NDIS Price Limits 2026–27: Rates, Who They Apply To and What Changed

Last update: 27 Oct ’26

If you have gone looking for the NDIS Price Guide this year and could not find it, you are not imagining things. The document has a new name, a new legal status and, for some supports, noticeably different numbers.

Here is what a price limit actually is: the most a provider can charge you for a particular support. Not what they must charge. A provider can charge less, and many do. The limit is a ceiling, and knowing where the ceiling sits is how you tell whether a quote is reasonable and how far your budget will stretch.

The short version

• The NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27 replaced the old Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL) document on 1 July 2026.
• Since 24 September 2026, the prices in it are not just guidance. The Minister for Disability and the NDIS made the first pricing determination under the new NDIS laws, which makes those prices the legal maximum for NDIA-managed and plan-managed funding.
• The prices did not change on 24 September. The figures from 1 July carried over unchanged. What changed was their legal footing. For supports delivered from 24 September, use the version of the Schedule marked effective 24 September 2026.
• Support worker rates went up about 4.8%, to $73.58 an hour for standard weekday daytime support.
• Therapy rates moved in both directions. Psychology rose 8.6%. Occupational therapy, speech pathology and physiotherapy held steady. Dietetics and exercise physiology were cut.
• Short Term Accommodation was restructured, and this is the change most likely to cost you money out of pocket. There is a section on it below.

Who sets NDIS prices now?

This is the part that genuinely changed, and it is worth being precise about, because a lot of older material online (including, until this update, our own) gets it wrong.

Price limits are now set by the Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, through a pricing determination made under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026. The Minister takes advice from the NDIA, which still runs the Annual Pricing Review and publishes the Schedule itself.

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission does not set or regulate prices. It registers providers and regulates quality and safety. If you have a concern about what you are being charged, the Commission is not the body that handles it; if you have a concern about how you are being treated or the quality of your supports, it is.

If you want the wider picture of what else is changing under the 2026 laws, our NDIS reform timeline for 2026–2028 sets out every confirmed date.

Do price limits apply to you? It depends how your funding is managed

This trips up more participants than any other part of the pricing system, and the answer is different for each of the three ways a budget can be managed.

The plan-managed row is the one worth re-reading. A common misunderstanding is that unregistered providers sit outside the price limits entirely. They set their own prices, yes, but if your funding is plan-managed, your plan manager still cannot pay them more than the Schedule allows. That protects you, and it is also why an unregistered provider quoting above the limit is a problem to sort out before services start, not after the first invoice.

Self-managing gives you genuine flexibility here, and some participants use it to secure a worker they want at a rate above the limit. It also means the ceiling that protects everyone else does not protect you, and the admin sits with you. If you are weighing that up, our guide to whether self-management is the right choice goes through the trade-offs.

Your provider cannot just raise your rates

When prices change, a provider has to discuss any proposed change to your existing service agreement with you, and you have to agree to it. A new price limit does not automatically rewrite what you signed. If a service agreement is updated, you should see the new rates in writing and have the chance to ask about them before you agree.

The 2026–27 rates

These are national maximum prices from the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27. Remote and very remote areas have higher limits on top of these, reflecting what it costs to deliver supports outside the cities. All figures are the maximum, not a set fee.

Support workers (per hour)

The rise is about 4.8%, and it flows from the Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review and the increase in compulsory superannuation. It is not extra money in your plan, it means the same hour of support draws more from your budget than it did last financial year. If your plan was written before 1 July 2026 and your hours have not changed, your funding will not go as far.

Supported Independent Living is priced off the same standard support worker rates, so the same arithmetic applies.

Therapy and allied health (per hour, national)

The NDIA moved away from applying one increase across all therapies and benchmarked each discipline against what comparable services cost elsewhere. Psychology came up because the NDIS rate sat below that range; dietetics and exercise physiology came down because they sat above it. A new item for Orientation and Mobility Specialists was added at $156.16 an hour.

The “Other Professional” line is worth watching. It is the catch-all used when a support does not fit a named discipline, and it now sits below most named lines. If your invoices use it, it is reasonable to ask your provider which item number they are claiming against and why.

Support coordination and plan management (per hour unless noted)

Support coordination rates held steady this year. Individualised Living Options — Exploration and Design is priced at the same $100.14 an hour as Level 2 coordination. Plan management is a flat monthly fee of $104.45, and unlike almost everything else in the Schedule it has no remote or very remote loading.

Community nursing (per hour, national, weekday daytime)

Nursing is priced by the nurse’s level, which is why two quotes for “community nursing” can look very different and both be correct.

Evenings, nights, weekends and public holidays are higher for each level. If you are quoted a nursing rate, it is fair to ask which level of nurse will actually be delivering your support.

Everyday supports around the home (per hour, national)

These are often overlooked, and they are priced well below personal care.

There is also a one-off establishment fee of $735.80 that a provider can claim when setting up personal care or participation supports for a new participant. It is claimable once, not every time your supports change.

If you are in Emerald or Central Queensland, check the remote rates

The Schedule carries an “Isolated Towns Modification List” of places that have been reclassified as remote for pricing and planning, even though you might not think of them as remote. Several are in Central Queensland:

If you live in one of these, the remote column applies to your supports, not the national one. That is a meaningful difference: standard weekday daytime support is $103.01 an hour remote against $73.58 nationally. It costs more per hour because it costs more to deliver, and your plan should be built on that basis. If your quotes or your plan appear to use national rates and you are in one of these towns, it is worth raising.

A separate list in the Schedule covers towns where no price loading applies but providers can reasonably negotiate claimable travel time in your service agreement.

Before you rely on any figure here: rates change, and this page is a guide, not the source. The current document is the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27, effective 24 September 2026, published at ndis.gov.au. Check there before signing a service agreement or disputing an invoice.

Short Term Accommodation: the change most likely to cost you money

If you use STA, read this part carefully. It is the biggest practical change in the 2026–27 Schedule, and it is the one where participants are most likely to find themselves paying out of pocket for something that used to be included.

What it used to be. STA was claimed as a single bundled daily rate that covered the lot: a bed, support workers, utilities, meals and whatever activities were on the program.

What it is now. The bundle has been pulled apart into separate components:

• Participant accommodation, priced per day ($162.85 nationally)
• Support worker accommodation, also $162.85 a day, claimed separately where a worker needs to stay too
• Support hours, claimed against the actual hours of support delivered, at the standard support worker rates — $73.58 on a weekday daytime, more on evenings and weekends
• Sleepover, as its own item at $311.79

What is no longer funded. This is the part to brace for. NDIS funding for STA cannot be used for food and meals, activities and entrance fees, holiday packages, holiday accommodation or airfares. Those costs now sit with the participant or their family. Traditional respite services have almost always included meals, so for many people this is a real new expense rather than a technicality.

The NDIA’s reasoning is that the old bundled rate mixed disability supports together with ordinary living costs that everyone pays, and that unbundling makes it clear what the Scheme is funding. Whatever the merits of that, the practical effect for a family budgeting a week of respite is that the quote now has more lines in it and some of them are yours to pay.

Two things to do before you book:

1. Ask for a written quote that separates accommodation, support hours and anything you will be charged for personally. A single daily figure is no longer how this support is priced.
2. Check whether the activities on the program carry an entry fee, and who is paying it.

One more naming note, because it has caused confusion: the NDIA renamed this support “Short Term Respite” in October 2025, then changed it back to “Short Term Accommodation” after community feedback. Both names refer to the same support, and your plan may still use either.

Kuremara provides STA across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, and we will give you a line-by-line quote under the new structure rather than a single daily number.

What to do with all this

Four practical moves, in the order they matter.

1. Check your service agreements against the current rates. If an agreement still quotes 2025–26 prices or names the “PAPL”, it is out of date. You should be asked to agree to any change, not told about it afterwards.
2. Recalculate what your hours now cost. A 4.8% rise on support work is small on one shift and significant across a year. If your plan was approved before July, the same roster now draws more from the same budget.
3. Get STA quotes itemised. See the section above.
4. Watch the other two dates. Price limits are not the only thing shifting. From 1 October 2026 some plan budgets began to be reset as plans are renewed or reassessed, and from 1 December 2026 the window to claim for a support drops to 90 days. Our reform timeline covers both.

If you are not sure which support category a price sits in, our guide to NDIS support categories is a useful companion to this one.

Frequently asked questions

What is the NDIS price guide called now?

The NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27. It replaced the Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL) document on 1 July 2026. For supports delivered from 24 September 2026, use the version marked effective 24 September 2026. Specialist Disability Accommodation has its own separate schedule.

Are NDIS price limits legally binding?

Since 24 September 2026, yes, for NDIA-managed and plan-managed funding. The Minister’s pricing determination makes the Schedule’s maximum prices the legal limit. Before that date they were NDIA guidance applied through claiming rules.

Can a provider charge more than the price limit?

Not for NDIA-managed or plan-managed funding — the NDIA or your plan manager cannot pay a claim above the maximum. If you self-manage, you can agree a higher price, but the support still has to be an NDIS support consistent with your plan.

What is the NDIS hourly rate for a support worker in 2026–27?

$73.58 an hour for standard weekday daytime support, nationally. Evenings, nights, weekends and public holidays are higher, and remote and very remote areas carry higher limits again.

Did NDIS rates go up or down this year?

Both. Support work rose about 4.8% and psychology rose 8.6%, while dietetics, exercise physiology and the catch-all “Other Professional” therapy line were cut. Occupational therapy, speech pathology and physiotherapy were unchanged.

Do price limits include GST?

Most NDIS supports for a participant with a plan are GST-free. Where GST does apply to a support, the price limit is inclusive of it. Check the Schedule for the specific item.

When do prices change again?

The NDIA reviews prices annually. Consultation on the 2027–28 Annual Pricing Review is open now and closes on 1 November 2026, with new prices expected to take effect from 1 July 2027.

How Kuremara can help

Kuremara is a registered NDIS provider (registration 4-GIGSGY1) delivering Supported Independent Living, Individualised Living Options, Short Term Accommodation, complex care, community nursing, in-home support and support coordination across Brisbane and South East Queensland, Mackay, Emerald, Sydney and Melbourne.

If you are trying to work out what the new rates mean for your plan, or you want a service agreement explained line by line rather than handed to you to sign, call us on 1300 000 799 or get in touch online.

Disclaimer: This article is general information based on the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27 and related Australian Government material available at 27 October 2026. Prices and rules change, and figures here are national maximums that may not reflect your location or your specific supports. This is not financial or legal advice. For current prices and for decisions about your own plan, check ndis.gov.au or speak with your plan manager or support coordinator.