Goals are part of the NDIS plan and your physiotherapy treatment. Goals are things you want to achieve, and can relate to your ability to move around, participate in sport and work, or even do things as simple as gardening and your hobbies, whatever they may be. In your NDIS plan, your goals are discussed in your planning meetings and are used to guide and determine the funding allocated to your plan, as well as how that funding is divided up between different categories. These categories determine what services you can access, and what goals those services will help you achieve. It's important to either have a clear idea about your goals or to provide the NDIS plan to your treating clinician, so that your goals can form the basis and guiding plan for the treatment you receive. 

The NDIS exists to allow people with disabilities to access the supports they need to live engaged, fulfilled lives and to achieve the things that make life meaningful for them, whether that's finding a job, going back to school and completing a qualification, spending more time with their family, or even getting a Chinese meal with their friends every now and then. Because peoples' lives are different, peoples' disabilities are different, peoples' social context and backgrounds are different, and peoples' goals are different, no two clients are ever the same, and so no two treatment plans can ever be structured in the same way. This also means that some goals will be more appropriate for a physiotherapist to manage than others. That's okay - there are many Allied Health clinicians and professionals who work in the NDIS space who are ready and able to work with you to achieve your goals. 

NDIS goals are important to have because they will determine what physiotherapy you receive and how you go about doing it. Because of this, separate physiotherapy goals will need to be developed with you, in a process much like the planning meeting you had with the NDIA. Developing physiotherapy goals is important because it identifies the areas in which physiotherapy will be most beneficial to you, as well as how that physiotherapy should be provided. It can mean the difference between receiving hands-on treatment, pool-based exercises, exercises in a gym, or even having equipment bought for you depending on what you want to achieve. When your physiotherapy goals and plan are developed with you, we make sure that we're doing the right thing and that you understand the plan.

NDIS goals are important because they let you decide what is important to you, why those things are important, and how you want to go about achieving them. By discussing your NDIS goals with your physiotherapist and making plans around that, you get to work with your clinician and tell us what is important to you, how you want to achieve those goals, and help us give you options and information so you can make choices for yourself. You have the opportunity to tell us how to work with you, to add value and benefit to your life, and to make the most of the resources and supports that you have available.