Response from AAPi on NDIS decision to halve provider travel fee from 1 July 2025
12 June 2025
Peak body for all psychologists, The Australian Association of Psychologists Inc. (AAPi) is deeply concerned by the NDIS’s decision to halve the provider travel fee for therapy services, effective from 1 July 2025.
AAPi Executive Director Tegan Carrison said:
“While we support efforts to ensure participant funding is used effectively, this change risks severely limiting access to essential psychological support - particularly for vulnerable clients in regional, rural, and remote areas.”
Amanda Curran, Chief Psychologist at AAPi, said the cut would severely impact the accessibility of therapy supports for people who are unable to leave their homes to attend in- clinic sessions.
“These cuts will significantly reduce the ability of providers to conduct home visits for NDIS participants.
“They will also disproportionately and negatively impact rural and remote communities, who struggle to get any services at all,” she said.
“The issue participants have continually raised is not that providers are billing too much for travel - it is that their plans do not adequately cover the travel costs of their providers.
“Psychologists simply cannot absorb travel costs required to provide services outside of the clinic setting.”
Ms Curran said the NDIS annual pricing report failed to consider the realities of delivering therapy to the most vulnerable clients in their homes or other appropriate settings outside of the therapy room.
“For many psychologists, particularly those travelling to remote or high-needs clients, the reduction in travel funding will make home visits financially unfeasible. Some participants require services delivered in their homes due to issues around safety and accessibility - and to increase their chance of improvements being seen in settings outside the therapy room. These changes effectively reduce participant choice and flexibility in the way their services are provided.
“At a time when there is already a shortage of psychologists in so many regions, this change may drive even more professionals away from providing outreach services to NDIS clients.
“It’s a short-sighted decision that could have long-term consequences for access and continuity of care.
“We strongly urge the NDIA to consult with frontline psychologists and reconsider this decision immediately. Any reforms to travel funding must ensure that they do not come at the expense of access, safety, and outcomes for people with disability.”
ENDS
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