NDIS REFORMS TO
ARTS AND MUSIC THERAPIES
This page is a holding place for any information I develop for practitioners and participants who are impacted by the NDIS Reforms and, specifically, the announced changes to Arts and Music Therapy. I hope to correct misinformation as I see it, share some tools which may assist in the campaign and/or plan review processes, and be clear about what I do and do not know.
If you would like me to share other resources you know about, please get in touch.
I will also be taking time out to breathe, take stock, and prepare myself for the long haul.
Minister Shorten has said that “Experts know how to write reports” and that if arts and music therapists “provide evidence of benefits”, arts and music therapy will get funded.
With reference to the Summary of Known Evidence Requirements, can you clarify for arts and music therapists what your Technical Advisors and Planners will be using as evidence up to and until the establishment of the Evidence Advisory Committee from July 2025?
Can you clarify what training and instructions your Technical Advisors and Planners will have to ensure they can assess the evidence submitted in a skilful and unbiased manner?
Can you clarify why, after ten years, you have made this decision prior to the establishment of the Evidence Advisory Committee, despite the evident risks of harm to NDIS participants, their carers and the workforce?
If you are using the NDIA Guide, under what authority or interpretation did this document disregard the crucial element of the NDIS Rules regarding the expertise and lived experience of the participant or carer?
In considering what the NDIA has learnt from the delivery of the NDIS, have your advisors closely reviewed the evidence and personal testimonies in the thousands of reports and petitions submitted by music and arts therapists quoting/representing the lived experience of the participant and their carers?
What is the process (up to and until July 2025), for submitting evidence for NDIS participants we have not yet met and who would benefit from Arts or Music Therapy in their plan?
Given the evidence already submitted and documents publicly available through our Professional Associations, what forms of evidence do you perceive to be missing?
NDIS Training for Allied Health Practitioners
Crayons and Stuff has previously delivered group training for art therapists and other allied health professionals on how to register for NDIS, whether to become a registered provider, and how to work as an NDIS therapist, including Working with NDIS Goals.
Working with NDIS Goals was still offered on request only to existing groups of 4 or more participants, with discounts available for larger groups.
Following the announcements on 26 November about the future of arts and music therapy in the NDIS, I am reviewing the available information and considering how best to address new risks to our practice through the plan review and reporting process. While I do not know what I will be able to offer at this stage, please get in touch if you would like to be updated on group training or other resources.