NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says NDIS-funded art therapy available in ‘specific circumstances’

Key points:

• The National Disability Insurance Agency recently released a statement outlining changes to therapy support funding, effective Feburary 1, 2025
• Representatives from organisations including People With Disability Australia have called out the NDIS on the recent changes and highlighted the impact on people with disability
• NDIS Minister Bill Shorten emphasised that the changes will not affect NDIS participants where the art and music therapy is ‘reasonable and necessary’

The recently announced therapy support changes in the National Disability Insurance Scheme have caused concerns among disability advocates and music therapy organisations regarding the impact on NDIS participants.

From February 1, 2025, NDIS participants seeking to include music and art therapy in their NDIS-funded plans may now face additional barriers to accessing this type of therapy support.

Unlike art and music classes where participants learn new skills, music and art therapy provides a self-guided space for people to explore creativity and materials in a supportive, no-pressure environment. 

In these therapy sessions, participants may also engage in de-stressing techniques, develop social skills and manage behaviours associated with disability or mental health issues.

The benefits of art therapy have been linked to improved general health and well-being, including greater self-awareness, improved emotional regulation and lower levels of anxiety.

However, recent changes to NDIS-funded therapy supports including art and music therapy have raised concerns in the art therapy sector.

Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association CEO Kate Dempsey highlighted the concerns of these additional barriers for NDIS participants to access art and music therapy.

“This decision will have devastating consequences for NDIS participants who rely on art therapy as their primary means of therapeutic support,” she said.

“Many of our members’ clients cannot effectively engage with traditional talk-based therapies, making arts therapy their vital link to therapeutic support.”

Additionally, impacts of the art therapy funding changes could make it more difficult to access disability services in rural areas, cause smaller healthcare practices to close and impact current NDIS clients’ relationships, according to the Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association. 

The NDIS website states the following regarding the recent changes: ‘While art and music therapy remain permissible, they do not meet the evidentiary standards required to be classified as a ‘therapy’ under the definition of NDIS supports.’

However, in an interview with ABC Radio Melbourne, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten emphasised the impact of changes to music and art therapy funding in the NDIS.

[…] If you currently have [music and art therapy] in your plan, it stays till [sic] the end of your plan. People have our [NDIS] plans for one year or two years,” he said.

“At the moment, 7,000 [NDIS participants] do some form of music therapy.

“[…] The rules about therapies and accessing the $193 dollar therapy is that you have to be able to demonstrate that it’s reasonable and necessary in the specific circumstances.

“[…] Where it is a social activity which people get enjoyment, where they get activity, where they get social interaction, it’ll be charged at the community rate of $68 dollars an hour.”

However, representatives from disability advocacy organisations are concerned about the impact of these funding changes on NDIS participants.

People With Disability Australia Director Trinity Ford commented on the impact of the therapy funding changes in an interview with ABC Radio National on November 26, 2024.

“Art and music therapies have a really good evidence base in the literature that they’re effective therapies and interventions, particularly for people with a background in trauma,” she said.

Although the Australian Autism Alliance made a submission to ensure the NDIS provides funding for ‘non-verbal psychological care such as art therapy [and] music therapy,’  the recently announced changes to NDIS therapy support funding could make accessing this more difficult.

According to the Australian Music Therapy Association, ‘no one in the music therapy community was consulted about this decision’ to change access requirements for NDIS-funded music therapy.

Approximately 680,000 people are registered NDIS participants, as per the latest data from the NDIS website.

The Disability Support Guide can help you find other supports that you could request other NDIS funding for in your plan, including immersion therapy and animal-assisted therapy.

What are your thoughts on the recently announced changes to NDIS therapy support access?

Let the team at Talking Disability know on social media. 

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