Therapy Services in Northern Territory

What therapy services actually covers

Allied health delivered under the NDIS: occupational therapy, speech pathology, physiotherapy, psychology, dietetics, and early childhood supports. Therapists work out what is getting in the way, work with you on it, and write the reports that often decide what goes into your next plan.

How it's funded

Therapy usually sits under Capacity Building, Improved Daily Living. Reports for plan reviews are generally billed against that same budget, so allow for them when you plan your hours for the year.

What to know in Northern Territory

Allied health in the Territory leans heavily on visiting clinicians and telehealth outside Darwin and Alice Springs, and continuity of therapist is a real challenge. Remote and very remote loadings apply to in-person visits across most of the NT. When you plan therapy funding, ask how many face-to-face sessions are realistic in a year rather than how many are theoretically funded.

Choosing between providers

Most allied health professionals are registered with AHPRA but not with the NDIS Commission. The two are completely different things. If you are plan-managed or self-managed you can see them either way. If you are agency-managed, you can only use NDIS-registered providers, which narrows the field a long way.

Questions worth asking

• Are you registered with AHPRA, and are you also NDIS-registered?
• How long is your wait for a first appointment?
• Do you write reports for plan reviews, and do you bill those to my plan?
• Can you see me at home, at school or at work, and do you charge for travel?
• Do you offer telehealth if getting to you is difficult?

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