NDIS Pricing Guide: What Providers Can Charge in 2024-25

The NDIA publishes Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL) each financial year (1 July to 30 June). These set the maximum price a provider can charge for each type of support.

Key principles:

• Price limits are maximums — providers can charge less, but cannot charge more
• Prices are national — the same limits apply across all states and territories (the previous remote loading has been replaced by national rates from 2025-26)
• Prices include all costs — the hourly rate must cover the worker's wage, superannuation, training, insurance, administration, and overheads
• Prices are updated annually — typically effective from 1 July each year

All providers claiming through the NDIS — registered and unregistered — must charge within these price limits. Self-managed participants can negotiate different rates, but claims to the NDIA are still capped at the price limit.

These are the rates for personal care, community access, and other direct support work:

Higher-intensity supports (complex personal care, behaviours of concern) attract a loading — typically 1.5x to 2x the base rate depending on the level.

These rates increased in July 2024, but many providers and advocates argue they still do not cover the true cost of delivering quality support, particularly in regional areas.

Allied health rates cover occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, dietetics, social work, and exercise physiology:

The therapy rate has been frozen at $193.99 since 2019 — over 6 years without any increase. Occupational Therapy Australia and other peak bodies have called this rate unsustainable, arguing it does not cover the true cost of delivering therapy once wages, superannuation, insurance, professional development, clinical supervision, and administrative overheads are accounted for.

The impact: some therapists have stopped taking NDIS clients, reduced services, or moved to private practice. Participants — particularly in regional and remote areas — report increasing difficulty finding therapists with availability.

In our directory, the average reported fee is $267.09/hour across all provider types.

Psychologists and behaviour support practitioners have separate rates reflecting their specialised qualifications:

Important: Behaviour support plans involving any restrictive practices (such as chemical restraint, physical restraint, or seclusion) must be delivered by a registered provider with appropriate specialist registration. This is one of the few areas where registration is always required regardless of plan management type.

Support coordination rates depend on the level:

Like allied health therapy, Level 2 and Level 3 coordination rates have been frozen since 2019. This has created sustainability concerns across the sector, with some coordinators reporting they cannot cover costs at the current rate.

Support coordination is funded from your Capacity Building budget — specifically the "Improved Life Choices" support category.

Plan management fees are set nationally:

Plan management is funded from a separate budget line — it does not reduce your Core, Capacity Building, or Capital funding. This is a critical point: choosing plan management is effectively cost-free to you as a participant.

Providers can charge for travel to deliver face-to-face supports:

• Key rules on travel:**
• Providers can charge for travel to your location but not for travel between their appointments (this is considered a business cost)
• Travel charges should be discussed and agreed in your service agreement before supports begin
• The maximum travel time chargeable is equal to the time of the appointment — for example, a 1-hour therapy session cannot attract more than 1 hour of travel time
• Group supports: travel costs are shared among participants in the group

Providers can charge a cancellation fee if you cancel or do not attend (no-show) with insufficient notice:

Short-notice cancellation (less than 2 clear business days): Provider can charge up to 90% of the agreed fee.

No-show: Provider can charge up to 100% of the agreed fee.

• What counts as "2 clear business days":**
• If your appointment is on Wednesday, you must cancel by end of business Monday
• If your appointment is on Monday, you must cancel by end of business the preceding Thursday
• Weekends and public holidays do not count as business days

• Protections for participants:**
• Cancellation terms must be in your service agreement
• Providers cannot charge cancellation fees for the first cancellation if it was not in the service agreement
• If you have a genuine emergency or health crisis, discuss this with your provider — many will waive the fee in compassionate circumstances
• Maximum cancellation charges apply per occasion — not per hour

Cancellation charges are one of the most common billing disputes. Make sure your service agreement is clear about the cancellation policy before you start.

The NDIA announced updated Pricing Arrangements effective 1 July 2025. Key changes:

• National therapy rates — the previous remote/very remote loading has been replaced with a single national rate for therapy supports
• Plan management setup fee removed — previously $378.93, now $0. Only the monthly fee of $104.45 applies.
• Temporary Transformation Payment (TTP) discontinued — providers no longer receive the additional loading that was available since 2019
• Support worker rates adjusted — modest increases to weekday and weekend rates

The allied health therapy rate of $193.99/hour has not been increased for the 2025-26 year, extending the freeze to over 7 years.

For the full current pricing document, refer to the NDIA's Pricing Arrangements page on ndis.gov.au.

To get the most from your NDIS funding:

• Ask providers for their fee schedule before starting — compare it against the NDIS price limits
• Track your spending — use your plan manager's reports or the myplace portal to monitor budget usage
• Negotiate where possible — some providers charge below the price limit, especially for regular ongoing supports
• Understand your budget categories — spending in one category (e.g. Core) does not affect another (e.g. Capacity Building), though some Core categories are flexible
• Watch for unnecessary charges — review invoices for travel time, report writing, or other add-ons that were not discussed
• Use group supports where appropriate — group therapy or community activities are often charged at a lower per-participant rate
• Plan ahead to avoid cancellation fees — cancel with at least 2 clear business days' notice whenever possible