11/06/2025
WE NEED YOU PLEASE! The NDIS released the updated pricing arrangement last night and to say we are disappointed by their decision is an understatement. We know that there is a lot of talk about the cost of therapies, but we wanted to take a moment to outline what our rate covers
1. The resources: everyone knows kids need stuff! They need stuff that is fun, engaging and fit for purpose. Imagine your child coming to therapy and being expected to engage with the same thing on rotation week in and week out. They will disengage which reduces the likelihood that therapy will be effective. We know that children who are having fun are learning.
2. Wages: everyone deserves to be paid fairly for the work they do. Wages and super is going up every year but the rate we can claim from the NDIS is not.
3. Travel: the use of our cars, our petrol and our time to drive to your children to better meet not just their needs but your family's needs. What we charge for travel was cut by 50% last night. But if we are travelling to you we cannot see clients in that time. Our time is still time! Other therapists in our region are already talking about moving to clinic only appointments which reduces your choice and control!
4. Clinic space: for those who join us in the clinic a portion of the fee we charge pays for that space- rent, power, heating, cooling, furniture, computers to write reports on and develop resources, the printer so we can print things for you, chairs for you to sit on!
5. Seesaw: so we can make sure we are delivering a service that keeps all stakeholders informed about what is happening in session. We created this in reasonse to your feedback, which is so important to us.
6. Sick leave: if we're sick, we don't get paid. Period. A portion of the rate you pay gets put aside so that I can pay my staff when they are sick. The same for holidays, we don't get paid when we go on breaks. We save all year to be able to go on holdiays at the end of the year.
7. Professional Development: As professionals we must complete a minimum number of hours of professional development most of which costs in excess of $1000. Not to mention the NDIS mandates that we be registered with our governing body which is Speech Pathology Australia which costs money as well.
The NDIS openly admitted to only reviewing the data of 71 speech pathology clinics across the nation when making their pricing decisions. This is despite noting there are 5,000+ providers of Speech pathology to participants of the NDIS nationwide.
We know the power of people, when we all pulled together to help the creative therapies, we saved them. Please, we need you. My colleague has created this petition in a bid to get our voices heard, please stand with us
Much love and thanks, Rhi & the Speech with Rhi & Friends team
5 YEARS, 11 MONTHS, 9 DAYS: A letter from your local Speech Pathologist
