What They Said

“The NDIA does not directly fund providers, but allocates funding to NDIS participants and business decisions, including whether to continue offering services through the NDIS, are a matter for individual organisations.”

(NDIA spokesperson, quoted in “NDIS providers evacuate market after pricing review,” by Sarah Ison, The Australian, 10 August 2025)

In plain English: The NDIS pricing decision was not an accident. It was designed to restructure the market. No one is coming to save providers who won’t or can’t adapt.

So, we have a choice.

Low Agency Responses

Complain
Wait for better conditions (they’re not coming)
Accept razor-thin margins or losses
Blame the NDIA when things get worse

High Agency Responses

Ask different questions:

How do we build a business that thrives regardless of – or despite – the NDIA?
How can we turn constraints and gaps into a competitive advantage?
What would we do if failure literally wasn’t an option?
How would someone from a completely different industry solve this challenge?
How would we handle this if no government funding existed at all?
What are participants begging us NOT to change about our services?
What’s the smallest step we could take today that moves us toward sustainability?
If we only had 6 months of funding left, what would we prioritise?
What would we regret not trying if we looked back in 5 years?
If we locked our three smartest colleagues in a room for 2 hours to work on this problem, what would they come up with?

Take small actions now:

Map dependencies – Where are you most vulnerable?
Diversify revenue – Who else needs the value you provide?
Build efficiencies – How can we deliver better outcomes, more quickly?
Create loyalty – How do we make ourselves less generic, more useful, and more sought after?
Add to choice and control – Can we deliver more and better services in different ways to increase participant choice?

Bottom line:

The NDIA’s statement isn’t a threat – it’s another reminder that things have changed. They’ve just told us exactly where we stand.

The truth is hard to take, but we can do it:

Our opportunity: Providers who adapt to reality > providers waiting for rescue.
Our choice: Victim of policy or architect of our own solutions?

Need a 30-minute pep talk to get the creative juices going? Check out this terrific essay by George Mack.

Curious about how to actually apply high-agency principles in your practice or workplace? On 25 August, we’re releasing our Courage Playbook – available only for our Banter Booster Premium subscribers. Sign up here.