25/11/2025
I’ve just finished reading the NDS State of the Disability Sector Report 2025 and honestly… I feel both unsurprised and really sad.
Not because providers don’t want the NDIS to work — we do; by Jesus we do, thats why we turn up, day after day. But so many of us are trying to hold together a system that’s becoming harder to stand inside. when i say “us” its not just a word, its our neighbouring providers, its those we meet with over coffee to cry with each other about how close to the edge of having to shut the doors we really truly are, its real people.
Here’s what the report says, in numbers:
• 85% of providers say operating conditions worsened this year.
• 92% say the policy environment is uncertain.
• 48% are operating at a loss.
• 77% delivered unfunded support, (totalling an estimated $69.18 million - this is care that had to happen, even though it wasn’t paid for)
But the stat I can’t stop thinking about is this:
Specialist Support Coordination has effectively halved, again saddened but not surprised. Providers delivering this service dropped from 52% in 2024 to 26% in 2025.
That figure is not a “market adjustment.”
That’s a vital support disappearing in real time, right Infront of us!
Specialist Support Coordination is the thing that steps in when someone’s plan is complex, when risk is high, when things are falling apart.
It’s what keeps people connected to services before they hit crisis.
It’s what helps families breathe.
It’s what stops small problems becoming unsafe ones.
So when it disappears, the work doesn’t disappear. It just shifts, onto participants, families, already stretched direct support and allied health providers, hospitals, police, emergency departments.
To NDIA: this isn’t providers resisting reform.
This is providers waving a huge help sign!
The report also says:
• 81% can’t keep delivering supports at current prices.
• 80% say staff are exhausted by constant system change.
• 82% don’t feel NDIA is working well with providers.
I still believe the NDIS can be what it was meant to be.
But right now, the supports that make the system safe and navigable are being priced and regulated out of existence.
If Specialist Support Coordination keeps collapsing, i believe this is just the tip of the iceberg, we are 1000% going to see more breakdowns, more crises, and more people left to manage impossible complexity alone. We are going to see preventable death!
We need:
pricing that reflects real, safe delivery
stability while reforms roll out
consistent safeguards that reward quality, not cut corners
genuine two-way work with providers
Because the NDIS at the moment is just Exhausting for everyone who is part of or works alongside the scheme.
