NDIS funding cuts reduce accessibility to disability programs in Brisbane

Brisbane disability support workers warn proposed NDIS funding cuts could affect the independence and social connection of vulnerable clients.

Burnie Brae senior exercise physiologist Lauren Kelly runs programs for disabled clients to help them “maintain their function” and lead healthy, independent lives.

Kelly said the recent NDIS funding changes, including stricter limits on therapeutic support, are beginning to impact Burnie Brae’s community services.

The organisation has moved from one-on-one sessions to group programs to reduce service costs.

“[Clients] can’t come at all, or they might only be able to come [once] every three weeks, which just isn’t enough,” she said.

“Our clients are devastated,” Kelly said.

The Federal Government says its proposed NDIS reforms will save “a total of $37.8 billion over the next four years,” but disability support worker Sinead Healy said the families she works with are already feeling the impacts of the funding changes.

Some families are now “paying out of pocket” to keep their relatives attending Burnie Brae programs because they recognise the benefits.

“[The cuts are] only going to be negative. You’re taking exercise away from them. That’s such a huge part of their life,” Healy said.

Clients reliant on NDIS funding can experience breaks of up to a year from Burnie Brae programs due to funding gaps, which Kelly said can lead to declines in “strength, function, and social skills.”

“Their health over the period of absence always declines. They never come back to us better,” Kelly said.

A NDIS spokesperson said there had been “no change to the way funding is calculated” and that it’s normal for NDIS plans to increase or decrease over time, in response to concerns raised by the organisation.

One of Healy’s clients began experiencing more falls during his absence from Burnie Brae.

She also noticed that the break affected him “mentally and physically.”

“I can see a huge change,” she said.

Once his niece began paying privately for him to attend, Healy said it “was almost like starting from scratch with him again.”

“He’s reluctant to get back into [the] gym now… which is unfortunate because it took quite a long time for him to get into it in the first place,” she said.

Kelly said this example reflects a broader impact of funding changes on clients’ independence and social connection.

“The less funding they have, the smaller their world is,” she said.