Whole Self

21/10/2026

📣 THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO BE HEARD!

Contact your Senators. Tell them how these cuts are affecting you, your family or the people you support. Ask them to VOTE YES to the disallowance motion.

We have until 17 November to make our voices heard.

Find your Senators: https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Senators

OTSi supports Senate disallowance motion against NDIS cuts – a critical opportunity for advocacy

Last week, representatives from the Occupational Therapy Society for Hidden and Invisible Disability (OTSi) were in Canberra, where we met with Senator Jordon Steele-John's team, and others, to discuss our significant concerns regarding the NDIS funding cuts introduced through the Ministerial Support Determinations under Section 34.

These include:

🔹 A 50% reduction in funding for Social, Civic and Community Participation (SCCP)

🔹 A 10% reduction in therapy funding

These cuts are already having significant consequences for NDIS participants, families and the allied health professionals supporting them.

Through our members and our engagement with the disability community, we are hearing directly about the impacts on people's access to essential supports, community participation, independence and wellbeing.

As allied health professionals, we are particularly concerned that these are blanket funding reductions that do not adequately account for the individual functional needs, circumstances and support requirements of NDIS participants.

Decisions about disability supports must be informed by individual need, functional evidence and the real-world consequences of reducing access to support.

OTSi therefore fully supports the Senate disallowance motion lodged by Senator Steele-John on Thursday, challenging the Section 34 Ministerial Support Determinations enabling these cuts. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Disallowance_alert

📅 The motion is currently scheduled for a Senate vote on Tuesday 17 November.

If the Senate votes to disallow the relevant legislative instrument, it can be overturned.

This presents an important opportunity for the disability community, allied health professionals, participants, families and advocates to make their voices heard.

We encourage everyone concerned about these cuts to contact their Senators before 17 November and ask them to support the disallowance motion.

We particularly encourage participants, families and service providers experiencing the direct impacts of these funding reductions to share their experiences with Senators.

The consequences of these decisions are not simply financial. They affect people's capacity to participate in their communities, maintain independence, access appropriate therapy and live the lives they choose.

OTSi will continue to engage in advocacy on this issue, and we will be sharing a template in the coming days to assist individuals and organisations in contacting their Senators.

Funding decisions must not come at the expense of the safety, participation and wellbeing of people with disability.

OTSi stands alongside the disability community in calling on the Senate to support the disallowance motion and address these cuts.

20/10/2026

I’m clearly on a roll of fury today!! 🤬

Are you actually kidding me?!

A hotline for autism support? What a groundbreaking idea… except, of course, we already have services like the Amaze support hotline!

Do they genuinely believe that another phone number is the answer for families who are desperately trying to access real, practical, hands-on support?

We don’t need another number to call. We need services we can actually access, professionals who can help our children, and meaningful support when and where it’s needed!

You cannot replace practical support with a phone call!

Autism looks different for every child.

Autistic children can experience, understand and interact with the world in particular ways.

Families can now access the Thriving Kids Autism Helpline to find evidence-based information and resources about neurodevelopmental differences.

With support, Autistic children can build on their strengths, learn new skills and participate in ways that are meaningful to them and their families.

You don’t need a diagnosis to access Thriving Kids supports.

For more information, see the comments below. 👇

20/10/2026

This one makes my blood boil!! 😡

Imagine if I could have sent the Education Department a fine every time they called me to collect my son because they couldn’t meet his needs at school!

Perhaps then it wouldn’t have mattered that I LOST MY JOB trying to meet the needs the education system couldn’t!

Parents are already paying the price. Now we’re talking about fining them too?!

Where is the accountability for the system?

19/10/2026

Cutting NDIS funding doesn’t eliminate the cost. It shifts it.

To already overstretched hospitals. To already overstretched schools. To already overstretched mental health services.

And ultimately, to families already stretched beyond breaking point.

The disability hasn’t disappeared. The support needs haven’t disappeared. So why would the costs?

We’re not saving money. We’re shifting the burden.

And the biggest cost? The human one 😢

19/10/2026

Yet another brick wall for those who need it most 😡😡😡😡

19/10/2026

18/10/2026

66,000 views. Almost 200 comments. Behind those numbers are real families 😢

Yesterday, we shared one parent’s experience of having their child’s NDIS supports reduced.

Families responded with stories of cuts to therapy, behaviour support, community access and support workers.

Many are exhausted. Many are afraid of what happens next.

We are too.

The family in this photo is my family. We’re walking through this fear alongside you, because we are one of you.

We know what the right supports mean for everyday life, participation and wellbeing. We also know how frightening it is when those supports are reduced or taken away.

This isn’t about figures on a spreadsheet. It’s about our children, our families and our futures.

To every family who has shared their experience: thank you. Your voices matter.

We’ll keep walking with you, sharing information, resources and real perspectives from families and our work supporting people with disability.

💚 Whole Self Independent Life Learning

18/10/2026

🎉 1,000 FOLLOWERS! 🎉

A huge thank you to each and every one of you! 💚

This community is about so much more than numbers. It’s about sharing our stories, learning from one another, lifting each other up, sharing plenty of laughs and knowing we don’t have to walk this journey alone.

Every story shared creates understanding. Every laugh brings connection. Every voice matters. And every little bit of support makes a difference.

Together, we can continue to raise awareness, advocate for change, celebrate the wins, find humour in the chaos and support one another through the challenges.

1,000 voices, one growing community, plenty of laughs and a whole lot of heart!

Thank you for walking alongside us. 🌿