Plenty of people have funding for an NDIS occupational therapist and still aren’t sure what the sessions are meant to achieve. Some feel OT is mostly there to write a report before the next plan review. Reports are part of the job, but they aren’t the point. This guide explains what occupational therapy is for under the NDIS, how an OT’s work feeds into your plan, and what you can do to get more out of each session. The rules come from the NDIS therapy supports guideline, so they apply wherever you live, whether you’re seeing an occupational therapist in Ipswich or somewhere else in Australia.
What occupational therapy is for under the NDIS
The NDIS describes occupational therapy as help to build the skills and confidence to take part in everyday activities with more independence. Your OT works with you on practical solutions at home, in the community, at school or at work. That might mean learning a different way to do something so it’s safe for you, or using equipment to cook, dress or shower.
Therapy in an NDIS plan usually falls into one of two kinds. Capacity building therapy aims to build your skills and independence, with specific goals and a timeframe. Maintenance therapy helps you keep the things you can already do, and can help prevent or delay them getting harder.
What an occupational therapist might work on with you
Daily living skills
This is the everyday stuff: getting ready in the morning, preparing a meal, planning your week. An OT might break a task into smaller steps or suggest a safer way to do it, then give you something to practise between sessions. If support workers help you at home, the same strategies can carry over into your daily living and life skills support.
Equipment and assistive technology
Assistive technology covers anything from a shower chair to a hoist. Your OT can help you work out what might suit you and how to use it, and can train the people around you. The NDIS gives the example of an OT teaching family members how to use a chair lift safely.
Your home and how you move around it
An OT can look at how you get in and out of the house, move between rooms and use the kitchen or bathroom. If changes to your home could help, their written evidence is usually part of asking the NDIS to fund them.
Getting out into the community, work or study
OT goals don’t stop at the front door. They can include planning and organising, managing change, or building skills for a job or course. The NDIS guideline describes someone starting a new job who works with an OT on travelling to new places and managing the changes in their life.
How OT evidence shapes your NDIS plan
The NDIA needs evidence before it can fund therapy. If therapy is new to your plan, it helps to give the NDIA information from your treating professional about:
- the type of therapy you need and why you need it
- the approach that will be used and who might provide it
- the outcome the support aims for
- how long and how often you’ll need it
- any previous treatment and what the results were.
If the NDIA needs more information before it decides, it may ask you to have an assessment, and it will include funding in your plan to pay for the assessment and the therapist’s report.
OT evidence matters for home and living requests too. The NDIS asks for recent evidence from a relevant treating health professional, such as an occupational therapist, that explains your daily support and housing needs, what you can and can’t do, and other options you’ve already explored.
Equipment works on cost bands, per item:
- Under $1,500 (low cost): for low-risk items you don’t need to give quotes, evidence or assessments, and you don’t need approval before you buy.
- $1,500 to $15,000 (mid cost): written evidence, such as a letter, email or report from your allied health practitioner or another assistive technology advisor. It doesn’t need to be a formal assessment.
- Over $15,000 (high cost): an assessment report from a qualified assistive technology assessor, and usually one quote.
The NDIS suggests getting advice even for low-cost items. Read more on the NDIS page about low-cost assistive technology.
What a good therapy plan should show
Once your OT has assessed your needs, they put together a therapy plan or program with strategies and recommended supports. Under the NDIS guideline, it needs to show how the approach and your goals will be measured. Your OT should teach you how to follow the program and review it regularly to check it’s still working. You can share the strategies with family, friends and your other providers, so they can help you between sessions.
Before your NDIS plan is reassessed, the NDIA may ask your OT for a progress report. Among other things, a good one covers:
- a summary of the supports you’re getting
- how therapy has helped you work towards your goals
- any measurable gains in what you can do day to day
- any barriers to using your supports, and how they were sorted out
- recommendations for ongoing therapy, if relevant.
How to get more out of every session
A few habits make a real difference:
- Bring one clear goal for each block of sessions. “Shower on my own” or “cook two meals a week” gives your OT something specific to work towards.
- Ask how progress will be measured. In a few months you should be able to tell whether things have moved.
- Ask for your home program in writing, so you and the people helping you can follow it.
- Talk about the report before it’s written. Ask what it will recommend and why, so nothing in it surprises you.
- Agree on costs up front. Before you start, check your service agreement says what will be charged for sessions, reports and travel.
Your therapy funding can be shaped around you, too. Unless your plan names a specific therapy type or outcome, you can choose individual or group sessions, and intensive blocks or sessions spread out at regular intervals.
Checking your NDIS occupational therapist is qualified
Under the guideline, occupational therapists must hold current registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) as an occupational therapist. Anyone can look a practitioner up on the AHPRA register of practitioners.
If you see more than one therapist, the NDIA won’t fund two of them working on the same therapy goal. It can fund a multidisciplinary team, where professionals with different skills work together on your NDIS goals. For example, an OT might work alongside a practitioner providing positive behaviour support.
Occupational therapy around Ipswich, Brisbane and the Gold Coast
Velocity Support Services is a registered NDIS provider based at 273 Brisbane St, Ipswich. Our occupational therapists support NDIS participants across Ipswich, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and work with families, carers and support teams. The areas we cover include daily living skills, home and living supports, community participation, functional assessments, assistive technology, and goal setting and capacity building. We recommend and trial assistive technology and equipment, and support home modifications and accessible environments.
If you’re looking for occupational therapy in Ipswich, OT sits within our wider allied health services. Health professionals who want to refer a participant can make a referral online.
Questions people ask about NDIS occupational therapy
Does the NDIS pay for an occupational therapist?
Yes, when the therapy meets the NDIS funding criteria. Occupational therapy is one of the therapy supports the NDIA can fund. You’ll need evidence from your treating professional that it’s right for you, and once it’s in your plan the funding can only be used for therapy.
Do I need a referral to see an NDIS occupational therapist?
For NDIS-funded therapy, what matters is that the support meets the NDIS funding criteria and is backed by evidence. Once therapy funding is in your plan, you can choose your provider.
What does an occupational therapy assessment for the NDIS involve?
Your OT looks at your support needs and what you can and can’t do day to day, then recommends supports, how often you need them and why. If the NDIA asks for an assessment, it tells you what it needs to know and funds the assessment in your plan.
Can an occupational therapist help with equipment and home modifications?
Yes. An OT can help you work out which equipment suits you and show you and your supporters how to use it. Their written evidence can also support requests for mid-cost equipment and for home and living supports.
How do I check my OT is registered?
Search their name on AHPRA’s public register of practitioners. Occupational therapists must hold current AHPRA registration as an occupational therapist.
How often should I see my OT?
It depends on your goals and what’s in your plan. Unless your plan says otherwise, therapy can be delivered in intensive blocks or at regular intervals, individually or in a group. Ask your OT to set out the frequency in your therapy plan.
Talk to our OT team
If you’d like to talk through what occupational therapy could look like with your plan, we’re happy to help. Call us on 1300 479 764 or contact our team, and we’ll work out the next step together. We work with people looking for an occupational therapist in Ipswich, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
