NDIS price guide 2026 to 2027: changes to check with providers
NDIS Pricing Changes for 2026 to 2027: What You Need to Know
By Clickability · Originally published 20 July 2026
Deeper review: 6 October 2026. The deeper review checked the pricing schedule effective 24 September 2026. The original July accuracy date is preserved as its historical review date.
Check a price change against the actual booking
Ask for the proposed rate, start date, item and separately charged activities in writing. Compare the complete booking with the agreement and available funding. A new maximum does not automatically change the rate you agreed. Use the schedule and claiming conditions applicable to the actual service rather than an older percentage or invoice template. Check the applicable pricing schedule.
Original article and dated context
The NDIA has released its new pricing information for 2026 to 2027, and there is a lot to take in.
If you opened the 98 page document and immediately wanted to close it again, that is completely understandable. Thankfully, you do not need to become an NDIS pricing expert overnight.
There are higher maximum prices for many disability support worker services, psychology, behaviour support, nursing and psychosocial recovery coaching. Some allied health prices have been reduced, while Support Coordination and Plan Management prices remain unchanged.
There are also significant changes to Short Term Accommodation and to the way therapy services such as travel, cancellations, reports and telehealth appear in the pricing documents.
[Clickability update, September 2026: The current linked official schedule is effective 24 September 2026. Check that version for today’s item and conditions rather than relying solely on the July release. See the official document index.]
A new maximum price does not automatically change what you pay
The Pricing Schedule sets out what the NDIA considers to be appropriate and reasonable maximum prices for NDIS supports.
Providers can use these prices to inform what they charge. However, they cannot simply change the price in an existing service agreement without discussing it with the participant.
Participants and providers can negotiate an appropriate price. The participant must agree to a pricing change before it is made.
The maximum price is a cap. It is not a compulsory fee that every provider must charge.
[Clickability update, September 2026: The schedule’s maximum prices apply to NDIA-managed and plan-managed funding. They are not compulsory fees and do not apply identically to self-managed arrangements. Check the scope of the limits.]
Before agreeing to a price change, it is reasonable to ask:
• What will the new price be?
• When will it begin?
• Which support item will appear on the invoice?
• How will the increase affect the number of support hours available in the plan?
• Will there be separate charges for travel, reports, cancellations or work completed outside appointments?
A good provider should be able to explain the change clearly, without making you feel rushed or uncomfortable for asking questions.
The Pricing Schedule is not the only document that matters
The Pricing Schedule contains support item numbers, names, units and national, remote and very remote maximum prices.
The separate NDIS Support Catalogue lists the supports providers can use when requesting payment.
It also provides information about matters such as:
• Non face to face support
• Provider travel
• Cancellations
• NDIA requested reports
• Telehealth
• Irregular Supported Independent Living supports
• Whether a quote is required
The Pricing Schedule and Support Catalogue should be used together. Providers should check both documents before submitting claims.
Disability support worker prices have increased
Prices connected to the Disability Support Worker Cost Model have increased to reflect changes to minimum wages under the SCHADS Award.
The main national weekday daytime maximum prices are:
• Level 1, standard supports: $73.58 per hour
• Level 2, high intensity and complex behaviour supports: $79.60 per hour
• Level 3, capacity building supports: $83.87 per hour
• Level 4, psychosocial recovery coaching and assistive technology mentoring: $110.44 per hour
The national maximum for a standard night time sleepover is $311.79.
Different prices apply for evenings, nights, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Higher maximum prices also apply in remote and very remote areas.
What do the four support worker levels mean?
The levels reflect how particular support items are costed under the NDIA’s Disability Support Worker Cost Model.
They are not a new registration, qualification or licensing system for individual support workers.
In practical terms:
Level 1 includes many standard personal care, community access, group activity, Supported Independent Living and employment support items.
Level 2 includes high intensity personal care and intensive or complex behaviour supports.
Level 3 includes supports such as accommodation and tenancy assistance, life transition planning, employment assistance, social skills development and training for carers or parents.
Level 4 includes psychosocial recovery coaching and assistive technology mentoring.
The important point is that the item claimed should accurately reflect the type and intensity of the support that was delivered.
The Annual Pricing Review also recommends a broader review of the Disability Support Worker Cost Model during 2026 to 2027.
The model’s current benchmarking information was established using 2020 to 2021 market conditions. The NDIA intends to consider whether its assumptions still reflect current employment, wage and workforce conditions.
This review may result in future changes, but it does not represent another confirmed price increase at this stage.
Short Term Accommodation has been restructured
Short Term Accommodation, commonly called STA, was previously priced using one bundled daily amount.
The new structure separates accommodation from the disability support delivered during the stay.
The national maximum prices now include:
• Participant accommodation: $162.85 per day
• Support worker accommodation: $162.85 per day
• Standard weekday daytime support: $73.58 per hour
• High intensity weekday daytime support: $79.60 per hour
• Standard sleepover: $311.79 each
Support hours are now listed according to the day, time and intensity of the assistance being delivered.
You may have seen an STA accommodation figure of $158.66 mentioned in earlier information.
That figure appeared in the Annual Pricing Review recommendation because it referred to the Medium Term Accommodation rate that applied at the time. The final Pricing Schedule lists both Medium Term Accommodation and the new STA accommodation items at $162.85 per day nationally.
The final Pricing Schedule should be used when checking the current published maximum price.
[Clickability update, September 2026: The September schedule still lists national STA accommodation items at $162.85 per day. A price item does not itself establish eligibility or make a holiday claimable. See the schedule and STA purpose and rules.]
What should you ask before booking STA?
The new structure may make it easier to see what is being charged for accommodation and what is being charged for direct support.
However, it may also make STA quotes and invoices more complicated.
Before booking STA, ask the provider for a written breakdown showing:
• The participant accommodation cost
• Any support worker accommodation cost
• The number of support hours included
• The applicable weekday, weekend or public holiday rates
• Whether a sleepover will be charged
• Any costs the participant will need to pay personally
The new Pricing Schedule does not list separate NDIS support items for food or leisure activities.
Providers should clearly identify any personal costs and ensure that all proposed NDIS claims comply with current NDIS support rules.
The Annual Pricing Review identified the need to distinguish disability related supports from ordinary living costs more clearly.
Therapy pricing is a mixed picture
There has not been an across the board increase for allied health.
Psychology and Specialist Behavioural Intervention Support now have a national maximum of $252.99 per hour.
Provider travel for these services is listed separately at $126.50 per hour nationally.
Some professional prices have been reduced:
• Dietitian: $178.99 per hour
• Exercise Physiologist: $161.99 per hour
• Other Professional: $156.16 per hour
The NDIA has also introduced dedicated Orientation and Mobility Specialist items at $156.16 per hour.
Orientation and Mobility Specialists work with people who are blind or have low vision to support safe and independent movement and travel.
Other published national therapy prices include:
• Occupational Therapist: $193.99 per hour
• Speech Pathologist: $193.99 per hour
• Physiotherapist: $183.99 per hour
These figures apply to direct services at the national rate. Remote and very remote maximum prices are higher.
The reduction to the general Other Professional rate does not apply to the corresponding Early Childhood Other Professional support, which remains at $193.99 per hour.
Therapy invoices may look different
The new Pricing Schedule contains separate therapy support item numbers for:
• Direct services
• Cancellations
• Non face to face support
• Provider travel
• NDIA requested reports
• Telehealth
Common item number endings include:
• CA for cancellation
• NF for non face to face support
• PT for provider travel
• RR for an NDIA requested report
• TH for telehealth
This gives the NDIA more detailed information about what providers are claiming.
It may also make it easier for participants to see whether an invoice relates to an appointment, travel, report writing or another activity.
Provider travel is generally priced at approximately half the relevant direct professional rate.
For example:
• Psychologist direct service: $252.99 per hour
• Psychologist provider travel: $126.50 per hour
• Dietitian direct service: $178.99 per hour
• Dietitian provider travel: $89.50 per hour
• Exercise Physiologist direct service: $161.99 per hour
• Exercise Physiologist provider travel: $81.00 per hour
A separate item number does not automatically mean an activity can always be claimed.
Providers still need to check the participant’s plan, the service agreement, the latest Support Catalogue and any applicable claiming requirements.
Participants should ask how travel, cancellations, report writing and work completed outside appointments will be charged before agreeing to the service.
Support Coordination prices remain the same
The national Support Coordination maximum prices remain:
• Level 1, Support Connection: $80.06 per hour
• Level 2, Coordination of Supports: $100.14 per hour
• Level 3, Specialist Support Coordination: $190.54 per hour
Psychosocial Recovery Coaching is priced separately through the Disability Support Worker Cost Model.
Its national weekday daytime maximum has increased to $110.44 per hour.
Plan Management remains at $104.45 per month
The national Plan Management monthly fee remains $104.45.
The Annual Pricing Review recommends a broader examination of the Plan Management pricing approach.
This is intended to consider whether the price properly reflects the administrative, technology and transaction based nature of the service.
That review is future work. It has not changed the current monthly fee.
Nursing prices have increased
Nursing and other eligible labour based supports have received price increases.
Examples of the new national weekday daytime maximum prices include:
• Enrolled Nurse: $103.44 per hour
• Registered Nurse: $128.05 per hour
• Clinical Nurse: $148.13 per hour
Different maximum prices apply for evenings, nights, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Remote and very remote prices also apply where relevant.
What has not changed yet?
The Annual Pricing Review recommends reducing prices for unregistered providers delivering Social, Community and Civic Participation supports by 10 per cent from 1 January 2027.
This is a recommendation only.
It has not been implemented in the Pricing Schedule effective from 1 July 2026.
[Clickability update, September 2026: This paragraph describes a recommendation and the July document. Do not treat it as a confirmed future charge or cut; check formal guidance before applying any January 2027 change. Monitor the official pricing index.]
The recommendation applies to relevant standard and high intensity Social, Community and Civic Participation supports.
It would also extend to associated:
• Non face to face support
• Provider travel
• Short notice cancellations
• Activity based transport
Registered provider prices would remain unchanged under the recommendation.
Participants and providers should wait for formal updated pricing guidance before treating the proposed reduction as an implemented change.
You do not need to agree to a price change immediately.
Take the time to:
• Ask for the proposed price in writing
• Check whether it is within the current maximum
• Ask which support item will be used
• Find out how the price could affect the hours available in the plan
• Review travel, cancellation and report writing charges
• Request a detailed written quote for STA
• Keep a copy of the updated service agreement
You have the right to understand what you are paying for and to agree to a pricing change before it is made.
What providers should do now
Providers should:
• Review the Pricing Schedule and Support Catalogue together
• Map existing support items to the new item numbers
• Update billing and practice management systems
• Review STA quotes and service agreements
• Clearly explain proposed changes to participants
• Obtain participant agreement before changing existing prices
• Check travel, cancellation, report and non face to face claiming requirements
• Monitor the official NDIS pricing pages for corrections and updated documents
The greatest immediate risk is not simply charging the wrong hourly amount.
It is using the wrong support item, continuing to bill STA as one bundled daily service, incorrectly claiming an additional therapy activity, or changing an agreed price without the participant’s consent.
The bottom line
The 2026 to 2027 pricing changes bring higher maximum prices for disability support workers, psychologists, behaviour support, recovery coaching and nursing.
They also introduce reduced prices for selected allied health professions, unchanged Support Coordination and Plan Management prices, and significant changes to STA and therapy billing.
For participants, clearer itemisation may make it easier to understand where plan funding is going.
However, it remains important to ask questions, check invoices and make sure any pricing change has been properly discussed and agreed.
Finding a provider is about more than the maximum hourly price. Communication, reliability, experience, accessibility and whether the service feels right for you are just as important.
Clickability can help you search for disability services and connect with providers that match your needs and location.
Accuracy note: This article was checked against the official NDIS Pricing Schedule, Annual Pricing Review, Support Catalogue and NDIS pricing pages available on 20 July 2026. NDIS pricing documents may be corrected or updated during the financial year, so participants and providers should check the current official documents before making pricing or claiming decisions.
Apply the current schedule to the exact invoice activity
Check the proposed change against your agreed service
The current 2026–27 schedule is effective from 24 September 2026, later than the article’s July accuracy note. Ask the provider which item, activity, date and location apply to your booking before comparing prices. Direct support, travel and report work can have separate items. Read the current 2026–27 pricing schedule
A new maximum is not an automatic increase to your agreed rate. Ask how a proposed price affects the complete booking and available hours. Keep a written record of what you agree to rather than assuming a headline percentage applies to every service.
Keep the version of the agreement you accepted so you can compare the next invoice with it.
Map the activity and conditions as well as the code
Check the current schedule, support catalogue and applicable claiming rules together. A separate item ending does not prove that every activity is claimable for every participant. Match the actual service and management arrangement, and explain any permitted extra charge before delivery.
Use real service dates and keep the activity description understandable. Review an old invoice template when items change so that a direct appointment, travel or non-face-to-face activity is not silently treated as the same thing. Do not apply a proposed future price change until the relevant current rule supports it.
Compare a full booking without treating the example as a quote
For an illustrative booking at an agreed $180 hourly rate, 45 minutes of direct physiotherapy costs $135. If 20 minutes of permitted travel is separately agreed at $90 an hour, that adds $30, giving $165 before any other permitted costs. This is arithmetic, not approval of that travel or a current provider offer.
Ask the provider to perform the same calculation with the actual item, agreed rate and time. Confirm which costs are private and which conditions govern cancellation. The current published maximum and the amount a participant agrees to pay are different pieces of information.
Questions readers ask
Does a listed STA accommodation price fund a holiday?
No. STA has its own purpose and funding rules; a price entry does not approve a holiday claim. Official guidance
Which pricing schedule should I use for a booking?
Use the effective schedule and claiming conditions for the actual service date, item, activity and region. The historical July examples do not replace the current official documents. Official guidance
Find providers and compare the complete quote
Use Clickability to describe your service and location. Compare profiles and reviews, then ask providers to explain the full proposed cost before agreeing.
