Does Not
Behind every NDIS plan is a therapist holding everything together: the sessions, the travel, the paperwork, and the emotions.
They show up for everyone else, but few show up for them.
Those who work in the field see it every day, the exhaustion behind the smiles, the effort behind every visit, and the quiet truth no one wants to talk about.
The system depends on their care, yet offers little care in return.
The Facts We Can’t Ignore
1. Therapy rates frozen since 2019
Therapy support rates under the NDIS remain at $193.99 per hour, unchanged since 2019.
Behind that number are OTs who’ve watched fuel, rent, and insurance costs rise every year while their pay stays the same.
2. Travel pay cut in half
From 1 July 2025, therapy providers can only claim 50% of the hourly therapy rate for travel time, with strict time caps depending on the area. (Source: National Disability Insurance Agency, 2025)
3. Majority of OT businesses not sustainable
Over 60% of OT practices expect to report a loss or only break even if current pricing remains unchanged, and at least 8% have exited the NDIS market.
— ABC News, Concerns upcoming NDIS price changes could force providers to stop out-of-office services, 27 June 2025.
Over 60% of OT practices expect to report a loss or only break even if current pricing remains unchanged, and at least 8% have exited the NDIS market.
Full NDIS report read here: www.ndiscommission.gov.au
What Needs to Change
So what can we do next?
Maybe it starts with being heard.
Maybe it’s about recognising that behind every report, every budget, and every policy, there are real people holding it all together.
We’re not asking for praise, just for understanding and for a system that values the people who keep it alive.
The NDIS wasn’t built to cut corners. It was built to change lives.
But you can’t call it sustainable if the humans inside it are burning out.
We speak up not to complain, but to remind that care only works when the carers are cared for too.
Maybe it’s time to start listening.
