Arts groups fear fallout of looming NDIS funding cuts

Almost all of its dancers rely on NDIS funding, and weekly classes can lead to further training and ultimately professional employment, Restless artistic director Michelle Ryan says.

"One of the things I would really like government and the community to understand is that NDIS participants can also be highly successful artists," she said.

But large-scale changes to the scheme that passed parliament in August will halve overall funding for social, civic and community participation - the funding stream that supports organisations such as Restless - from October.

Restless is regarded as an international leader in the professional advancement of neurodivergent and disabled artists.

But as individual NDIS plans are reviewed, some Restless dancers are already seeing significant reductions in their community participation funding, the company said.

Leading arts disability groups from across Australia shared their concerns at a recent meeting chaired by Arts and Disability Network Australia.

Many organisations are worried NDIS participants will have to prioritise daily living expenses over arts activities that provide community connection and mental health support.

They warn the cuts could harm trust built over years with participants who might not understand why changes are being made.

A spokesperson for NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said the changes would ensure the NDIS remained sustainable and continued to support people with permanent and significant disability.

A new $200 million inclusive communities fund would support community organisations to deliver group-based activities and improve community inclusion.

Critical supports would not be affected and participants would retain choice over how they used their funding, the spokesperson said.

"This can include NDIS supports to access community and recreational activities, such as creative arts programs," they said.

West Australian disability arts organisation DADAA runs three studio/gallery sites across Fremantle, Lancelin and Midland, and client services director Alimul Al Tasin is worried NDIS participants will have to cut back sessions or stop coming altogether.

"Our concern is the social isolation, because they see their peers every week ... when they're not coming in, we are concerned about their wellbeing," he said.

The NDIS cuts were dramatic, and there was no other source of funding to replace the scheme, the chief executive of peak body Arts Access Victoria Joshua Pether said.

Many NDIS participants described these arts programs as a lifeline and credited them with providing life-saving support, Pether said.

At Hands On Studio, run out of Griffith and O'Connor in the ACT, director Tilly Davey has heard from participants who were worried and confused.

"Lots of people think they've done something wrong, and they're going to have nothing left in their NDIS plan to support them," she said.

Some Hands On participants have been attending programs for 30 years, and families have been left wondering how they will cover the cost of classes without the NDIS.

"Some parents are in their eighties or nineties and they think, 'what are my children going to do? I can't continue, I can't support them on a daily basis'," Davey said.

At Hobart's Second Echo Ensemble, which marked its 20th anniversary in 2025, general manager Judith Abell sees people running out of money for transport.

She said the cuts would compound the isolation caused by having a disability and living in regional Australia.

"They might have had a local place to go to participate in something, social and community support, and that's going to be taken away," she said.

"I just think the layers of damage that this is causing are actually much broader than perhaps imagined."