Breaking down the NDIS art therapy hourly rate
The NDIA has announced that art therapy will no longer be recognised as a “therapy” under the NDIS, but that it can continue under the Community, Social and Recreation Activity rate of $67.56 per hour.
Let’s break down the suggestion that art therapy is viable to continue under this significantly lower hourly rate. I’m using a few generalisations and hypotheticals here as everyone’s situation is different, but let’s look at it from the perspective of a sole trader art therapist in private practice.
Clinical supervision
Art therapists are Masters-trained professionals who have completed hundreds of hours of clinical placement to qualify for their profession. To maintain our professional registration we are required to complete one hour of clinical supervision for every 10 client hours. My supervisor charges $160 p/h (not a bad rate, I had another who charged $240). So if we average that cost out over 10 sessions that’s $16.
$67.56 - $16
= $51.56 remaining
Rent
We then need to factor in room hire. Many therapists hire a room by the hour, with a standard rate for a small studio space being around $20 per hour. (The other option is to visit participants in their homes, which has its own money and time costs associated.)
$51.56 - $20
= $31.56 remaining
Art materials
Art therapy also involves (twist!) art supplies. I budget for about $10 per session but let’s say we stick with Kmart products and allow for $5.
$31.56 - $5
= $26.56 remaining
Fixed costs
We also need to factor in fixed costs (professional registration, professional indemnity and public liability insurance, accountant fees, web hosting fees, subscriptions to business systems, etc.) This is hard to factor into a per session sum but let’s use a generalised example. For me, as a small business owner in private practice, these costs average around $45 per working week (assuming I work 48 weeks). If we average this out over 15 clients a week over 48 weeks, that’s $3 per session. No private practice therapist is ever likely to work at full capacity for 48 weeks of the year, so assume this amount is higher in reality when averaged out over fewer sessions. There also appears to be a new requirement that creative therapists be NDIS registered, which involves an audit that costs an average of $1200. I’m not even going to touch that right now.
$26.56 - $3
= $23.56 remaining
Superannuation
Don’t forget to pay yourself super!
$23.56 - 11.5%
= $20.86 remaining
Time commitment
The final thing to consider is that a one hour art therapy session takes, at a minimum, two hours of the therapist’s time (e.g. 15 mins set up, 15 mins pack up, 30 mins clinical notes and planning).
$20.86/2
= $10.43 per hour
The result
Which leaves us with the staggering final hourly rate of $10.43, without any allowance for annual or personal leave. As a bonus, this means you would need to work four weeks full time to pay for your NDIS registration audit.
So… Is Aldi hiring at the moment?
