Insights and feedback from National Disability Insurance Scheme providers will help inform how high-quality therapies are priced in the future, under a new $20 million national pilot program.
27 registered disability service organisations will share data on service delivery, workforce skills and participant outcomes, under the 12-month NDIS Quality Supports Program Therapy Pilot.
The Australian Government wants to make sure that NDIS participants are offered value for money while maintaining the viability of disability service providers.
The information gathered through this pilot will help to uphold that commitment, by improving understanding of how quality therapy is delivered and its cost.
Therapy supports account for around 10 per cent of NDIS spending, with 465,000 participants accessing the services.
All providers in the pilot offer occupational therapy, speech therapy and physiotherapy, among other supports. They include a mix of different service models, including remote and regional delivery. Among those involved:
- NextSense, employing more than 300 staff and supporting more than 1,400 NDIS participants
- Better Rehab, supporting more than 12,000 NDIS therapy participants nationwide & employing more than 400 staff
- Cerebral Palsy Alliance, providing therapy supports to over 3,000 NDIS participants and employing more than 2,500 staff
Participating providers were selected following a closed non-competitive grant process. Grant funding will offset the costs of working with the NDIA in collecting data on their operations.
The therapy pilot will run alongside those already underway in Supported Independent Living and Support Coordination, as part of the $45 million Quality Supports Program.
