Not just any Therapist...

Today, something unexpected happened.

The NDIA announced a big cut to physiotherapy rates across Australia. Here in WA, it dropped from $224.62 to $183.99 an hour. That's more than $40!

For years, we searched for the right physio for Kaedyn. Not just any therapy, but a place where he feels safe, understood, and even happy. Where therapy isn’t just a task but something he can be part of.

With Ben and lately Kal, Kaedyn has found that. Therapy hasn't always been fun; sometimes he would cry just knowing he had to go, but he laughs in sessions now. He’s challenged in ways that help him grow. He’s proud of himself. That kind of progress isn’t just physical; it’s about feeling valued and seen.

But now, with these cuts, the future feels uncertain for so many of us. 

These small clinics, these therapists who care deeply, can’t keep going if funding keeps shrinking. It means fewer appointments, fewer resources that benefit our kids, and the therapists we love just have to walk away. And then the cycle begins again, the waiting, the searching, the uncertainty, the frustration, and the regression.

Now, I know this change won’t affect everyone the same way. Some will cheer for it. And I understand that, too. They are the people who have felt the sting of 30-minute travel fees for a 10-minute drive, or a 15-minute charge for a 2-minute email.

Those are the things you should be outraged about. I was once among that crowd.

But then there are the small companies that run with their whole hearts.

You know the ones—where the directors know your family members by name, where they know everyone’s story, because that’s why they started in the first place, because they care.

And those small teams are now caught in the middle.

This isn’t just about dollars.

It’s about the fear and heartbreak families feel when services we depend on start to disappear. It’s about therapists who love their work but feel worn down and unsure if they can keep going. It’s about children like Kaedyn, whose progress can stall or even go backward because the support isn’t there anymore, because the little guys were waned down by the big guys.

I never meant for this blog to be a platform for complaints. It was a place to drop off my feelings and then step away. Once a month, or a fortnight, maybe the odd weekly...but here we are with daily!

But this is too important to stay quiet about.

If you’re reading this and feeling the weight of these changes, you’re not alone.

When something is built on heart, hope, and the well-being of children like Kaedyn, it deserves to be protected with everything we have, and that’s why I’m sharing this.

Not out of anger, but out of hope that others will hear us.

I encourage you to be outraged for your favourite therapists! It might not stop here; your support workers could be next, your OT, your equipment... all of these are essential lifelines for so many of us.

Write to your local members, make some noise!