24 June 2025

Senator Lambie's office 'inundated' with calls from NDIS clients concerned about funding review

| By John Murtagh
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a woman speaking in Senate chamber

Senator Jacqui Lambie has flagged her concerns over proposed recommendations to change the NDIS pricing system. Image: Jacqui Lambie Network.

Senator for Tasmania Jacqui Lambie says the 2025-26 NDIS Annual Pricing Review will result in a loss of services for Apple Isle residents in need.

The report’s recommendations include calls to reform the NDIS funding arrangements. The NDIS system costs almost $50 billion a year.

“The unintended consequences of these recommendations are really bad!” Senator Lambie said. ”These therapy services are not lifestyle choices for NDIS participants. They are critical and ensure their ongoing capacity for health, safety and wellbeing.

“I have also suggested that the Federal and State governments commit to supporting service providers by establishing a pricing framework that accurately reflects the real costs of delivering community services.”

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Senator Lambie has written to the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, as well as the Premier and Opposition Leader of Tasmania, asking them to reject the recommendations and assure Tasmanians that they won’t be left without the care they need.

“The proposed reduction in the hourly rate for travel is really unfair. If OTs (occupational therapists) and other allied health professionals can’t claim for the whole of their travel, they simply won’t go – and who can blame them?” Senator Lambie said about one of the proposed changes.

She said her office had been “inundated” with calls and emails from constituents concerned about losing their access to care, which kept them at home.

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“I have also been told that from 1st July, 2025, Tasmania’s North West Therapy Services, Occupational Therapy Australia and other service providers will stop delivering essential allied health services across Tasmania,” she said.

”I know from firsthand experience that these services are absolutely critical.

“Allied health professionals are being pushed to the brink. Some will be forced to stop delivering services, especially in regional and remote areas, because of a reckless 50 per cent cut to travel under the NDIS. I have heard from Tassie healthcare workers that they won’t be able to see anyone outside the CBD.

“On top of that, occupational therapy rates have been frozen for seven years, while costs are going up. This isn’t just bad policy. It’s a betrayal to vulnerable Australians who rely on these services.”

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