NDIS 2025 Price Guide: Key Changes You Need to Know

Table of Contents

The NDIS is a transformative social program in Australia that provides support and services to people with disabilities. In 2025, the NDIS supports more than 700,000 participants, with over half under the age of 18, reflecting a strong focus on early intervention, disability support for children, and access to allied therapy services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. The scheme is a significant national investment, projected to spend around $46.2 billion in the 2025–26 financial year.

Understanding the NDIS 2025 Price Guide is essential for both participants and NDIS service providers. This guide sets out the NDIS price guidelines that ensure fair and consistent pricing for the wide range of disability supports available. It helps participants get value for their plans while enabling NDIS service providers to deliver sustainable, high-quality services. By outlining pricing rules, funding categories, and limits, the guide supports fair access and protects the scheme’s financial sustainability.

As the NDIS continues to evolve and expand, the NDIS 2025 Price Guide ensures ongoing fairness, clarity, and sustainability, supporting the scheme’s long-term success and responsiveness to participant goals, including access to essential allied therapy services and personalised support.

What is the NDIS Price Guide and Why Does it Matter?

NDIS price guide, officially known as the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL), is published each year by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to ensure fair and consistent pricing across all NDIS supports and services.

Here’s why it matters for both participants and NDIS service providers:

  • Defines maximum prices for NDIS-funded supports, ensuring participants aren’t overcharged and NDIS service providers are paid fairly.
  • Protects budgets by setting clear limits for Agency-Managed and Plan-Managed participants, while self-managed participants can use it as a guide for fair pricing.
  • Clarifies claiming rules, including travel costs, cancellation fees, and non-face-to-face support billing, promoting transparency and consistency.
  • Reflects real costs, such as higher pricing in remote areas to support NDIS service provider viability and service access.
  • Outlines three funding categories:
    • Core Supports – everyday activities and personal care.
    • Capital Supports – equipment and home modifications.
    • Capacity Building Supports – skill development and therapy.
  • Guides participants in planning and managing their supports, whether they’re accessing therapy services in Melbourne or booking a physio in North Melbourne.
  • Adapts to sector changes, with the NDIS 2025 Price Guide including updates that reflect wage increases and changes to NDIS funding.

In short, the NDIS price guide ensures fairness, transparency, and sustainability, helping participants make informed decisions and NDIS service providers deliver quality, well-priced care.

Key Changes in the NDIS Price Guide for 2025–26

From July 1, 2025, the NDIS 2025 price guide introduces several important updates designed to help participants get better value and more flexibility from their plans. These changes aim to make NDIS supports fairer, easier to access, and more closely aligned with individual goals especially for people living in regional and remote communities or those focusing on health and independent living.

1. Updated Pricing for Remote and Very Remote Areas

This year’s NDIS Pricing Arrangements introduced mixed changes for supports delivered in remote and very remote regions. While the general 40% to 50% pricing framework for these areas remains in place, several therapy supports such as physiotherapy, psychology, occupational therapy, and dietetics have had their remote loadings reduced or removed to align with national pricing.

For most core supports, including services delivered by disability support workers, rates increased by around 3% to 4% to reflect wage and superannuation adjustments. However, some allied health therapy prices in remote and very remote regions have slightly decreased compared to the previous year as part of this standardisation.

These updates aim to balance fair provider compensation with consistent pricing across Australia. While core supports continue to receive higher loadings to account for travel time and workforce shortages in less accessible regions, therapy providers may see smaller margins. Overall, the goal remains the same, ensuring equitable, sustainable access to quality NDIS services for participants in all communities.

2. New Support Items for Health and Individualised Living

Another key update in the NDIS 2025 Price Guide is the introduction of new support items focused on health and individualised living. These new categories are designed to help participants better manage their health needs and support more independent living arrangements.

For example, if your NDIS goals include improving mobility or building confidence in daily life, you might use your funding for therapy services in Melbourne or work with a physio in North Melbourne. The new structure ensures that these supports are clearly defined within your plan, making it easier to understand how your funding aligns with your personal goals.

3. Transitional Arrangements for Older Support Items

If you’re currently using older NDIS support items, such as school leaver supports, there’s no need to worry about immediate changes. Under the new transitional arrangements, these supports will remain available until mid-2027.

This gives participants time to transition smoothly to newer support categories without losing access to the services they rely on. It also helps you and your providers plan ahead and update your NDIS plan at a pace that suits your circumstances.

By maintaining continuity during this changeover, the NDIS ensures that participants can keep receiving consistent, high-quality support while preparing for the next phase of updated funding models.

Clarifications on Claiming Rules

The NDIS 2025 Price Guide introduces key updates to make service claims more transparent and budget-friendly for participants. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Travel Costs Under the 2025 NDIS Changes

  • From July 1, 2025, therapy providers like Roaming Therapy services in Melbourne can claim only 50% of their hourly rate for travel time.
  • The maximum travel claim remains 30 minutes in metro areas and 60 minutes in remote areas.
  • Two-way travel (up to 60 minutes total) can also be claimed for the last client of the day, where the therapist returns to their usual place of work, provided this is agreed upon in the service agreement.
  • Non-labour travel costs such as parking fees, tolls, or fuel can still be claimed in full.
  • NDIS service providers must include travel costs upfront in your service agreement, no hidden or surprise charges allowed.
  • If multiple participants are visited in one trip, travel costs should be shared fairly among them.

2. Short-Notice Cancellations

  • NDIS service providers may charge a cancellation fee only if the policy is stated in your service agreement.
  • A short-notice cancellation means cancelling within 48 hours of the scheduled session.
  • The charge helps cover provider costs but must still follow NDIS pricing limits.
  • These rules aim to balance participant protection with fair provider payment.

3. Non-Face-to-Face Support Billing

  • Covers time spent on report writing, assessments, or care coordination done outside of sessions.
  • Providers can only claim for approved support categories listed in your plan.
  • All non-face-to-face activities must be clearly itemised on invoices.
  • This ensures transparency and helps you see where your NDIS funds are going.

These changes to NDIS funding promote fairness and clarity, helping participants better understand travel and cancellation fees while ensuring providers are paid appropriately.

National Pricing Consistency for Therapies

One of the biggest updates in the NDIS 2025 Price Guide is the move toward national pricing consistency for therapies like physiotherapy and psychology. This change aims to make therapy costs fair and consistent across Australia, no matter where you live.

Here’s what you need to know about the changes to NDIS funding for therapy supports:

  • National price limits introduced: Therapy prices are now standardised across all states and territories to simplify the NDIS system and improve transparency.
  • Physiotherapy price decrease: The hourly rate for physiotherapy has been reduced by around $10, now capped at $183.99 per hour nationally.

This may affect access for some participants, especially in regional areas, as providers adjust to the lower rate. If you rely on mobile physiotherapy in Melbourne or work with a physio in North Melbourne, you may want to check with your provider about any changes to session availability or costs.

  • Psychology price increase: Psychology sessions have increased by about $10 per hour, now capped at $232.99 nationally. This helps make pricing fairer for most participants but may still impact access in remote areas where costs were previously higher.
  • Reduced travel reimbursements: Therapists can now only claim 50% of travel costs, which may limit mobile or in-home therapy availability in certain locations.

Overall, these updates aim to create a fairer and more sustainable system. However, participants may notice small changes in how services are delivered or billed.

Tip: Review your NDIS plan and speak with your providers to understand how the new NDIS 2025 Price Guide affects your therapy sessions and budgets.

Support Categories and Fund Alignment with Participant Goals

Under the latest NDIS 2025 Price Guide, participant plans continue to be structured around three key support categories: Core Supports, Capacity Building Supports, and Capital Supports. Each category plays a distinct role in helping participants achieve their goals, from daily assistance and skill development to improving independence through equipment and home modifications. 

Understanding how these funds are allocated and aligned with participant goals is essential, especially with the changes to NDIS funding coming into effect in 2025.

1. Core Supports: Everyday Assistance for Daily Living

Core Supports fund the essential, day-to-day assistance participants need to live independently and engage in their communities. This includes help with personal care, transport, community access, and consumables.

Examples include:

  • Daily personal activities
  • Assistance with community participation
  • Transport and travel
  • Consumable items (such as continence products or nutritional supplements)

These supports are directly tied to goals such as maintaining independence, improving communication, and increasing social participation. For instance, a participant aiming to stay active and engaged might allocate funds for mobile exercise physiology sessions to improve strength and mobility without needing to travel.

Core Supports are typically the most flexible funding category. Participants can often reallocate funds between subcategories to adjust to their evolving daily needs, for example, shifting from home help to transport support as circumstances change.

Core Supports generally make up around 70% of a typical NDIS plan, reflecting their importance in maintaining everyday functionality and independence.

2. Capacity Building Supports: Developing Skills and Independence

Capacity Building Supports are designed to help participants build long-term skills, confidence, and independence. These supports focus on achieving personal growth goals such as education, employment, health, and wellbeing.

Examples include:

These supports are closely linked to a participant’s long-term goals such as gaining employment, improving social skills, or living independently. 

Unlike Core Supports, Capacity Building funds are less flexible; each subcategory has specific funding and reporting requirements. Under the NDIS 2025 Price Guide, participants and providers must now provide clearer documentation and evidence to justify ongoing or increased therapy funding.

This category represents a significant portion of an NDIS plan, supporting skill development, therapy, and long-term progress toward participant goals.

3. Capital Supports: Equipment and Environmental Modifications

Capital Supports provide funding for high-cost or one-off items that enhance safety, accessibility, and independence. These include assistive technology, home modifications, and specialist disability accommodation (SDA).

Examples include:

  • Mobility and communication aids
  • Home modifications such as ramps, accessible bathrooms, or kitchen adjustments
  • Vehicle modifications for greater independence

Capital Supports align with goals focused on living more independently and safely. For example, a participant aiming to increase mobility may receive assistive technology or home modifications to improve daily accessibility.

Capital Supports are the least flexible of all categories. Each purchase typically requires quotes, assessments, and NDIA approval. Due to the high cost, these funds cannot be transferred to other categories.

While Capital Supports make up a smaller percentage of most plans, they are vital for long-term accessibility and independence. Notably, only around 6% of SDA applications are approved, reflecting the NDIA’s strict cost-benefit criteria.

Fund Allocation and Goal Alignment in 2025-26

Every participant’s plan is uniquely designed to reflect their personal goals and needs. For example, if a participant’s goal is to improve mobility and social participation, their plan might include:

  • Core Supports for transport and community access,
  • Capacity Building Supports for mobile physiotherapy Melbourne or mobile exercise physiology, and
  • Capital Supports for home modifications that enhance accessibility.

Under the changes to NDIS funding outlined in the NDIS 2025 Price Guide, funding will also be released in periodic instalments to promote better budget oversight and consistent service delivery throughout the year. Participants are encouraged to work closely with plan managers or support coordinators to ensure funds are properly allocated to services that best align with their goals.

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