NDIS updates
When Therapy Funding Is Cut: ART Evidence for Increased Ongoing Therapies
Therapy funding cuts are often justified as 'capacity building complete'. Tribunal-ready evidence shows why ongoing therapy remains reasonable and necessary.
Key points
- Therapy funding cuts are often justified as 'capacity building complete'.
- Tribunal-ready evidence shows why ongoing therapy remains reasonable and necessary.
A common rejection pattern
Plans increasingly come back with reduced therapy hours and a rationale along the lines of: capacity building has been achieved, therapy should be delivered by support workers under a program, or the participant has plateaued. For people with progressive conditions, degenerative changes or complex reg needs, these rationales can be clinically wrong — but the Tribunal needs evidence, not disagreement.
What the evidence must answer
A review-ready therapy case needs to show three things: what the ongoing therapy is actually treating or maintaining, what happens functionally when therapy is withdrawn or reduced (decline in mobility, increased care needs, loss of community access, carer strain), and why the therapy cannot reasonably be delivered by a non-clinical workforce.
Progress notes alone rarely do this. A targeted assessment that measures current function, reviews the therapy history and projects the consequences of reduced input gives the Tribunal something it can weigh.
How we can help
For these matters I review the decision and therapy history, assess current function, and produce documentation sized to the gap — a clinical response letter where the evidence exists but was poorly framed, or a full independent assessment where it does not. Reports are delivered within 10 business days of the final appointment.
Assessments are available in person across the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Logan, Scenic Rim and Northern Rivers, during regional visits to Adelaide, the Riverland and Mackay, and by Telehealth Australia-wide. Read more on our NDIS ART review assessments page.
References and further reading
Information checked against the official sources above on 19 June 2026.
This article provides general information only. NDIS rules and individual circumstances can change; check current official guidance or seek advice about your situation.
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