The price of support

New legislation, new look plans, funding periods, and more. Whether you're a participant or a provider, you’d have to be working overtime to stay on top of the shifting sands of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

And now, to add to the challenge, there’s a whole new raft of pricing rules to stuff into the mental rolodex of everything you need to know, with the latest iteration of the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits in play.

As the sea of change continues to wash over the sector, our NDIS experts have netted all the need-to-know information about pricing cuts, increases and tweaks, and we’ve laid it out to help you stay afloat.

Here goes!

What’s the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits?

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) regulates prices to ensure sustainability of the Scheme and help NDIS participants get value from the supports they receive.

According to the Agency, it uses a mix of market data, research, and public and industry engagement in its Annual Pricing Review to inform changes to the Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits – which is a document the Agency releases annually on 1 July and updates throughout the year.

The Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits help both participants and providers understand what can and can’t be claimed and the maximum amount registered providers can charge.

This article tells you everything you need to know about the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits and how to use it.

What’s happening this year?

Under the 2025-26 Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, lots of things have changed, including:

• the introduction of 10-minute pricing increments for therapy and early childhood intervention supports to encourage flexibility in session length

• a reduction in the amount therapy providers can claim for travel (cut to 50 per cent of the relevant hourly rate)

• a $5 reduction in the price limits for podiatry and dietetics (down to $188.99 per hour nationally)

• the introduction of a national price limit of $183.99 per hour for physiotherapy supports, which represents a $10 drop for providers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory

• a $40.66 per hour reduction in the price limit for physiotherapy supports in Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory (removal of the higher price loading)

• the introduction of a national price limit of $232.99 per hour for psychology supports, which represents an increase in the price limit for providers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory

• an $11.23 per hour reduction in the price limit for psychology supports in Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory (removal of the higher price loading)

• a 3.95 per cent increase in the cost of disability support worker-related supports, Level 1 support coordination and psychosocial recovery coaching – in line with increases in the minimum wage and superannuation guarantee for workers in Australia

• an increase in the price limits for nursing and other supports not covered by disability support worker-related supports

• an increase in the price limits for Medium Term Accommodation and Centre Capital Costs

• a reduction in plan management fees to remove set up fees and remote loading fees

• an increase in the early childhood age limit from seven to nine years

In previous years, the NDIA has boosted the value of participant plans to account for some price hikes. However, with an increased focus on Scheme sustainability and a greater effort being made to curb and manage spending in the NDIS, it remains to be seen if that will happen this year.

We know many participants and providers are concerned about NDIS pricing, and we encourage open communication between everyone involved.

We recommend our clients use the My Plan Manager client portal (web and app) to stay across how much funding they have, how much they’ve spent, and what they’ve spent it on, and suggest they get in touch with their support coordinator or NDIA contact for further information.

Providers may want to review and update their service agreements to make sure their pricing is compliant, so their claims can be swiftly processed and submitted to the NDIA for payment.