Explainer: NDIS and creative arts therapies

The creative arts therapies (CATs) are widely used around the world to support people living with disabilities, with availability dependent on national and regional context and history. In Australia, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), although not without its critics (Neville & van Laar, 2020), has greatly improved equitable access to CATs since it was rolled out in the years following legislation in 2013. It is therefore of great concern that on 25 November 2024, the Australian Government announced that the NDIS will substantially reduce funding for participants who access CATs. From February 2025, the changes will be implemented. This unexpected announcement has caused upset and confusion to many of the families and individuals using CATs through their NDIS support packages. They are questioning why the NDIS has cut accessible, person-centred therapeutic support services. The scheme had originally included the creative therapies (including art therapy, music therapy, dramatherapy, dance/movement therapy and multimodal creative arts therapies) to ensure accessibility for people who required therapeutic and psychosocial support. However, Government Services Minister, Bill Shorten stated that as of 1 February 2025, the NDIS will no longer fund most participants’ access to CATs as a therapeutic support. The reason the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has given for this unexpected change to people’s support packages is a lack of evidence for the effectiveness of CATs. This explainer aims to clarify the evidence-base for utilising creative arts therapy (CAT) with people using the NDIS.