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Members may have seen recent media coverage suggesting the Government is considering changes to the NDIS that could impact people with psychosocial disability.
The reporting indicates that the NDIS’s mental health spend, estimated at around $6 billion and supporting approximately 65,000 participants, may be a focus of upcoming reforms.
We are deeply concerned about the tone of the public conversation, and we have issued our first of many media statements about this.
Once again, we are seeing narratives emerge that question who is “disabled enough” to access support. First, it was Autistic children, now it is people with psychosocial disabilities.
These same debates do not occur in the same way for people with physical disabilities or medical illnesses. We do not see public discourse questioning whether someone is “disabled enough” to receive cancer treatment, or suggesting we should ration chemotherapy to balance the budget.
Many of us have spent decades working to reduce stigma in mental health and disability. Seeing this debate relitigated in the media is understandably frustrating, and for some, deeply distressing.
Psychosocial disability is a legitimate and recognised disability. It reflects the very real, often fluctuating, and sometimes severe impacts of mental health conditions on a person’s functioning and ability to participate in everyday life.
With the right supports, people can stabilise, recover, and engage meaningfully in their communities. Without those supports, we know what happens: increased hospitalisations, crisis presentations, disengagement, and long-term disadvantage.
What we are also hearing directly from participants and their families is deeply concerning. This public narrative is having real impacts. People are reporting increased fear, uncertainty, and a renewed sense of shame about their condition and their need for support.
This is the consequence of myopic and ill-informed public debate.
There is also an increasingly concerning narrative that NDIS spending in this space is somehow excessive or misplaced. From what we are hearing from members across the country, that does not reflect the reality of practice.
These supports are not “nice to have”, they are often the difference between someone coping and someone in crisis.
We also want to say this clearly: moving people from one system to another is not reform or cost saving.
Shifting people with psychosocial disability out of the NDIS, without a fully funded and accessible alternative, does not reduce cost, it simply redistributes it. And too often, that cost shows up in acute systems, emergency departments, and in the lives of people who fall through the gaps.
You may also have seen commentary about the NDIS eroding “social capital”. From our perspective, what is far more damaging is myopic and uninformed reporting that undermines public understanding and fuels stigma toward people who are already vulnerable.
And we know many of you are already navigating:
- increased financial pressures on clients
- cancellations and reduced engagement due to cost of living
- reduced funded supports already being experienced by NDIS participants
- ongoing uncertainty across the NDIS and broader mental health system
We see this. And we are advocating directly on it.
AAPi is actively engaged through the NDIS National Mental Health Sector Reference Group and broader advocacy channels to:
- push back on narratives that stigmatise psychosocial disability
- ensure any reforms are evidence-based and clinically informed
- advocate for appropriate, accessible alternatives where change is proposed
- highlight the real-world impacts on psychologists and the people you support
We are also challenging skewed media reporting and speaking with journalists.
As always, our work happens at both levels, advocating for systemic change while staying closely connected to what you are experiencing day-to-day in practice.
We will continue to keep members updated as more information becomes available.