Most providers who look up the NDIS price guide 2026-27 want one number: the rate they’re allowed to charge. The schedule sets a ceiling for NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants, not your price. So work your price out from your costs, publish it, and don’t charge a participant more than anyone else for substantially the same support without a reasonable justification. One housekeeping note: price guide is the old name people still search. The official document is now the NDIS pricing schedule 2026-27.
Key takeaways
- The NDIS price limits are a ceiling for NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants.
- Your price comes from your costs, not from the schedule.
- The NDIS Commission lists charging participants more for the same support, without a reasonable justification, as a sharp practice.
- Publish one price for every client.
What does the NDIS pricing schedule 2026-27 set?
It sets maximum prices for NDIS supports, under the Minister’s pricing determination. Read the current limits on the official NDIS pricing arrangements page; we don’t repeat them here.
Three points shape your pricing:
- The maximum prices apply only to NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants.
- For those participants, you can’t charge more than the limit.
- Self-managed participants sit outside the NDIS price limits.
The NDIA has also said updated pricing and claiming guidance is on its way. Until it’s out, check the official page before you change how you invoice.
Is the NDIS price guide 2026-27 limit your price?
No. The limit is the most you can charge NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants. Your price is what it costs you to deliver the support well, plus a fair margin, and it can sit below the limit.
A common view among families is that providers simply bill the maximum, and that belief costs you trust before the first appointment. A price you’ve worked out yourself, and can explain, answers it.
If your cost-based price comes out above the limit, you can’t bill the difference to those participants. Treat that as a reason to look hard at your costs and service mix.
How do you work out your own price?
Start from the cost of one billable hour, then add a margin.
- Wages and on-costs. Hourly pay plus super, leave, workers compensation and insurance.
- Unbilled time. Notes, admin, training and gaps between sessions. Spread your paid hours over the hours you can actually bill.
- Overheads. Rent, software, accounting, compliance and marketing, divided across billable hours.
- Margin. Enough to keep the business running through a slow month.
A hypothetical worked example
Take a hypothetical one-worker support practice. These are round numbers, not a recommended rate, and they aren’t tied to any support item.
Step | Hypothetical figure |
|---|---|
Pay plus on-costs | $50 per paid hour |
Paid vs billable hours | 38 paid, 30 billable each week |
Cost per billable hour | $50 × 38 ÷ 30 = about $63.33 |
Add overheads | plus $10 an hour = about $73.33 |
Add a 10% margin | about $80.67 |
So this practice’s cost-based price is about $81 an hour. Now compare it with the limit for the support item you deliver in the official schedule. Under the limit, that’s your price. Over it, go back to steps 1 to 3.
Can you charge NDIS participants more than private clients?
Not without a reasonable justification. The NDIS Commission’s Code of Conduct guidance for providers (April 2024) lists, among the sharp practices to avoid, “charging a participant more than another person for substantially the same product, support or service without reasonable justification”. The same list covers advertising or publishing higher prices for participants, again without a reasonable justification.
The Commission says sharp practices are “not necessarily unlawful”, but it treats them as unethical and dishonest. For goods it goes further: since December 2023 the Code has prohibited price differentiation when supplying goods to participants. The Code covers registered and unregistered providers.
Our view for a service business: one support, one price, whoever pays, unless you can explain the difference.
Why charging the limit isn't always greed
The other side has a fair point here. A common view among allied health practitioners is that the limits for their work haven’t kept pace with wages, insurance and rent. For many providers, an honest cost-based price lands at or near the ceiling. Charging it then is simply cost recovery.
The reason behind the number matters. A price at the limit because your costs put it there holds up. A price at the limit only because the limit exists costs trust.
What should your price page show?
A plain price page does the job the schedule can’t. It shows what you charge.
- Your price per hour or per session, for each service.
- What’s included, and what isn’t.
- One price for every client, however they pay. Never a higher participant price.
- The date you last updated it.
Link it from each of your clear service pages, so nobody has to ring to find out.
The bottom line
Price from your costs, publish it, keep it fair
The NDIS pricing schedule 2026-27 is a ceiling for NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants, not a rate card. Work your price out from your costs, publish it, and charge every client the same for substantially the same support unless you have a reasonable justification.
Want a price page families understand at a glance?
We build clear service and price pages through our NDIS website design work, then help the right people find them with NDIS SEO.
Important FAQs
Do self-managed participants have to stay within the price limits?
No. The NDIA says the maximum prices apply only to NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants. A self-managed participant agrees a price with you directly. They still pay from the same plan, so a higher price buys fewer hours.
What's the difference between the price guide and the pricing schedule?
The NDIS pricing schedule 2026-27 is the current official document, made under the Minister’s pricing determination. Price guide is the older name, and it’s still the one many people search for.
Should I show prices on my NDIS website?
Yes, if you’ll keep the page current. It answers the cost question before anyone has to call, and it shows you charge every client the same. Update it whenever your costs or the schedule change.
21 Webs is not affiliated with the NDIA. This is general information, not financial or legal advice.
