📊 The Numbers Don’t Lie
The NDIA just dropped its quarterly report:
The NDIS now supports over 739,000 Australians.
Growth slowed to just over 10% (down from 12%). The goal? Bring it down to 8% by 2026.
✨ Fun bit: Employment for young participants (15–24) has more than doubled. Proof that when you invest in people, good things happen. If that doesn’t scream power shift, what does?
🏛️ Policy Plot Twist: “Foundational Supports”
Minister Jenny McAllister is in her main character era. She’s promising big reforms and rolling out foundational supports — help outside the NDIS to back people with disability.
Think of it like adding side quests to the main game: still important, but designed so the main scheme doesn’t collapse under pressure.
💰 WA Goes All-In: Funding Flip
Western Australia just switched to a fixed annual contribution model. Translation: instead of paying per participant, WA cuts one big cheque each year and the Commonwealth picks up the rest.
💸 Pricing Shake-Up: Therapists Feeling the Pinch
New national rules just dropped:
Travel charges capped at 50% of hourly rate.
Therapy fees cut by up to $10/hour.
The idea? Keep costs under control. The reality? Providers (especially in regional WA) worry they can’t cover travel or keep services going. Big clap back energy brewing here.
🔐 Tech Update: Bye PRODA, Hello myID
Say farewell to clunky PRODA logins. The NDIA is rolling out myID, a new digital identity app.
Every provider will need their own verified login (bye-bye shared passwords 🙄). Yes, it’s another app on your phone… but at least it means tighter security and no more “who actually logged in?” mysteries.
🚨 Big Brother Energy: Ban Breaches in Court
For the first time, the NDIS Commission dragged two people into Federal Court for breaking banning orders.
Imagine being told “you’re banned” and still sneaking back in — like getting dumped from Love Island and trying to scale the villa fence. Not cute.
The message is clear: flout the rules, and you’re out (for real).
📣 Advocates Want Clarity
Disability groups are calling for simpler rules on what the NDIS will and won’t pay for.
Instead of confusing “in/out” lists, they want one principles-based guide with clear exclusions. Right now? It feels like trying to read IKEA instructions with half the pages missing.ow? It feels like trying to read IKEA instructions with half the pages missing.
⚠️ Provider Oversight Gap = Tragedy
In Brisbane, a participant tragically died in a house run by an unregistered provider. Because they weren’t registered, they didn’t need to report the death. The company went bust days later.
Advocates are demanding mandatory registration for all providers. No loopholes. No excuses. If you’re in the game, you play by the rules.
🎤 Final Word — Our Swifty Era
The NDIS is basically in its new album drop era. Still messy. Still loud. Still full of big changes and bigger feelings.
But here’s the thing: we’re not just streaming the chaos — we’re producing our own tracks. Like this week at the Wise Health networking event in Airport West: between sick kids, school science nights, and traffic jams, I still made it in time to catch big ideas, burgers, and even bigger sector energy. Proof that sometimes the best tracks are the ones you nearly miss.
SwiftyMatchy is our next era. Bold, unapologetic, and built for a sector that’s tired of waiting for someone else to get it right.
We’ll slide back into your inbox soon with more tea, app updates, and the stuff no one else dares to say out loud.
Till then,
👢 Keep your boots high, your standards higher
✨ Stay bratty, stay bold
💋 — Team SwiftyMatchy
💌 PS: Email Sarah — the Swifty you didn’t know you needed for unfiltered NDIS truth bombs → [email protected]