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NDIS cuts putting the lives of tube feeders at risk.

Milk bouncing off a spoon.
Emma Myers

Jul 7, 2025

Australians with disability who require the use of a feeding tube to sustain nourishment are being denied crucial access to both service providers and NDIS funding, according to the industry body that supports them.

Dieticians Australia, the peak body for nutrition and dietetic professionals , is calling on the NDIA to provide clarity and assurance that people with disability who require nutrition care will be guaranteed to receive it.

It comes in the wake of participants they work with reporting a substantial series of setbacks on previously funded supports because of the recent changes to the NDIS.

Lina Belik is a registered dietician who specialises in tube feeding. She says there’s only 7,000 Australians that live with a feeding tube, however they do experience complications associated with tube maintenance.

A hospital admission can set clients back five steps backwards, but the majority of the issues they face can be prevented with adequate support

Lina Belik

The dietician currently supports one hundred and forty clients, including a 28-year old woman with cerebral palsy who lives at home with a permanent feeding tube.

“It's essentially her lifeline,” Ms Belik explains. “All her nutrition costs were cut from $16,000 to $8,000.”

The dietician believes there are inconsistencies in how the NDIA decides which NDIS participants will receive support payments for specialised food formulas.

“I've got other clients who are getting full funding for their tube feeding supplies and formula…that can rank up to about $20,000 to $30,000 a year,” she explains.

Ms Belik argues the recent changes to the NDIS are affecting availability of service providers, which she claims impacts on their ability to advocate for their clients.

“Without access to the right dietician that understands that area…you won't have the right nourishment or hydration to be able to function and live an independent autonomous life, which is the basis of the NDIS.”

Dieticians Australia CEO, Magriet Raxworthy, says the organisation voiced their concerns to multiple government outlets regarding the NDIS cuts which came into effect on 1st July.

These changes came about without any consultation…Nobody from the government engaged with us on this

Magriet Raxworthy

She says healthcare professionals are ultimately concerned about how this will impact the level of choice and control for people with disability within the NDIS.

“This decision flies in the face of the NDIS's very own principles of design. It is putting allied health professionals, including dieticians, many of whom have supported participants for a number of years, in a moral and ethical dilemma,” the CEO says.

“The best thing they [government] can do now is to listen with the intent to understand the level of impact these changes will have on people. We do not want to see this continue.”

NDIS cuts putting the lives of tube feeders at risk