Could Professional Development help us navigate the NDIS Cuts?
If you’re an allied health clinician in Australia right now, I can almost guarantee you’ve been worrying about the uncertainty around NDIS. While not a lot has been officially announced, what we have been told and what we’re already seeing is causing mass anxiety across the sector.
The Facebook groups are all buzzing with panic about how clinicians can sustain their businesses if NDIS isn’t paying the majority of the invoices. Last week, with no warning, one of my 1:1 feeding therapy clients (5-year-old Oliver Robinson*) had ‘dietetics’ cut from his plan. The NDIA stated that ‘feeding therapy can be provided by his OT or speech therapist’ and ‘dietetics can be accessed through public health’. Ollie has complex disabilities and his OT and speechie are working towards other important goals that have nothing to do with his food challenges. They’re also not trained or qualified in paediatric feeding. Ollie also has a number of high-risk factors that relate directly to nutrition, risks that can’t be managed without a dietetic lens. Not only has this increased the load on Ollie’s parents and increased his clinical risks, it’s reduced my regular income.
Funding is dwindling, NDIS plans are getting shorter, and the NDIA are breathing down our necks more than ever before. Ollie’s mum is now faced with some hard choices; accept the change and do her best based on what she’s already learned from me or completely change OT and/or speech therapists to try and find clinicians who can do both. It’s unethical, it’s causing even more strain on already struggling families, but it’s the new reality for many Australians.
As I considered ways to support the Robinsons within their funding, I kept thinking how much easier it would be if their current clinicians had been trained in paediatric feeding by a dietitian. Before they found me, the Robinsons had gone for far too long without any feeding support because any clinicians who were familiar with it couldn’t provide it with a dietetic lens.
As we all try and figure out ways to thrive in a post-NDIS landscape, it made me wonder…could professional development be something worth prioritising?
Upskilling isn’t just about improving clinical outcomes, it’s equally about business strategy. We all got into this because we’re passionate about the work that we do, but we also know that passion alone doesn’t pay the bills. The more skills you have, the more marketable you are. When you can offer more than just the fundamentals you learned at uni, you future-proof your career and increase the sustainability of your practice.
Generalised services are the easiest to be replaced, and this is especially true with the current and increasing cuts to NDIS. Participants and their families are becoming more selective about which clinicians they choose simply because they have to get the most from their limited funds. It wasn’t long ago that we didn’t have to think about where our clients were going to come from. Simply having available appointments was enough to fill our caseload, but it won’t be for much longer (and many of us are already seeing this). This economic downturn will reward clinicians who have depth, not just availability.
PD also changes how you market yourself. Most of us don’t have professional backgrounds in business or marketing, so anything that gives us a competitive advantage is worth considering. When you niche or specialise, it’s easier to know how your business should communicate. It clarifies your market position, gives you a stronger professional identity, and builds more confidence when you’re communicating the outcomes of your services.
There’s also the fact that upskilling can add variety. If we were all honest with each other about what’s working and what’s not, I think most of us would say that the days can often feel repetitive. An OT or speechie who upskills in paediatric feeding can break up the daily repetition and rediscover a sense of momentum in their work. Unlike some areas of therapy where progress can take months to unfold, feeding therapy often allows clinicians to see meaningful progress much sooner, reigniting their confidence and job satisfaction.
At the heart of all this are the lives that are going to get even harder because of the changes to NDIS. I know many on my caseload are already feeling invalidated, more burdensome, and more vulnerable than ever before. They simply don’t have much fight left in them, and it’s a battle they shouldn’t have to enlist for in the first place. The more skills we have, the better equipped we are to genuinely improve the lives of our fellow Australians.
So what do you think, is professional development worth prioritising as we navigate the next chapter of our careers?
(Personally, I think it is!).
