NSW NDIS clinicians:
NSW kids are about to lose their NDIS therapists. We need to act now.
Do you live somewhere that can tip the scales?
We know these NSW children by name. We work with their families. We know what happens when a trusted therapist is swapped out for a stranger. We're frontline experts who know the real harm that NSW Thriving kids is about to inflict on our local communities. We don't have much time. The NSW government has recently cast aside our proposal for a non-profit worker co-operative - the only model on the table which would allow children to continue care with their current private therapists and avoid the creation of massive service gaps due to workforce shortages.
Politicians can ignore a petition. But they cannot ignore the demands and experiences of real voters in their own electorates.
Under the current plan, NSW Thriving Kids won't have enough clinicians to cover the caseload. Care will be disrupted. Kids will be left behind.
We are a collective of speech pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists, physiotherapists, behaviour support practitioners, early childhood teachers, disability support workers, and everyone else in the NDIS who sits with autistic children and their families week after week.
The Thriving Kids rollout is being forced through without us: the private clinicians currently providing ongoing care to these kids. The proposed model will rip children with autism and developmental needs away from the clinicians they know and trust, and hand their care to NGOs that have never worked with them. Families in our communities who rely on the NDIS will lose the people who keep their children progressing. They will fight and vote to keep it running.
We have put forward a worker-led, non-profit, co-operative model to the government to ensure continuity of care for children currently served by private providers. Our co-operative is the only proposal that preserves continuity of care, prioritises quality and experience, and prevents the massive workforce shortages looming if the current government plan pushes ahead. This co-operative model must be included alongside the NGOs in the NSW Thriving Kids rollout to ensure kids don't go without the support they need to thrive.
Where you come in: decision-makers only move when they fear losing votes. If you live in a tight seat, your local member has to answer to you. You're a clinician who understands the system, and the families who rely on it in a way your local member doesn't. Your knowledge can sway them right now.
Pro-forma emails get sent to spam. Personal stories and specific frontline experience change hearts and minds. One clinician who walks into an office with real names, real numbers, and real consequences from that electorate is worth more than a thousand identical submissions.
Thousands of NSW kids stand to lose their therapist or worker. Every week this goes unchallenged, more care disappears.
A quick overview of the Thriving Kids rollout in NSW
Is your suburb is represented by a key decision-maker? We want to hear from you.