24/08/2026
💙🐴 IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR OUR NDIS PARTICIPANTS & FAMILIES — WHAT THE NDIS CHANGES MEAN FOR US
There has been a LOT of discussion about the changes happening within the NDIS, so we want to reassure our participants and families about what this means at Hooves for Hope®.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 has now passed Parliament, with a number of changes commencing from 27 August 2026.
For us, one particularly important clarification is around therapy and the way qualified therapists deliver it.
💙 THERAPY DOES NOT HAVE TO LOOK THE SAME FOR EVERY PERSON.
The NDIS recognises that appropriately qualified therapists can use different ways of helping a participant engage in evidence-based therapy and work towards their individual goals.
This is particularly important for the people we support.
Some participants engage beautifully sitting in a counselling room.
Others simply don’t.
For some people — particularly those experiencing neurodivergence, anxiety, trauma, psychosocial disability, communication differences or difficulties with emotional regulation — the environment and the way therapy is delivered can make an enormous difference to their ability to participate.
🐴 THIS IS WHERE EQUINE ASSISTED THERAPY CAN FIT.
The NDIS specifically recognises that a psychologist or counsellor may incorporate an animal into a therapy session to help a participant remain calm, focused and engaged in counselling.
The horse does not magically make an activity “therapy”.
The qualified therapist, the participant’s individual needs and goals, the therapeutic intervention and the evidence behind what we are doing are what make it therapy.
At Hooves for Hope®, our horses are incorporated into my counselling and therapeutic work when doing so is clinically appropriate for the person in front of me.
We may work on emotional regulation, anxiety, trauma recovery, confidence, communication, boundaries, social skills, distress tolerance, self-awareness, problem-solving or other individual therapeutic goals.
And sometimes the horse provides the environment in which a participant can finally engage in therapeutic work that has been extremely difficult for them elsewhere.
📋 THERE ARE ALSO IMPORTANT CHANGES AROUND RECORD KEEPING AND EVIDENCE.
From 27 August 2026, NDIS providers will be required to retain relevant records for 7 years, while participants will need to retain their relevant records for 3 years and nominees for 5 years.
The NDIS is also placing significant emphasis on providers maintaining complete and accurate evidence of supports delivered.
At Hooves for Hope®, we are already strengthening our systems to meet these requirements.
This includes appropriate:
📋 Case/session notes
📋 Attendance and support records
📋 Service agreements
📋 Invoices and payment records
📋 Documentation linking supports to participant goals
📋 Records of what support was actually delivered
📋 Evidence of therapeutic interventions and participant progress where appropriate
We are doing our part — and we strongly encourage our participants, nominees and families to do theirs too.
Please keep your invoices, service agreements, receipts and relevant NDIS documentation.
Keep copies of reports provided to you.
Make sure your contact details and circumstances with the NDIS are current.
And please don’t throw important NDIS paperwork away simply because a plan has finished.
💙 GOOD DOCUMENTATION PROTECTS EVERYONE.
It protects participants.
It protects providers.
And importantly, it helps demonstrate why a support is needed, what is actually being delivered and how that support relates to a participant’s disability and goals.
These changes do not mean everyone suddenly needs to stop using their supports.
The NDIS has stated that participants can continue using their plans and supports as usual unless they are advised that a particular change affects them.
At Hooves for Hope®, we will continue doing what we have always aimed to do:
🐴 Work with the individual person in front of us
💙 Provide genuine, goal-directed therapeutic support
🌿 Adapt the therapeutic environment to help people engage
📋 Maintain professional documentation and evidence
🤝 Work collaboratively with participants, families and other professionals
🐴 And incorporate our horses as therapeutic partners when it is appropriate and beneficial to the participant’s therapeutic work.
There will undoubtedly be more information as these reforms continue to roll out, and we will continue reviewing the NDIS guidance and adapting our systems accordingly.
For our current participants and families: please don’t panic.
Keep your records, stay informed, ask questions when you aren’t sure, and know that we are doing the work at our end to ensure the supports we provide are appropriately documented and accountable.
💙🐴 Hooves for Hope®
Partnering with equines to help build a solid foundation for a brighter future and restoring hope.
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