Provider Guide · Updated 1 September 2026
The NDIS Price Guide, in plain English
A plain-language guide to the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, support categories, allied health item numbers, travel and cancellation rules, and the three plan management types. Built for allied health practitioners, support coordinators, and behaviour support providers running their own practice.
Section 1, Plan Structure
The three NDIS support categories
Every NDIS plan is divided into three top-level budget categories. The most common provider mistake is assuming funds can be moved between them, Capacity Building funding cannot be spent on Core supports, and vice versa.
| Category | Flexibility | What it funds |
|---|---|---|
| Core Supports | Flexible across budget | Everyday assistance with daily life, personal care, household tasks, community participation, consumables (continence aids, low-cost AT). |
| Capacity Building | NOT flexible, locked to subcategory | Builds skills and independence over time. Funding is allocated to specific outcome areas and cannot be moved between them. |
| Capital Supports | Separate quotes required | One-off purchases of higher-cost assistive technology, home and vehicle modifications. Each item is individually quoted and approved. |
- Assistance with daily life (in-home support, SIL)
- Transport allowance
- Consumables (continence, low-cost AT under $1,500)
- Assistance with social and community participation
- Improved Daily Living (allied health: physio, OT, psych, SP, dietitian)
- Improved Relationships (specialist behaviour support)
- Support Coordination (Levels 1 to 3)
- Finding & Keeping a Job, Choice & Control, Health & Wellbeing
- Assistive Technology (AT) over $1,500, wheelchairs, communication devices
- Home modifications (bathroom mods, ramps, rails)
- Vehicle modifications
- Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)
Section 2, Item Numbers
Common therapeutic support item codes
Each allied health discipline has its own NDIS item number that must appear on every invoice and claim. The codes below are the standard Improved Daily Living (Capacity Building 15_) items. Hourly price caps shown are for standard regions, remote and very remote attract uplifts.
Source of these figures: NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025-26, effective 1 July 2025, read by us on 18 May 2026. It was superseded on 1 July 2026. Check each amount against the current NDIS pricing document before you put it on an invoice.
15_055_0128_1_3
Physiotherapist
Price cap (standard region): $193.99/hr
15_054_0128_1_3
Exercise Physiologist
Price cap (standard region): $166.99/hr
15_053_0128_1_3
Occupational Therapist
Price cap (standard region): $193.99/hr
15_056_0128_1_3
Psychologist, Therapy
Price cap (standard region): $222.99/hr
15_044_0128_1_3
Counsellor
Price cap (standard region): $156.16/hr
15_621_0128_1_3
Dietitian
Price cap (standard region): $193.99/hr
15_058_0128_1_3
Speech Pathologist
Price cap (standard region): $193.99/hr
15_517_0118_1_3
Specialist Behaviour Support, accredited practitioner
Price cap (standard region): $234.83/hr
Regional and remote uplifts
Standard caps apply in MMM 1 to 5 regions. Remote (MMM 6) supports attract a +40% uplift and very remote (MMM 7) supports attract a +50% uplift on the published price limit. The Modified Monash Model classification of the participant's usual residence determines which cap applies.
Item codes and price caps reflect the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document. Always confirm the current version at ndis.gov.au.
Section 3, Travel Claiming
How to claim provider travel
Travel is one of the most commonly under-claimed and over-claimed line items on NDIS invoices. There are two distinct travel types, each with its own cap.
Provider travel to client
Travelling from your office (or previous appointment) to the participant's location. Claimable up to the maximum time per leg based on geographic band.
- Metropolitan (MMM 1): up to 30 minutes per leg
- Regional / remote (MMM 2 to 5): up to 60 minutes per leg
Travel between clients in a shift
When you see multiple participants back-to-back, the travel time between them is claimable. Same per-leg time caps apply, and the cost is split proportionally between the participants receiving the supports.
- Apportion across the participants serviced in the run
- Document the route in your records
Travel rate vs vehicle reimbursement
Travel time is claimed at the same hourly rate as the support being delivered (e.g. physiotherapy travel = physio hourly cap). This is distinct from non-labour vehicle costs, fuel, depreciation, wear, which are claimed at the NDIS-published per-kilometre rate (claimed under non-labour transport, not as time).
Section 4, Cancellation Policy
Short-notice cancellation rules
The NDIS allows providers to claim a cancellation fee when a participant cancels with insufficient notice, but the rules are prescriptive, and a sloppy cancellation claim is the fastest way to fail an audit.
Within 7 clear days of the session
When a participant cancels (or fails to show up) inside the 7-clear-day window, you can claim the full session fee against their plan budget. “Clear days” means the session day and the cancellation day are both excluded from the count.
You must offer an alternative time first
Before claiming the cancellation fee, document that you offered the participant a make-good appointment and they declined or didn't respond. This evidences the “reasonable steps” expectation in the Pricing Arrangements.
Your service agreement must allow it
Cancellation invoices need to reconcile back to a service agreement that the participant signed and that included a cancellation clause aligned with NDIS rules. No clause = no claim, even if you followed every other step correctly.
Section 5, Plan Management
Three ways a participant's plan can be managed
The plan management type controls who you invoice, how fast you get paid, and whether you need to be NDIS-registered. Most practices accept a mix of all three.
NDIA-managed (Agency-managed)
NDIS pays providers directly through the participant portal.
Only NDIS-registered providers can deliver these supports. Providers claim through the myplace provider portal at the published price limit or below. Faster payment but you must be registered, audited, and meet the NDIS Practice Standards.
Plan-managed
A registered plan manager pays the invoice on the participant's behalf.
The plan manager is the registered provider, the actual support provider does not need to be NDIS-registered. You invoice the plan manager, who pays you and claims from NDIS. Most allied health practices service plan-managed clients this way without taking on full registration.
Self-managed
The participant pays you directly and claims reimbursement from NDIS themselves.
No registration requirement. The participant decides whether to pay your full fee (potentially above the price cap if they choose to top up) and submits the invoice to NDIS for reimbursement up to the published cap. You get paid like any private client, by EFT or card.
Practical tips for NDIS providers
Stay at or under the published cap
For NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants the cap is a hard ceiling, invoice above and the claim bounces. If your private-client rate exceeds the NDIS cap, you either absorb the gap on NDIS clients or carry a separate price book. Don't try to recover the difference through inflated travel or report-writing line items.
Every invoice needs the basics
Participant NDIS number, plan management type, support item code, date(s) of service, hours, hourly rate, and total. Plan managers reject invoices that miss any of these fields, and NDIA processing slows down for the same reason. Build a template once.
Audit trail reconciles to service agreements
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission expects every invoice to map back to a service agreement, session notes, and consent. Records must be retained for 7 years. Software that stamps session start/finish and notes is the single highest-leverage investment for audit readiness.
Only register if you need NDIA-managed clients
Full NDIS provider registration requires audit against the Practice Standards and ongoing compliance costs. Many allied health practices operate viably on plan-managed and self-managed clients alone, registration only pays off when Agency-managed referrals are a meaningful share of your pipeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to be a registered NDIS provider to deliver allied health?
No, registration is only required if you accept NDIA-managed (Agency-managed) participants. Most allied health providers operate registration-free by working only with plan-managed and self-managed participants, which together make up the large majority of plans. You can choose to register later if you want to broaden your client pool.
How often does the NDIS Price Guide change?
The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits are reviewed annually and the updated document takes effect on 1 July each financial year. Mid-year amendments occasionally happen for specific items. Always check ndis.gov.au for the current document before quoting or invoicing.
Can I charge more than the published price limit?
For Agency-managed and Plan-managed participants, no, the price limit is a hard cap. For self-managed participants you technically can, but NDIS will only reimburse them up to the cap and they pay the gap out of pocket. Best practice is to stay at or under the cap unless you have a clear written agreement about a top-up.
What happens when a client cancels with no notice?
If a participant cancels within 7 clear days of the scheduled session (short notice) you can claim 100% of the session fee, provided you first attempted to offer an alternative time and the participant did not accept. The cancellation must be documented and the service agreement must include cancellation terms before the session was booked.
What is a non-labour cost and how do I claim it?
Non-labour costs are out-of-pocket expenses incurred while delivering a support, most commonly vehicle running costs when you drive to a client. These are claimed at the NDIS-published per-kilometre rate, separately from any travel time you also charge. Other non-labour costs include consumables used during a session and report-writing materials, where allowable under the relevant item number.
What's the difference between short notice cancellation and a no-show?
Short notice cancellation means the participant told you they couldn't attend within 7 clear days of the booking. A no-show means the participant didn't attend and didn't tell you. Both are claimable at 100% under the NDIS rules, but documentation differs, for a no-show you need to record your attempt to contact them and confirm they did not arrive within a reasonable window.
Get NDIS bookings, notes, and invoicing off the spreadsheet
OneBookPlus tracks NDIS item numbers, plan management type, and service-agreement consent on every appointment, built for Australian allied health providers.
Rather look before you sign up? Open a live demo account with real data in it, or compare the AUD plans on the pricing page.
Reviewed by Bishal Shrestha
About the author
Bishal Shrestha
Founder & CEO, OneBookPlus
Bishal spent a decade running digital projects for Australian small businesses before founding OneBookPlus. He writes and maintains these pages, and publishes what OneBookPlus does not do alongside what it does.
Read the founder bioHow this page was researched
The compliance and licensing statements above are taken from the bodies this page links to, including the NDIA price guide, so you can read the rule rather than take our word for it. Plan prices come from the OneBookPlus price registry, so the page and the checkout cannot disagree. Everything said about OneBookPlus describes what the product does today, and the page says so where it does not do something.
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