Newcastle Music & Art Therapy

13/01/2026

AMTA has published a fact sheet about the state of music therapy funding under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Written with participants and their carers, plan managers, support coordinators and the general public in mind, we hope it clarifies the rules for accessing music therapy under the NDIS.

Here's the most important part:
- Music therapy is still an approved therapeutic support under the NDIS.
- Music therapy remains a funded therapy support under Capacity Building.

Check it out: https://www.austmta.org.au/news-item/21809/music-therapy-under-the-ndis-still-an-approved-therapeutic-support

📷 A registered music therapist and NDIS participant enjoy a music therapy session together.

12/01/2026

The lights are on, the doors are open, and we’re back in the clinic!

Start 2026 with music therapy and art therapy - visit www.newcastlemusictherapy.com.au to find out more!

VIDEO DESCRIPTION 📹
A montage of five videos shot from the interiors of our music and art rooms. In each shot, our admin Natalie opens the door to the room and switches on the light. Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers plays in the background. See more videos on TikTok.

08/01/2026

🎨🎶 Welcome back! 🎶🎨

We’ve had lots of rest and recuperation over the Christmas break, and we are ready to hit the ground running!

From Monday 12th January 2026, our clinic is open at our usual hours - if you can’t make your usual appointment time and day, please let us know!

Oh, and we may have hopped on to the TikTok train…follow us !

VIDEO DESCRIPTION 📹
White text reads “Therapy in - 3 - 2 - 1”. A montage of videos of our music and art rooms plays, showing the rooms themselves and also the instruments and art supplies in them. “Theme from A Summer Place” plays throughout the video; there is no vocal or speaking. The video ends with the Newcastle Music & Art Therapy logo - a blue tom drum with multicoloured paint splashing up from the skin as if it has just been dropped.

19/12/2025

🎄 Wishing all of our wonderful NMAT clients, family and friends a very merry Christmas and a safe and fun summer break! 🎄

We'll be back on board for therapy sessions from January 12th 2026. We can't wait to make music and art with you in the new year!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION🖼️
A photograph of 11 people with their arms around each other smiling at the camera (L-R: Natalie, Madi, Kate, Rachel, Joey, Katishe, Susan, Silvana, Phoebe, Miriam and Saiya). Surrounding the photo is a frame made of alternating red and green circles, with yellow fairy lights along the top and bottom. At the top of the photo, red and green font reads "Merry Christmas" with red, green and yellow images of musical notes and art supplies on either side. Black handwritten-style text at the bottom reads "from the team at Newcastle Music & Art Therapy". The background is white.

19/12/2025

Did you make a submission to the Duckett Review into Art and Music Therapies?

If you did, the NDIS will be sending you an email asking for your permission to share your submission to the Duckett review with the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DHDA) for their review into the effectiveness of Art Therapy and Music Therapy.

All you need to do is complete the consent form via the link at the bottom of the email that says "Art and Music Therapy Review".

This also means that you won't need to provide a second submission to the new review, or send through your first submission again.

If you haven't received the email, you can contact disabilityevidence@health.gov.au for more information.

02/12/2025

🎶 Why choose Music Therapy? 🎶

Music Therapy is NOT a music lesson! We individually tailor your session so that you can use music to work on your goals in a supportive, therapeutic environment. It's not about learning an instrument; it's about building your everyday life skills and expressing yourself through the musical process.

We currently have spots available for individual Music Therapy here at our Warners Bay clinic. All you need to do is fill out our referral form here: https://bit.ly/NMAT_MTReferral

IMAGE DESCRIPTION 🖼️
An infographic that says "10 ways Music Therapy can support you" in the bottom right corner, with 10 coloured bells under the "10". There are 10 black outline boxes that each have an image and word inside.
The first row says "Communicate and interact with others" above a microphone, "Get motivated to move" above a yellow tambourine, and "Help you function in your daily life through practicing skills" above a colourful xylophone.
The second row says "Use music to help you feel better" above a purple tongue drum, "Understand, express and regulate emotions" above a djembe drum, and "Creative self expression" above a green ukulele.
The third row says "Access shared music experiences with others" above a collection of percussion instruments, "Express thoughts and feelings through songwriting" above a smartphone, notation paper and headphones, and "Improve thinking skills" above a compact MIDI keyboard.
The fourth row says "Self confidence through musical achievements" above a blue tom drum and drumsticks.

01/12/2025

🎨 Why choose Art Therapy? 🎨

Art Therapy is about more than talking and painting. In your individually tailored session you can work on building everyday life skills, express yourself, and work on your goals in a supportive, therapeutic environment.

We currently have spots available for individual Art Therapy here at our Warners Bay clinic. All you need to do is fill out our referral form here: https://bit.ly/NMAT_ATReferral

IMAGE DESCRIPTION 🖼️
An infographic that says "10 ways Art Therapy can support you" in the bottom right corner, with paint covered hands showing 10 fingers behind the title. There are 10 black outline boxes that each have an image and word inside.
The top row says "Communication" with an image of a head silhouette with scrunched up paper flowing out of it, "Self advocacy and choice" with an image of papier mache, and "Fine motor skills" with an image of knitting needles and pink wool.
The second row says "Executive function skills" with colourful buttons underneath, "Social connection" with an image of an art diary showing a collage, and "Sensory processing" with an image showing two jars of slime.
The third row says "Challenging perfectionism" with an image of charcoal underneath, "Emotional regulation" with a green paint splat beneath, and "Creative self expression" with an image of a clay figure.
The fourth row says "Distress tolerance" with an image of colourful plasticine.

27/11/2025

Here we go again, folks...

The Australian Government have established the NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee (EAC) to ensure that NDIS supports are safe, suitable and cost-effective for people with disability.

Supports the Committee will be reviewing in 2026 include Art Therapy and Music Therapy .

The EAC are putting together an independent expert research group that will undertake a review of the evidence base for art and music therapy, after the Independent Review into pricing for music and art therapy supports, led by Dr Stephen Duckett AM, recommended that the EAC assess the evidence base for art and music therapy interventions in specific cohorts in its 2025–26 work plan.

🔴 🔴🔴🔴🔴
If you use these supports, the committee wants to hear from you. Public consultation is now open until 11:59 pm AEDT on 20 January 2026.

You can complete the survey here: https://consultations.health.gov.au/evidence-advisory-committee-eac/december-2025/
🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Read the announcement here:
https://www.health.gov.au/news/ndis-evidence-advisory-committee-share-your-thoughts-on-supports-under-review

Once again, we thank you for your unending support for Art Therapy, Music Therapy, and our clinic. We wouldn't still be here without you, and we love that we get to continue to support you every day.

The NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee is reviewing supports to make sure they are safe, beneficial and cost-effective for people with disability. They want input from the disability community to help inform their advice to government.

23/11/2025

Today, Monday 24th November 2025, marks the start of the new NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025-26 (PAPL), which includes a change to the price limit for Art Therapists and Music Therapists - $156.16 per hour.

We communicated changes to our session timing and pricing in an email to clients on 31st October 2025 - please contact our admin team if you have any questions.

https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/10924-updated-ndis-pricing-arrangements-and-price-limits-2025-26

IMAGE DESCRIPTION 🖼️
A woman with brown hair sits curled up on a couch with her back to us. Over her shoulder we can see the screen of the phone she holds in her hands; on the screen is the NDIS Price Guide on a web browser. In the background there is an out of focus coffee table with a glass and pitcher of water, a puzzle and a book on the tabletop.

17/10/2025

A huge congratulations to Saiya (RMT), who presented at the Australian Music Therapy Association 2025 Conference today!

Saiya's presentation, '"I Do It My Way": Reflections on Music Therapy with Autistic Children with PDA Characteristics', draws on her professional experience to talk about neuroaffirming music therapy interventions for kids with PDA characteristics.

We’re so proud of Saiya, and grateful to all of her clients who agreed to take part in her presentation research.

AMTA are celebrating 50 years as an industry association, and their 50th conference! Our wonderful Music Therapy team are in Melbourne for the next few days soaking up new knowledge, research and music to bring back to Newcastle Music & Art Therapy.



IMAGE DESCRIPTION 🖼️

An audience with their backs to us, facing a small stage with a large projected PowerPoint presentation at the back. Saiya, a woman with blonde hair wearing a white shirt and patterned bottoms, is at a podium speaking into a microphone with a smile on her face. Her presentation is aqua with teal and orange shapes and black writing.

14/10/2025

Come on down to Newcastle Racecourse today and visit us at the Aged Care & Disability Expo!

We’ll be here until 3pm, alongside a whole host of other aged care and disability providers. There’s also free fairy floss and popcorn (shh don’t tell them we told you!).

13/10/2025

🎉Today is Allied Health Professions Day!🎉

celebrates and brings together the allied health professional community. This year's theme, , highlights the benefits of multidisciplinary team-based care.

Music Therapy and Art Therapy are evidence-based allied health professions provided by Registered Music Therapists (RMT) and Registered Art Therapists (AThR). We work together with, and alongside, medical and allied health professionals to provide multidisciplinary team-based care for all of our clients.

❓DID YOU KNOW❓

Australia's 300,000+ allied health professionals represent more than a third of the health workforce.

They deliver an estimated 200 million health services annually.

They work holistically with consumers, providing a broad range of diagnostic, technical, therapeutic and direct health and wellbeing services.

They play a key role in multidisciplinary team care.

To find out more about how allied health can benefit you, follow Allied Health Professions Australia Australian Music Therapy Association ANZACATA and our page!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION 🖼️
A light blue rectangle with a smiling woman in the bottom third. She has dark skin and hair, and is wearing a white shirt. Above her head in pink font is the headline "Allied Health Professions Day", with "Tuesday 14 October" written to its lower right in dark blue font. The four facts contained in this Facebook post surround the woman's head, in dark blue font with flow chart connector lines joining the facts to the woman. The AHPA logo is in the bottom left corner, and the Allied Health Professions Day logo is in the top right corner.