– AUGUST 2025 –
Physiotherapy Should Fit the Person – Not the Price Guide
Have any of your participants felt pressured to move into clinic settings recently?
With recent changes to the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL), many participants are finding it harder to access home, gym, or aquatic-based physiotherapy. Reductions in funded travel time are pushing people toward clinic-based models of care—even when these are not the right fit for their individual needs, circumstances, or goals.
In a funding climate that’s making home-based therapy harder to access, Active Edge Physio is proud to continue delivering it at scale. We currently care for over 100 participants in their homes across Melbourne. Our dedicated home-visiting model uses structured, clustered scheduling to optimise travel routes and control costs—ensuring services remain accessible and cost-effective. Importantly, every participant has face-to-face access to senior physiotherapists, guaranteeing high-quality, evidence-based care that supports meaningful progress. Because quality therapy should never be compromised by postcode.
At Active Edge Physio, we believe physiotherapy should meet a person where they are—physically, emotionally, and functionally. We continue to advocate for the value of community-based services, because for many adults with disability, therapy outside a clinic is not just a preference—it’s best practice.
1. Achieving Meaningful Outcomes Where It Counts (Beyond the Clinic)
Physiotherapy is about improving a participant’s function in their real life. Whether that’s standing from their own couch, navigating their local park, transferring into their car, or walking through their community—these are not tasks you can safely or meaningfully replicate in a clinical environment.
A clinic can be a helpful place to trial new movements or exercises, but it often falls short when it comes to translating those skills into day-to-day life. Home and community-based therapy provides context-rich practice that helps people with disabilities make genuine progress where it matters most.
2. One Size Doesn’t Fit All
The new NDIS pricing changes assume that travelling physiotherapy is a luxury—but for many people, it’s a lifeline. Some examples include:
- Those without access to suitable transport, or with mobility challenges that make travel dangerous or exhausting
- Participants with complex setups or assistive technology that can’t be easily transported
- Carers or family members with health issues or disability themselves
When we provide therapy in the home, gym, or community setting, participants are more likely to be calm, alert, and ready to engage—which is essential for neuroplasticity, learning, and safety.
3. Gyms and Aquatic Centres Offer More Functional Opportunities to Thrive
Gyms and pools offer unique benefits that cannot be replicated in a clinic:
- Strength training in a gym environment supports realistic load progression, balance work, and endurance
- Aquatic physiotherapy offers reduced load on joints, increased confidence with movement, and can be ideal for pain relief and gait training
- Practising public transfers, mobility, and exercise routines in these settings builds confidence, safety, and independence for life outside the clinic
NDIS changes shouldn’t force people to abandon these environments if they’ve proven helpful. In fact, we often see the most powerful gains when clients practise skills in the same spaces they’ll later use them with their support workers.
4. Therapy Should Serve Participants, Not the System
The shift toward clinic-based therapy is largely a funding response—not a clinical one. But a participant’s physiotherapy goals aren’t about ticking boxes or fitting into a funding model. They’re about:
- Getting stronger
- Being safer at home
- Participating in their community
- Reducing pain or fatigue
- Living as independently as possible
And for many, these outcomes are best achieved outside the four walls of a clinic.
At Active Edge Physio, we continue to provide home, gym, aquatic, and community-based services because they are often the most effective, accessible, and empowering options for adults living with disability.
Yes, the funding climate has changed—but that doesn’t mean participant’s care should. We’re committed to delivering therapy that respects a person’s goals, fits their lifestyle, and happens where real life happens.
If your participants are finding it harder to access the right kind of therapy for their situation due to NDIS travel restrictions, reach out. We’ll work with you to find solutions that put their needs—not the system—at the centre of care.