Every year, the NDIA releases an updated NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document (commonly called the “Price Guide”). It sets the maximum hourly rates and item prices that registered and unregistered providers can charge for NDIS-funded supports. Understanding the Price Guide is essential for setting up service agreements, invoicing correctly, and managing your business finances.
What the Price Guide Actually Is
The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document covers:
- Support categories — the eight broad funding categories in NDIS plans (e.g. Daily Activities, Social & Community Participation, Improved Daily Living)
- Support items — specific line items within each category, each with a unique support item number
- Price limits — the maximum a provider can charge per unit (usually per hour, but sometimes per session or per item)
- Registration group requirements — which registration groups are required to deliver specific supports
- Billing rules — rules about what activities can and cannot be included in a billable support hour
Key Support Categories and Their 2025–26 Price Limits
The most commonly used support categories for direct support providers are:
- 01 — Daily Activities (Assistance with Daily Life): Covers personal care, household tasks, and community access. Rates vary by time of day and day of week — weekday daytime rates are lower than evenings, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.
- 04 — Assistance with Social, Economic & Community Participation: Covers community access and social participation activities.
- 07 — Support Coordination: Two levels — Support Coordination and Specialist Support Coordination, with different rates for each.
- 15 — Improved Daily Living: Covers allied health therapies — occupational therapy, speech pathology, physiotherapy, psychology, etc.
Weekday vs. Weekend vs. Public Holiday Rates
One of the most important things to understand about NDIS pricing is the time-of-day and day-of-week multipliers. For support workers:
- Weekday daytime — base rate (lowest)
- Weekday evening (after 8pm) — higher rate
- Saturday — higher multiplier
- Sunday — higher multiplier again
- Public holiday — highest rate of all
Your rostering software and NDIS claiming system should automatically apply the correct rate based on the actual time the support was delivered. Manual errors here are a compliance risk and a financial risk — you may be over or under-claiming.
The Non-Face-to-Face and Provider Travel Rules
Providers often ask about billable activities beyond direct support hours. The current rules allow:
- Non-face-to-face support: A proportion of plan management, support coordination, and some therapy time can be claimed as non-face-to-face (admin, reporting, coordination activities).
- Provider travel: Where a support worker travels to deliver support, the travel time and/or kilometres may be billable depending on the participant’s plan and the provider’s service agreement. Check the current Price Guide for specific conditions.
- Cancellation policy: The NDIS allows providers to charge for short-notice cancellations under specific conditions. Both parties must have agreed to the cancellation policy in the service agreement.
Keeping Your Service Agreements Aligned to the Price Guide
Whenever the Price Guide is updated, review your service agreements. Specifically check that:
- The rates in your service agreement do not exceed the current price limits
- Any rate increases are communicated to participants and documented with their agreement
- Your service agreement references the correct support item numbers from the current price catalogue
How Pricing Affects NDIS Claiming
When you submit payment requests to the NDIS portal (either directly or via a plan manager), you must use the correct support item number and a rate that does not exceed the price limit. Claims submitted at rates above the price limit will be rejected. Claims with incorrect item numbers may also be queried or rejected.
Key Takeaways
- Download the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements document from the NDIS website at the start of each financial year.
- Know the correct support item numbers for every support you deliver.
- Apply the correct time-of-day and day-of-week multipliers to every shift.
- Review your service agreements annually to ensure alignment with current price limits.
- Use software that automatically applies correct pricing to eliminate manual errors.