Supporting Music Therapy in Australia
The Australian Music Therapy Association needs our help!!!
In a disappointing turn of events, the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) of Australia, Bill Shorten MP and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) have removed music therapy as a therapy support for NDIS participants effective February 1, 2025.
This is a great disservice to not only the 8,000 participants and their families, but also to the 950 registered music therapists in Australia. It has been noted that no consultation was made between NDIS and music therapists prior to this decision, and that no official reasoning has been shared. Without funding from NDIA, many participants will lose access to music therapy services. Additionally, NDIA is moving music therapy to the community participation budget. It is important to note that this budget promotes access to activities, not therapies. While social and community participation and connection is important for people with disabilities, these types of interactions do not deliver functional outcomes like allied health professions do.
Music therapy is a clinical and evidence based allied health profession. It supports people of all ages in meeting their individualized goals across 7 domains: cognitive, communicative, emotional, musical, physical, social, and spiritual. The claims made by NDIA that music therapy has “no evidence” for therapy and that it does not improve “functional capacity” of clients is untrue. There is strong evidence to suggest that music therapy helps people with disabilities improve their functional capacity in areas of cognition, mobility, interpersonal interactions, self esteem, and personal care.
I urge you to sign the petition to support music therapy services being returned to the NDIS: https://www.change.org/p/keep-music-therapy-as-an-ndis-funded-therapeutic-support
The 2024 Australian Disability Evidence Summary backing the use of music therapy as therapy can be viewed here.
More information about the subject from the Australian Music Therapy Association can be found here and also here.
Link to Alison Short's Blog Post to World Federation of Music Therapy
Australian Music Therapy Association: https://ahpa.com.au/our-members/australian-music-therapy-association/
American Music Therapy Association: https://www.musictherapy.org/
World Federation of Music Therapy: https://www.wfmt.info/
Author: Kelly Weaver, MT-BC
Editor: Cassadi Kulak, MT-BC