The uncertainty around NDIS, Foundational Supports and Thriving Kids reform is not abstract for Allied Health Business Owners. It sits inside your diary, payroll, waitlist, lease, team conversations and your nervous system.
If you are worried about what this means for your business, that concern is legitimate.
The direction is clear enough to take extremely seriously. Governments are seeking stronger oversight of funded services, tighter eligibility, pricing discipline, measurable outcomes and greater control over how supports are delivered. Foundational supports are being designed outside individual NDIS plans. Thriving Kids is signalling a different pathway for many children and families. Registration, compliance and commissioning discussions are no longer background noise. What’s frustrating is that it feels as if the decisions are largely already made but not yet shared.
So, what is not yet clear is the final shape of the market. That means there is still room to influence, prepare and position.
The Victorian Allied Health Provider Group has been working to make the impact of these reforms visible to government, particularly the seismic change they will likely create across the private provider landscape. Briefings and questions have been submitted for Senate Estimates, and further roundtables with Federal and State Ministers are pending. The Queensland Allied Health Provider Group is now active and advocating in alignment with the Victorian approach.
Other states it may not be too late, contact me.
This work must also highlight the disproportionate impact on women-owned businesses, women employees, and women with disability who run their own businesses.
There is also real moral injury in watching participants, families, clinicians and providers pay the price for years of government mismanagement.
Private providers are not passive victims in this. Advocacy cannot sit with one group, one peak body or one submission. Business Owners need to contribute evidence, case studies, local relationships and calm, practical messages about what would be lost if viable providers are pushed out.
I am presenting on these issues at the OT Exchange Private Practice Day and with OTA members. I am also willing to work with other peak bodies to support their members through this period. Please reach out.
The work now has two parts.
First, stay engaged. Know what is changing. Respond to consultations. Support sector advocacy. Tell the story of your outcomes, not just your activity.
Second, strengthen what you can control. Review your NDIS exposure and risk management strategies. Understand your margins. Tighten compliance. Build outcome reporting. Diversify revenue asap. Strengthen community relationships. Reduce founder/director dependency. Consider whether your business is “contract ready” (or can be “contract ready”) if future work flows through commissioned or registered provider structures.
Our phones and inboxes have been inundated with owners who are worried, tired and ready for practical help. If that’s you, please reach out. We are helping Allied Health Business Owners make sense of what’s changing, identify their exposure, strengthen their business foundations and decide what to do next.
This is not the time for panic, but it is not the time for passive waiting either.
