29 January 2026
Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit Parliament House PO Box 6021 Canberra ACT 2600
Re: Exercise & Sports Science Australia Letter of Support for AHPA Submission to the Inquiry into the Administration of the NDIS
Dear Committee Members,
Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) welcomes the opportunity to provide this letter of support for the submission made by Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) to the Inquiry into the Administration of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
As the national peak body representing Accredited Exercise Physiologists (AEPs) and Accredited Exercise Scientists (AESs), ESSA strongly supports the issues raised in AHPA’s submission. The submission clearly and accurately reflects the administrative, policy and regulatory challenges currently facing allied health professionals delivering supports through the NDIS, and the downstream impacts these challenges have on participant access, outcomes and safety.
ESSA strongly endorses AHPA’s key recommendations.
Improved consultation, communication and implementation lead times ESSA supports the recommendation to increase lead times for reform, improve communication regarding changes, and actively involve peak bodies, including AHPA and ESSA, in supporting provider understanding and implementation. Short implementation timeframes and poorly coordinated reforms place unnecessary strain on providers, increase administrative burden, and risk disruptions to participant supports. Meaningful consultation and co-development with allied health peaks is essential to safe and effective implementation of changes for both providers and participants.
Independent advisory bodies to inform policy and pricing decisions ESSA strongly supports the establishment of one or more independent advisory bodies to monitor the impact of NDIS policy and pricing changes on allied health service sustainability. Independent, expert advice, including representation from allied health peaks and individual professions, is critical to ensuring pricing and policy settings are evidence-based, transparent, and aligned with workforce sustainability and participant needs.
Proportionate and risk-based regulatory reform ESSA supports AHPA’s recommendation that any changes to provider registration requirements for therapy supports must be proportionate and consider the existing regulatory frameworks governing allied health professionals. AEPs, like many allied health professionals, are already subject to robust professional regulation and codes of conduct through ESSA as the peak body. Additional regulatory requirements must demonstrably
Additional recommendation — clearly defined allied health data sets
ESSA recommends that the NDIS and relevant government agencies work in partnership with the allied health sector to establish clearly defined, standardised data sets that allied health providers can collect consistently across the Scheme.
Agreed data sets would enable allied health professionals, including AEPs, to contribute meaningful, comparable data to support government decision-making, policy development and market stewardship. This would strengthen the evidence base used to inform pricing, workforce planning, service sustainability and participant outcomes, while improving consistency and transparency across the NDIS. Importantly, it would support reforms that are grounded in real-world service delivery and clinical evidence.
ESSA strongly supports AHPA’s submission and urges the Committee to give serious consideration to the recommendations outlined. Addressing these issues is critical to ensuring the NDIS can continue to deliver safe, high-quality, evidence-based supports, while maintaining a sustainable allied health workforce and protecting participant outcomes.
ESSA welcome any meeting requests and look forward to working with the NDIA and all levels of government in co-designing a sustainable, effective and values-based NDIS that protects both the allied health workforce, and, Australian’s living with disability.
Yours sincerely,
Elyse Hocking Scot MacDonald Policy & Advocacy Manager General Manager, Policy & Advocacy Exercise & Sports Science Australia Exercise & Sports Science Australia Policy@essa.org.au | 07 3171 3335 Policy@essa.org.au | 07 3171 3335