MUSIC THERAPY CONSULTATION RATES FROM
NOVEMBER 24 2025

This provider is a:
Registered NDIS Provider – Registration Id is: 4-3LLO-1571.
Registered Music Therapist – AMTA Registration No is: 540.
Registered Nurse – AHPRA Registration No is: NMW0001286334.
Neurologic Music Therapist
Cardiac Rehabilitation Facilitator
Trained Talkabout Social Communication Skills Assessor
Rhythm2Recovery Facilitator
Owner of Gibson Gorilla – Early Childhood Learning Kit Business.

Any combination of the following options can be used to pay the invoiced fee for
services. This approach to pricing does not currently charge for my qualifications,
years of experience and skills in combination, which would be legitimate under the
current NDIS PAPL, and the relevant professional regulating bodies. Also, the full
non-F2F time spent for sessions and the full time given to NDIS Review writing is not
completely represented in the therapeutic supports claiming option, but is so more
accurately (though still not completely) in the CNC Community Nursing Care
claiming option – hence the difference in the allocated non-F2F times. In other
words, this service continues to represent exceptional quality and value for money –
key NDIS reasonable and necessary criteria.

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All Individual, Dyads, Small Groups & Case Conferencing for Adults and Early
Childhood if Therapeutic Supports line items are used (F2F & Telehealth):

Using the price limit for music therapy ($156.16/hr) plus NonF2F time of 35mins at
that same rate to equal the total amount of $247.25/one hour of direct contact time,
and using either of the following line items depending on your age:

CB: 15_615_0118_1_3
Or
CB: 15_615_0128_1_3

For NDIS Requested Plan Review Reports using these line items budget for a
document that takes 7hrs @ $156.16/hr to complete (they actually take at least 20hrs
to complete) i.e. $1093.12. N.B. if reports take more than 20hrs to complete further
fees will be added.

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All Individual, Dyads, Small Groups & Case Conferencing for Adults and Early
Childhood if CNC Community Nursing Care line items are used (F2F & Telehealth):

Using the price limit for CNC Community Nursing Care (from Core of CB –
$169.16/hr) plus NonF2F time of 35mins, and then discounting to $247.25/one hour
of direct contact time, and using either of the following line items:

CB: 15_418_0114_1_3
Or
CORE: 01_618_0114_1_1

For NDIS Requested Plan Review Reports using these line items budget for a
document that takes 7hrs @ $169.16/hr to complete (they actually take at least 20hrs
to complete), and this would then be discounted to $1093.12. N.B. if reports take more
than 20hrs to complete further fees will be added.

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All Individual, Dyads, Small Groups & Case Conferencing for Adults and Early Childhood using a combination of Therapeutic Supports & CNC Community Nursing Care line items defined in points 1 & 2 (F2F & Telehealth): Combining the price limits for the music therapy ($156.16) and CNC community

Combining the price limits for the music therapy ($156.16) and CNC community
nursing care line items (from Core of CB – $169.16) equaling $325.32, and then discounting to $247.25/one hour
of direct contact time, and using any of the above line items. For NDIS Requested Plan Review Reports using these line items budget for a document that takes 7hrs to complete (they actually take at least 20hrs to complete), and this would then be discounted to $1093.12. N.B. if reports take more than 20hrs to complete further fees will be added.

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Program of Support Agreements:

For larger groups of all ages will have their own terms determined on a group by group basis
and in accordance with the NDIS PAPL.

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Mobile Sessions:

Add up to a maximum of 30mins each way within the local area.
Travel prices for camps/long-distance events/the like/etc will be determined on a case
by case basis in reference to the NDIS recommendations.

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Terms and Conditions:

• Rates are subject to adjustment at any time by Elizabeth Mackney.
• One supervising adult (primary carer/support worker) is not counted in the
numbers.
• This is a GST free service under NDIS.
• Cancellation policy:

PROVIDER’S CANCELLATION POLICY – SEVEN DAYS OR LESS NOTICE
OF NON-ATTENDANCE WILL INCUR THE CHARGE OF 100% OF THE FEE
AT THE NDIS PRICE LIMITED RATE FOR CNC COMMUNITY NURSING
CARE. IN THE CASE THAT NOTICE OF CANCELLATION IS TWO CLEAR
WORKING DAYS OR LESS IT WILL INCUR THE CHARGE OF 100% OF THE
FEE AT THE NDIS PRICE LIMITED RATE FOR THERAPEUTIC SUPPORTS.
THERE IS NO LIMIT TO THE NUMBER OF TIMES A CANCELLATION FEE
CAN BE CHARGED WITHIN A SERVICE BOOKING PERIOD.

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A key consideration in understanding the persistent lack of recognition for all NonF2F time
in the delivery of quality services within the NDIS is the following quote taken from page 16
of the AMTA’s submission to the Duckett review earlier this year AMTA’s Submission to the Duckett Review.pdf

3. Uncompensated Non-Face-to-Face Work: a. Not all activities that result in a professional,
high quality and safe service that delivers outcomes for participants are billable under NDIS
rules. On average, RMTs report spending 47 minutes per hour of direct support on unbilled
non-face-to-face tasks, including administration, planning, documentation, communication
(and advocacy support for participants) with NDIS staff, navigating changing NDIS
requirements (e.g. PACE), travel beyond the travel caps, and collaboration with other
treating practitioners, LACs and support coordinators. This uncompensated work is
consistent with other allied health professions, including occupational therapy and speech
pathology. This hidden workload underscores the necessity of maintaining current pricing to
ensure fair compensation.

Further to all of the above, please be assured that the AMTA is continuing to advocate in
their regular meetings with the NDIA senior management and the NDIA Technical Advice &
Practical Improvement Branch for the $193.99/hr rate to be reinstated for Registered Music
Therapists (RMTs) operating within the NDIS, and to develop the knowledge of NDIA
planners regarding the therapeutic benefits and evidence-base for music therapy. These
advocacy focal points are based on:

1) RMTs meeting the same tertiary education level and self-regulation standards (i.e.
AMTA has full NASRAP membership) as Australian certified speech pathologists.
This point was inaccurately represented in the Duckett review, and this inaccuracy
informed the price cut.

2) The NDIA’s recent confirmation to the AMTA that all participant requests for music
therapy are being passed onto the NDIA’s Technical Advice & Practical Improvement
Branch so planners can be better informed and able to understand what best practice
outcomes look like in the delivery of highly individualised care.
Addressing these matters is an AMTA priority and is the only way to ensure that music
therapy businesses remain viable, and that in turn music therapy remains accessible to the
NDIS participants and their families who continue to derive great benefit from it. These
discussions are ongoing.

Personally, I would like to take this moment to thank you all for standing by me and the
music therapy profession throughout these profoundly disrupting challenges, which have now
persisted for more than 12 months. I am fully aware this is not just happening to music
therapy, and that these issues are reaching into the corners of every participant’s plan in many
varied, obscure and confounding ways. Standing strong together, and listening sensitively to
each other is really the only way we will make it through while they sort themselves out.

If you have any questions or queries pertaining to the above, or if you have trouble accessing
any of the links, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,
Elizabeth Mackney

Elizabeth Mackney is a:
Registered NDIS Provider of Therapeutic Supports & Community Nursing Care – Registration Id: 4-
3LLO-1571; Organisation Id: 4050008103.
Registered Nurse (RN) – AHPRA Registration No: NMW0001286334. Bachelor of Nursing
Registered Music Therapist (RMT) – AMTA Registration No: 540. Master of Music Therapy
Neurologic Music Therapist (NMT) – The Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy Certification No: 3585.
Cardiac Rehabilitation Facilitator – St Andrew’s Hospital Training Course
Talkabout Social Communication Skills Assessor – Alex Kelly Training Course
Rhythm 2 Recovery Facilitator – Rhythm 2 Recovery Course
Lions Nursing Scholarship recipient for research combining the roles of an RN & an RMT.

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APPENDIX A
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE SCOPE OF PRACTICE OF A
REGISTERED NURSE WHO IS ALSO A REGISTERED MUSIC THERAPIST:

Elizabeth Mackney has complied this document using references from the national regulating bodies
for registered nurses and registered music therapists. Links to the references are provided throughout.
Based on all the information to follow and this provider’s various and unique combination of
qualifications and registrations listed above, NDIS participants choosing to access this service may
use either their therapeutic supports budget (Capacity Building) and/or community nursing care line
items (from Capacity Building or Core) to do so as per the key intent of the NDIS and the NDIS Act to
facilitate quality, evidence-based support, flexibility and choice and control for people living with
disabilities in order to meet their highly individualised needs. No advice to the contrary should be
given to NDIS participants or their representatives unless the person is qualified to give such advice.
If, as an NDIS participant or their representative, you encounter challenge to this information from
someone who you believe does not have the appropriate knowledge to give such advice please
provide them with this document, contact me and/or seek advice directly from the Nursing And
Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).

The following quotes in italics are taken directly from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s
(NMBA – AHPRA) 2016 Standards of Practice document for Registered Nurses (see also this link to
the reference document: Registered nurse standards for practice

Registered nurse (RN) practice is person-centred and evidence-based with preventative, curative,
formative, supportive, restorative and palliative elements. RNs work in therapeutic and professional
relationships with individuals, as well as with families, groups and communities. These people may be
healthy and with a range of abilities, or have health issues related to physical or mental illness and/or
health challenges. These challenges may be posed by physical, psychiatric, developmental and/or
intellectual disabilities.

RN practice, as a professional endeavour, requires continuous thinking and analysis in the context of
thoughtful development and maintenance of constructive relationships. To engage in this work, RNs
need to continue to develop professionally and maintain their capability for professional practice. RNs
determine, coordinate and provide safe, quality nursing. This practice includes comprehensive
assessment, development of a plan, implementation and evaluation of outcomes.

Practice is not restricted to the provision of direct clinical care. Nursing practice extends to any paid or
unpaid role where the nurse uses their nursing skills and knowledge. This practice includes working in
a direct non-clinical relationship with clients, working in management, administration, education,
research, advisory, regulatory, policy development roles or other roles that impact on safe, effective
delivery of services in the profession and/or use of the nurse’s professional skills. RNs are
responsible for autonomous practice within dynamic systems, and in relationships with other health
care professionals.

The following is taken directly from the NMBA’s fact sheet about the scope of practice of nurses
(see also this link to reference document Fact Sheet: Scope of practice and capabilities of nurses
and other relevant links to follow):

While the foundational education of RNs, ENs and NPs in Australia captures the full breadth of the
scope of the profession at the graduate entry level, the scope of practice of individual practitioners is
influenced by the settings in which they practise. This includes the health needs of people, the level of
competence and confidence of the nurse and the policy requirements of the service provider. As the
nurse gains new skills and knowledge, their individual scope of practice changes p3.

NDIS participants can only access this high quality, specialised and innovative multidisciplinary
service through the NDIS i.e. the services of a Registered Nurse who is also a Registered Music
Therapist with a Masters degree operating at a Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) level according to the
Nurses Awards 2020 (see link to follow) with the relevant educational level and years of experience
(i.e. five years or more) to deliver advanced practice in the fields of disability (including mental health,
chronic disease management, music therapy and specialised program development) who meets all
practice standards and protections for all relevant professions and specialities in Australia i.e. NDIS,
AHPRA, AMTA & PANNDA (see link to follow). All policies and procedures developed and
implemented in this provider’s service delivery are available on her website along with her
qualifications, experience and summary of research: lismoremusictherapy.com.au

Nurses Awards 2020:
https://www.nqphn.com.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/Nurses%20Award%20July%202022-

Nursing Standards for working with people with disability:
https://www.pandda.net/files/PANDDA-2020-Standards.pdf

Please find below the link to the Australian Music Therapy Association’s (AMTA’s) Disability Evidence
Summary published in August, 2024 and reviewed again in November and December 2024. The
author of this document is acknowledged on page two for her role in the revision of this evidence
summary.

Music therapy: Disability evidence summary 2024
In brief summary: the multi-domain functional outcomes from the music therapy process and the
techniques employed through the process are underpinned by knowledge we have gained from brainimaging
research revealing that music stimulates important neural processes through rhythmic
entrainment, augmenting auditory feedback (i.e. it is our fastest sense), increasing neural network
connectivity, and activating motivational neural structures (Thaut & Hoemberg, 2014).

Music therapists are specialists in using auditory stimuli to optimise and organise central and
peripheral nervous system function for the purpose of supporting the development and/or
rehabilitation of cognitive, communication and sensorimotor skills. In this way it has the potential to
support people of all ages with arousal, sensory, attention, speech & language, and movement
challenges with immediate and long-term effect. Outcomes consequential to this present as improved
emotional and behavioural regulation, sense of self, confidence, self-awareness, and meaningful and
rewarding social engagement and community participation (Thaut & Hoemberg, 2014).

This knowledge, these skills and process require specialised training and thus this service cannot be
cast as a duplication of support.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE REGARDING BEST PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS,
REGIONAL/LOCAL AND CONDITION-SPECIFIC DATA & RELEVANT LINKS:

The key components of evidence-based practice are – clinical expertise, the research, client
preference/experience/values (Sackett, 2000) and context.

Operational guidelines and research published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the local
Healthy North Coast (HNC) Primary Health Care Network (PHN) in 2024 (see links following this
paragraph) highlight that people living with chronic conditions, such as lifelong disability, are more
vulnerable than the rest of the population to the impact of negatively compounding factors influencing
the social determinants of health (SDH) at play in their daily lives and functioning i.e.. including, but
not limited to, environmental (i.e. natural disaster) and structural determinants (i.e. crosssector/
system gaps/discrimination/ableism; weak cohesion between services; lack of expertise). The
WHO highlights the responsibility of government funded social programs, such as the NDIS, to know,
understand and take into account the SDH impacting all levels of society i.e. including the local context.

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240088320

Healthy North Coast Health Needs Assessment 2025-27

Lismore is recognised as a natural disaster hot spot and the community as a whole is still in recovery
from the February and March 2022 catastrophic floods. The HNC Health Needs Assessment 2024
(HNC-HNA) notes the experience of trauma and PTSD in this region is prolific, and significant mental
health service needs exist in Lismore when compared to NSW and Australia. The HNC-HNA
consultations also identified a need for more specialist expertise in the North Coast to support our
children, youth and neurodiverse population.

The HNC-HNA identified that 40 out of every 1000 people in Lismore are NDIS participants. This is
the second highest rate in the NSW North Coast (NC) and is higher than rates elsewhere in NSW and
Australia. Further, the proportion of people in “need of assistance” (i.e. severe-profound need in
terms of self-care, mobility and communication) is higher in this region than elsewhere in NSW and
Australia, and is growing in the younger population i.e. 0-24 years age range. It was also identified
that the NC region has higher rates of developmental vulnerability for four out of the five domains
listed below, with Lismore having higher rates than NSW and Australia for some of these.

1) Physical health and wellbeing,
2) Social competence,
3) Emotional maturity,
4) Language and cognition skills, and
5) Communication and general knowledge.

Stakeholders, such as young people and professionals, with specific relevant knowledge who were
involved in the consultations that informed the HNC’s HNA reported that creative therapies had a high
uptake and more age-appropriate services are needed. These consultations also highlighted a need
for services offering specialist knowledge in supporting neurodiverse individuals at various of points of
service delivery.