NDIS Price Guide 2025: Understanding NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits

Once a year, around 1 July, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) releases its updated Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (formerly known as the Price Guide).

This essential document helps disability service providers, such as Like Family, understand how much they can charge for their services, and informs NDIS participants how they can effectively use their funding.

This document gets reviewed every year to ensure the NDIS remains affordable and continues to meet participants' needs. If you've looked at the most recent document, you'll notice it's dauntingly comprehensive.

Don't worry, though. We're here to explain what it's all about and highlight the latest NDIS pricing arrangements for 2025-26.

What is the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits?

The NDIS uses two key documents to outline the costs of NDIS supports and services, as well as providing guidance on NDIS pay rates and NDIS support worker hourly rates.

1. NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits - This document provides information to providers, participants, and other stakeholders on how and when to claim for supports and services. It sets out the general pricing arrangements that apply to all supports in the NDIS, as well as specific arrangements for individual supports.
2. NDIS Support Catalogue - This outlines the current NDIS price limits for each support item and indicates the claim types (such as travel or non-face-to-face supports) that can be used. This is where you'll find NDIS codes for invoicing and the NDIS price list.

Key NDIS terms you should know

If this is your first time reading an NDIS Price Guide, there are a few important terms you need to know:

Support purposes

There are three types of support purposes under the NDIS:

• Core Supports - this is the most flexible budget, and can be used to help with everyday activities and any other basic supports that are essential for a high quality of life.
• Capacity Building Supports - this budget is about developing new skills and achieving greater independence.
• Capital Supports - this is for more extensive supports that help you increase independence, like home modifications or assistive technology.

NDIS Outcomes Framework

In order to measure how well the NDIS is working for participants, the NDIS created the Outcomes Framework. This includes eight different outcome domains, and helps users think about the goals in the different areas of their life where they need assistance.

Each Support Category aligns with one of the eight outcome domains listed here:

1. Daily living
2. Home
3. Health and wellbeing
4. Lifelong learning
5. Work
6. Social and community participation
7. Relationships
8. Choice and control

Support categories

The legacy NDIS system had 15 support categories aligned with the NDIS Outcomes Framework, which fall under one of the support purposes listed above.

In 2024, the NDIS launched a new PACE system, which has expanded list of 22 support categories.

These categories align with specific outcomes you may want to achieve with your NDIS funding, like improving your health and wellbeing.

Support items

Within each support category, you'll find a series of line items. This is a code that indicates which of an NDIS participant’s support category budgets should be used to pay for a service. Some supports can be covered by more than one line item (like social and community supports).

Price limits

This is the maximum price an NDIS provider can charge for a particular service (note: not all supports have a limit). You may notice that some line items have multiple amounts, depending on the participant's location, the day, and the intensity of support.

For example, assistance with self-care activities has a higher price limit on Sundays as support workers are paid more for weekend support. NDIS rates, including NDIS weekend rates and NDIS hourly rates, are impacted by these price limits.

Recent changes to the NDIS Price Guide

The NDIS announces pricing updates annually. The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025-26 (PDF) was released on 16 June 2025 and is valid from 1 July 2025. This means it contains the most up-to-date NDIS pricing guide and NDIS support worker rates.

July 2025 changes

There were a number of notable changes in the 2025-26 NDIS PAPL, including:

• Some therapies, including physiotherapy and psychology, now have a consistent price nationally, replacing the previous state-by-state pricing model.
• There have been adjustments in rates for certain therapies, based on a review of real-world costs. Physiotherapy, dietetics and podiatry, for example, gave all seen a decrease, while psychology has seen an increase to its hourly rate.
• The age limit for the early childhood approach has been increased from 7 to 9.
• The NDIA has committed to bringing forward the release of future pricing reviews, to give participants and providers more notice of upcoming pricing changes.

You can learn more about the NDIS price update here.

If you're an NDIS participant and are concerned about any upcoming changes, don't worry — the NDIA automatically increases all NDIS plan budgets in July to accommodate these. However, you should check if your NDIS provider makes any changes to their pricing to ensure you're still getting value for money.

NDIS funding management: Plan-managed vs. self-managed

The NDIS price guidelines apply regardless of how your plan is managed.

• Agency-managed: The NDIA pays providers directly up to the price limits.
• Plan-managed: A plan manager pays providers on your behalf. They handle invoices and keep track of your budget, ensuring providers charge within the NDIS price limits.
• Self-managed: You receive funding directly and are responsible for paying providers. You can negotiate prices with providers, but it's crucial to be aware of the NDIS price limits to ensure you get value for money.

How you can use your NDIS funding with Like Family

Like Family is an NDIS registered provider specialising in social and community support. There are several support categories that you can use to access our services:

Core supports

Assistance with daily life:

• Helps participants to live as independently as possible via assistance with personal daily tasks. This could include help with household tasks, gardening, and meal preparation.

Assistance with social and community participation:

• Helps participants to get involved in social and community activities. This funding typically covers the cost of a support worker to accompany you to an activity (including transportation), but not course fees or ticket prices.

Capacity building supports

Increased social and community participation:

• Helps participants to learn new skills and achieve greater independence when participating in the community. This support category is typically less flexible than the Core Support: Assistance with Social and Community category above. It may be used for trying a new sport or learning how to use public transport.

Improved daily living:

• Funds support services or training that help participants to develop their skills and capacity for independence and community participation. This may be used to hire a support worker to teach you how to cook or clean.

Improved health and wellbeing:

• Helps participants to be more active, improve their mental wellbeing and practise a healthier lifestyle.

Not an NDIS participant? You can also access our support services using your Aged Care support plan or by paying privately.

Access affordable disability support with Like Family today

We're committed to making our disability support services simple and affordable, so you can get more support hours out of your budget. This means:

• charging the same flat hourly rate regardless of time of day, activity, or support worker
• keeping our rates below the NDIS price limit for social and community supports
• using fixed rates, so you don't have to negotiate rates with your support worker
• offering both face-to-face and online/video support
• we'll also help you connect with compatible support workers for no extra cost!

Head to our pricing page if you'd to learn more about our hourly rates.

If you are unsure how to use your NDIS funding, our team is here to help! Call us on 1800 545 332 and one of our Customer Care team members will assist you.

Frequently asked questions