- Advocacy & Rights
- Pricing & Funding
Disability advocates push back on parts of NDIA pricing reform
Key points5 points
- Physical Disability Australia opposes participation pricing differentiation as currently drafted and wants any such change piloted and independently evaluated first.
- Reforms that reduce effective plan value, shift costs to participants or cut prices without evidence and transition protection are not supported.
- Accessible Short Term Accommodation should be safeguarded, and therapy pricing reform should be applied cautiously.
- Skill, support intensity, continuity of care, complex coordination and plan management should be recognised in pricing, and thin markets need stronger responses.
- The eight recommendations call for co-design with people with disability, adequate notice, published pricing assumptions and local monitoring with prompt review.
Summary
Physical Disability Australia has responded to the NDIA's Annual Pricing Review, backing evidence-based changes that improve transparency and workforce viability while opposing reforms that reduce plan value or shift costs onto participants.
The organisation argues that price settings directly determine access to support hours, skilled workers, therapy and accessible accommodation for people with high and complex needs. It rejects participation pricing differentiation in its current form and calls for pilots with independent evaluation and continuity protections. Its eight recommendations seek co-design with people with disability, adequate notice, published assumptions and prompt review where access deteriorates. Providers should expect closer scrutiny of short-term accommodation, therapy and plan management pricing.