NDIS to Continue Covering Music and Art Therapy Costs

However, the price limit for art and music therapy will be cut to $156.16 per hour.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme NDIS logo is seen at the head office in Canberra, June 22, 2022. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Art and music therapy will continue to be included as part of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) following an independent review.

Stephen Duckett, a leading health economist who led the review, found that music and art therapy could be “effective and beneficial” in certain situations.

However, the independent review recommended a new national price limit of $156.15 (US$103.27) per hour for art and music therapy, down from $193.99.

After looking at pricing, Duckett found the current hourly price limit for art and music therapies under the NDIS was too high. He noted this had been putting pressure on the therapy market outside the scheme.

“My recommendation is that $156.16 per hour is more appropriate, in line with the rate for counselling, as these are all developing professions that are not yet nationally regulated,” he said.

The new pricing for art and music therapies will come into force from Nov. 24.

Duckett also highlighted the need for a stronger distinction between art and music as a therapeutic support and a general activity.

“Where an artist or musician does not have the relevant qualifications to register with one of the professional therapy associations, they should not be charging the therapy price limit,” he said.

Should Be Delivered By Registered Professionals

In late 2024, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) commissioned an independent review to assess art and music therapy.

Overall, the Duckett Review made 19 recommendations, of which 15 were directed to the NDIA. The NDIA said they support all of these 15 recommendations.

The review found that art and music therapies should be delivered by qualified, registered individuals with a professional association.

“NDIS funding cannot directly be used to cover the cost of art and music activities, however funding can be used for supports to enable participation in art or music activities, just not the cost of the activity itself,” the review stated.

Further, the review recommended that the NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee strengthen the evidence base of music and art therapy interventions for certain groups of people in the 2025-26 work plan.

NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said Duckett’s work provided a clear way forward for NDIS participants and providers of art and music therapy.

“Eligible participants who access art and music therapy can be confident that they are being supported by qualified therapists, recognised by a professional association,” McAllister said.

“We’re also making sure that the price of therapies is in line with the cost of other government services, so people with disability aren’t paying a higher price than other Australians.”

NDIS has Grown ‘Too Big, Too Fast’

The reduction in costs to the NDIS-funded music therapy comes after the insurance scheme was criticised for being costly for the taxpayer.

In 2023-24 alone, the NDIS cost taxpayers $42 billion, and this is expected to grow according to a report by the Grattan Institute (pdf).

It recommended reducing payments by $12 billion over the next 10 years.

While the NDIS was a vital part of Australia’s social fabric, the report said the scheme had grown “too big, too fast.”

The NDIS is one of the fastest-growing pressures on the federal budget, it found, and is at risk of crowding out other services that help people with a disability.

“Design flaws and governance failures baked in from the start have persisted, their impact increasingly stark as costs have spiraled. But more spending has not meant increasingly better results,” the report said.

The federal government is planning to remove children under nine with mild autism and developmental delays from the scheme and transition them to a new system called “Thriving Kids.”

Health Minister Mark Butler told the National Press Club on Aug. 20 that the NDIS was established to support people with “significant and permanent disability.”

“The Australian Government is restoring the National Disability Insurance Scheme to its original purpose—supporting people with permanent and significant disability—and ensuring the Scheme remains sustainable,” a fact sheet on the new Thriving Kids program states (pdf).

Shadow minister for disability and the NDIS, Anne Ruston, and assistant shadow minister for the NDIS Phil Thompson said reform must be guided by strong clinical advice.

“The Coalition will continue to hold the government to account, ensuring Australians living with disability receive the services they need,” they said.