A Global Conflict with Local Consequences
We don’t travel because it’s convenient. We travel because it’s necessary.
The recent global fuel surge, driven by instability in the Strait of Hormuz, has pushed petrol prices sharply upward across Australia (ABC News, 2026). Rising fuel costs are affecting many Australians in real and immediate ways. For mobile allied health professionals, they also create an added challenge: the cost of reaching the people who rely on care delivered in their everyday environments.
The fuel hike affecting the allied health worker in Australia especially occupational therapist is not just about higher costs at the pump. It’s about whether we can continue to deliver care where it actually matters, in people’s homes, communities, and everyday environments. Because here’s the reality: if we can’t afford to travel, we can’t do our job properly.
Australia’s petrol prices are high, but they are not among the highest in the world. Data from GlobalPetrolPrices.com shows that Australia’s average gasoline price was AUD 2.07 per litre on 16 March 2026, which placed it around the middle of the global range rather than at the top. That global context matters, but it does not reduce the local impact. Even a mid-range international position can still translate into serious day-to-day pressure for Australian mobile allied health professionals who rely on regular travel to deliver services.
Why Travel Isn’t Optional in Occupational Therapy
Travel is often misunderstood as a logistical extra, but in occupational therapy it is a fundamental part of how effective care is delivered. We do not travel to participants’ homes out of convenience or preference. We travel because the home, school, or community setting is often where the most meaningful assessment and intervention can take place. It is in these everyday environments that we can properly understand how a person functions, identify barriers to independence, and recommend supports that are practical, safe, and relevant to daily life.
Real Therapy Happens in Real Environments
For occupational therapists, meaningful assessment and intervention often occur in the environments where people live their daily lives. Occupational Therapy Australia highlights that services in home, school, and community settings allow therapists to better understand functional challenges, assess supports in context, and deliver practical, relevant recommendations.
In these settings, we are often assessing:
- home safety and accessibility
- how assistive technology works in practice
- daily routines, tasks, and environmental barriers in context
We are also supporting:
- functional independence in everyday activities
- participation at home, school, and in the community
- skill development in the settings where those skills are actually used
This is why travel is not incidental to occupational therapy practice. A clinic can support some aspects of care, but it cannot fully replicate the lived environment in which a person functions every day. When we work in a client’s home or community, we are not simply delivering a service. We are seeing the barriers, strengths, and routines that shape whether therapy will translate into meaningful outcomes.
The Double Pressure: Fuel Prices and NDIS Travel Cuts
The timing couldn’t be worse.
At the same time fuel prices are rising, the NDIS has introduced changes that reduce how travel is funded:
- Travel time is now billed at 50% of the hourly rate
- Caps limit how much travel can be claimed
- Additional costs must often be negotiated with clients
On paper, these might look like minor adjustments. In practice, they’re not. They shift the financial burden directly onto providers. And with fuel prices climbing, that burden is getting heavier by the week, as outlined in recent sector analysis .
The Real Impact on Daily Practice
This isn’t theoretical. It’s already changing how we work.
1. Rising Costs We Can’t Absorb
Fuel is now one of the biggest operational expenses for mobile therapists.
We’re seeing:
- Increased weekly fuel spend
- Higher vehicle wear and maintenance
- Reduced take-home income
And while some costs can be claimed, not all clients can cover them. Not all plans allow for it. Not all conversations are easy to have. So what happens? Many therapists absorb the cost. But that’s not sustainable.
2. Changes to How We Deliver Services
To cope with rising costs, many therapists are adjusting how they work by reducing travel distances, clustering clients by location, and limiting their service areas. These strategies may help manage day-to-day pressures, but they also come with trade-offs, including reduced flexibility, narrower reach, and less access for clients who live further away.
3. Administrative and Emotional Load
Every extra cost now requires:
- Discussion
- Agreement
- Documentation
It adds time. It adds pressure. And it changes the nature of the therapeutic relationship. Because suddenly, we’re not just clinicians, we’re negotiating logistics and finances.
Financial Sustainability: A Growing Concern
Let’s be honest, this is where things start to break down. Many occupational therapists operate as sole traders, small business owners and independent contractors. We don’t have large margins to absorb ongoing losses. The fuel hike affecting the allied health worker in Australia especially occupational therapist is forcing difficult decisions:
- Do we stop servicing certain areas?
- Do we reduce mobile work altogether?
- Do we leave the NDIS space?
This isn’t about profitability. It’s about viability.
What This Means for Clients
If therapists pull back, clients feel it immediately.
Reduced Access, Especially in Regional Areas
In metropolitan areas, clients may still have alternative provider options, but in regional and remote areas, those options are often limited or nonexistent. When travel becomes financially unviable, services are reduced or withdrawn, waitlists grow longer, and clients ultimately miss out on essential care. This reflects broader sector concerns that outreach models may no longer be sustainable under current conditions, highlighting that this is not just a service gap but a growing equity issue.
A Shift That Risks Market Failure
When providers can no longer afford the real cost of travel, the problem goes well beyond individual business pressure. It exposes a deeper weakness in the system itself. The current model assumes that mobile services will continue to be available, while failing to properly fund what it actually takes to deliver them. Over time, that gap creates the conditions for market failure, particularly in areas where travel is unavoidable and provider choice is already limited. When services become financially unsustainable, providers reduce their reach, withdraw from certain regions, or leave the space altogether, and it is participants who ultimately bear the cost through delayed support, reduced access, and unmet needs.
A Practical Way Forward: Balancing Advocacy and Adaptation
From my experience working in mobile occupational therapy, one of the most practical ways to manage the current pressures is to combine strong advocacy for better funding with smarter day-to-day planning.
I would strongly encourage fellow therapists to adopt more strategic scheduling, such as clustering clients by location, creating defined travel zones, and blending in-person visits with telehealth where clinically appropriate, to reduce unnecessary driving and fuel costs.
At the same time, we shouldn’t normalise absorbing these losses, travel remains a core part of our role, not an optional extra.
By being intentional with how we plan our days while continuing to advocate for fair travel funding, we can protect both our sustainability and the quality of care we provide to our clients.
The Bigger Picture for Allied Health
Occupational therapists are not alone in feeling the impact of rising fuel costs. Physiotherapists, speech pathologists, psychologists providing outreach, and many other mobile allied health professionals also rely on travel as a core part of service delivery. For these practitioners, getting to a client’s home, school, or community setting is not an added extra. It is often essential to providing safe, effective, and person-centred care.
That means the current pressure is not isolated to one profession. It is a sector-wide issue. When fuel costs rise and travel funding does not keep pace, the consequences extend beyond individual providers. Services become harder to sustain, outreach areas may shrink, and access for clients, particularly in regional and remote communities, becomes more fragile. In that sense, this is not just a challenge for mobile occupational therapists. It is a broader warning sign for allied health in Australia, with the potential to affect workforce stability, service availability, and equity of access across the system.
What Needs to Change
We need to be clear, this isn’t sustainable as it stands.
To address the fuel hike affecting the allied health worker in Australia especially occupational therapist, we need:
1. Fair Travel Compensation
Travel time and costs must reflect real-world conditions.
2. Policy That Matches Practice
Funding models need to recognise that mobile care is essential, not optional.
3. Support for Rural and Remote Services
Without targeted support, access gaps will continue to widen.
This Is About More Than Fuel
This isn’t just about petrol prices. It’s about whether allied health professionals can continue to deliver care where it matters most. It’s about whether clients, especially those in vulnerable or remote communities, can access the services they need.
And it’s about whether the system supports the reality of practice on the ground. The fuel hike affecting the allied health worker in Australia especially occupational therapist is exposing cracks that were already there. Now is the time to address them, before those cracks turn into gaps we can’t close.
FAQs
Fuel prices have increased due to global supply disruptions, particularly in key oil transit regions like the Strait of Hormuz.
It increases operational costs, reduces profitability, and limits the ability to provide mobile services.
Travel time is now reimbursed at 50% of the hourly rate, with caps depending on location.
Yes, but it must be agreed upon, and not all clients can cover these additional costs.
Yes, due to longer travel distances and fewer available providers.
Strategies include clustering clients, using telehealth, and advocating for better funding policies.
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Reference and sources:
https://www.ruralhealth.org.au/media-release/proposed-ndis-travel-allowance-cuts-a-blow-to-rural-providers-and-people-with-a-disability/
https://otaus.com.au/news/policy-and-advocacy-update-19-march-2026
https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/10827-travel-claiming-rules-gap-fees-and-other-costs
