Important update regarding our billing structure
for services under the NDIS.
- NDIS Price Freeze
The NDIA has maintained the current maximum price limits for therapy supports—including speech pathology and occupational therapy —unchanged since mid‑2019. This price freeze has now lasted for six consecutive years.While inflation, business expenses, and wage costs have continued to rise, capped NDIS pricing has not kept pace. Many providers, including Liberty Allied Health, are facing increasingly strained margins due to this stagnation and sweeping real‑term funding shortfalls.
- Therapy and Documentation Time
In an effort to maximise the use of our clients’ funding, we have been operating on a service model that bills for less time than we realistically use. In reality, we spend substantially more time than we are charging to set up each session, run a session, write comprehensive clinical notes afterwards and distribute the notes to each child’s distribution list.This means we are routinely delivering well over 60-70 minutes per appointment—and well above the time that we are charging for. To continue to sustainably deliver high‑quality, thorough care, we need our billing to more accurately reflect the service provided.
- Rising Operational Costs in Australia
Operating a therapy service in Australia involves increasing costs that aren’t reflected in NDIS price caps:
- Wages: The Fair Work Commission’s Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Award has mandated wage increases, and superannuation and payroll tax are also climbing.
- Business costs: Insurance, building maintenance, utilities, professional development, technology platforms, and compliance demands are all rising significantly year on year.
These external factors mean that maintaining viability at current billing levels is no longer feasible.
What This Means for Clients
- Therapy time: Will increase to 45 minutes for speech pathology and 50 minutes for occupational therapy.
- Administration/documentation: Will reflect the 15–20 minutes typically required post-session.
- Overall cost: Will be charged at the NDIS rate of $193.99 at 60 minutes for speech pathology sessions and 70 minutes for occupational therapy sessions —reflecting the actual face-to-face and incorporate more of the time spent before and after each session.
Why This Is Necessary
- Sustainability: Ensures we can retain skilled clinicians and continue offering consistent, quality speech pathology and occupational therapy without cutting services.
- Accuracy: Aligns our charges with the real time and resources invested.
- Fairness: Matches rising costs for everyone—just as inflation and wage increases have impacted all businesses.
We appreciate the trust each family places in us to support your child’s communication and life skills development. This billing update will help us:
- Maintain high-quality, face-to-face therapy
- Deliver thorough, clinically sound documentation
- Keep our service viable and staffed by dedicated, qualified professionals
If you would like to sign the petition to NDIS to increase the price limits for providers, there are links here:
https://otaus.good.do/stop-cuts-under-the-NDIS/OTA-petition-NDIS/
https://www.change.org/p/5-years-11-months-9-days-a-letter-from-your-local-speech-pathologist
Links for Further Information
LINKS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
🧾 1. NDIS price freeze: duration and context
- Therapy support rates capped at $193.99/hr since 2019–20
According to analysis by The Provider Loft, “the 2024‑25 price limit for most therapists… remains $193.99 an hour. This limit has stood, unchanged, for 6 years.” theproviderloft.com.au - Entering seventh consecutive year in 2025–26
An Occupational Therapy Australia media release (11 June 2025) confirms that “therapy support prices will remain frozen into a seventh consecutive year,” meaning the freeze began in 2019–20 and now enters 2025–26. otaus.com.aunewshub.medianet.com.au
🔥 In short: NDIS therapy pricing has been frozen since financial year 2019–20—now stretching into its 7th year—even as providers face rising costs.
📈 2. Rising operating costs for providers
NDIS providers, especially allied health professionals, are under significant financial pressure due to:
- Inflation and wage increases
- The Consumer Price Index rose from ~3% in 2020 to 7% in 2023.
- The Wage Price Index surged by 3.7% in the year to March 2023.
- Speech Pathology Australia comments: “34% [of members] indicated that the NDIS price cap does not cover the cost of the service.” speechpathologyaustralia.org.au
- Negative operating margins
- The Provider Loft reports that larger allied‑health therapy providers ran at or below break‑even in 2024–25, with a median net margin of −14.2%. theproviderloft.com.au
🗣️ 3. Professional bodies sounding the alarm
Several peak organisations are calling for urgent reforms:
- Joint public statement (June 2025)
Allied‑health associations including APA, SPA, OTA, OPA, APS, ESSA, and Osteopathy Australia request an immediate halt and review of recent NDIS pricing decisions. They warn these threaten essential supports and service viability. otaus.com.aumiragenews.com - OTA statement (June 2025)
OT Australia highlights that participants face longer waitlists and diminished access due to frozen prices. The freeze has persisted six years already, now entering year seven. otaus.com.aunewshub.medianet.com.au
🧾 4. Summary table
| Issue | Evidence |
| Therapy prices frozen since 2019–20 | Unchanged $193.99/hr for therapists from 2019–20 to 2024–25 theproviderloft.com.auspeechpathologyaustralia.org.au |
| Fees remain capped in 2025–26 | OT prices frozen into a seventh year otaus.com.aunewshub.medianet.com.au |
| Inflation vs price increases | CPI rose up to 7% (2020–2023); WPI +3.7% to Mar 2023 speechpathologyaustralia.org.au |
| Providers losing money | Median net margin −14.2% for allied‑health providers theproviderloft.com.au |
🔍 5. What this means for providers and participants
- Therapy providers
- Facing rising wages, rent, insurance and compliance costs.
- Many report losses or breaking even.
- Some are reducing services or exiting the sector entirely. theaustralian.com.autheproviderloft.com.au
- Participants
- Experiencing longer waitlists, especially for OTs and speech pathologists.
- Risk of reduced choice as provider viability deteriorates.
🧩 6. Supporting documentation list
- The Provider Loft: therapy support price freeze at $193.99/hr for five years theproviderloft.com.au
- Speech Pathology Australia: CPI & WPI up, providers struggling speechpathologyaustralia.org.au
“A High Risk of Market Failure” – NDIS Annual Pricing Review Submission 2023-2024 - Provider Loft: median net margin −14.2%, highlighting unsustainability theproviderloft.com.au
- Occupational Therapy Australia: confirms 7-year freeze, critical access issues otaus.com.aunewshub.medianet.com.au
- Allied‑health joint statement (2025): urgent call to review NDIS pricing otaus.com.aumiragenews.com
✅ Conclusion
- The NDIS prices for therapy supports have been frozen since 2019–20, now entering a seventh consecutive year of no rate increases.
- Meanwhile, inflation, wages, and business costs have steadily climbed, squeezing already thin margins. Many providers report losses or threaten to leave the sector altogether.
- These facts are well documented, with credible sources including therapy-provider advocacy organisations and industry analysts.