loading . . . NDIS-funded telehealth is a lifeline for women in regional Australia. But future access is on the line **_Telehealth has become the only way many regional Australians can access NDIS-funded therapy and mental health support. But as government scrutiny of the scheme tightens, that lifeline’s future is uncertain, writes contributor Melissa Marsden._**
For people in regional and remote Australia, accessing disability and mental health support is not just difficult; it is often simply unavailable. Long travel distances, few local services, and lengthy waitlists can mean going without care altogether.
Registered provider of therapy supports for people with disabilities, LiveBig, is using telehealth to bridge that gap, at a time when scrutiny of the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s ballooning costs is intensifying pressure on providers.
Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that around one in four people who accessed mental health care used telehealth at least once in 2024–25.
Emma Thomas, LiveBig’s area manager, says the model is not just a convenient option for many people.
“It is the only way they can access therapy,” she says. “If there are no clinicians nearby, or the nearest service is hours away, telehealth makes it possible to receive support that would otherwise be out of reach.”
Thomas argues telehealth meets the NDIS’s “reasonable and necessary” criteria, and can be particularly valuable for participants managing limited funding.
“We look at the person’s goals and look at the reasonable and necessary criteria as to how we can achieve those goals,” she notes. “It’s about increasing a person’s ability to function in everyday life.”
The flexibility extends to families as well as individuals. Thomas says LiveBig can conduct in-person sessions with a child while delivering a separate telehealth session to busy parents — expanding access without increasing costs.
“It means that they have access to the right clinical services and the right clinicians at a time that serves them.”
Cost savings are a recurring theme. Because neither participant nor clinician needs to travel, telehealth removes expenses that can erode an NDIS plan: clinic attendance fees, transport costs, parking, and, in some cases, support workers.
“Sometimes travel costs can be unknown, so you can budget knowing the session is one hour and that is all you’ll be billed for,” Thomas assures.
The rise of telehealth in disability services accelerated sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting perceptions about what remote care could look like.
In 2021, nearly 40 per cent of people with disabilities**** used telehealth, with usage varying by disability type.
Now people across metropolitan and suburban areas are utilising the support.
“Telehealth is often thought about for rural and remote, but it can be for any location depending on a person’s need,” Thomas points out. “Pre-COVID, a lot of people thought about picking up a phone and talking to a counselling service,”
“Now it’s so much more — COVID forced us to adapt and deliver high-quality care in someone’s home using video platforms.”
With the government moving to tighten NDIS expenditure, Thomas believes therapy-based telehealth represents a sustainable model, not a cost driver.
“Therapy itself is a capacity-building support,” she affirms. “It’s a short-term measure, most of the time, to address very specific goals. I don’t think therapy is overly funded.”
For participants with mobility challenges or limited access to private transport, the practical case is even stronger, Thomas argues.
“When it’s quite challenging to leave the home, or it takes a lot of resources to access private transport, telehealth can really help.
“It really empowers choice.”
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by Melissa Marsden
11 hours ago
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