Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Why everyone’s talking about NDIS pricing right now
If you’ve been hearing a lot about NDIS pricing lately, you’re not imagining it. Something bigger is on the table. The NDIA has opened consultation for the 2025-26 Annual Pricing Review, and it’s not just tinkering with numbers. This year’s review is exploring whether the current one-size-fits-all approach still makes sense, or whether price limits should better reflect real-world differences in supports, service settings and participant needs. That includes whether pricing should vary based on provider factors such as registration status, experience, qualifications and outcomes. If that changes, it could shape access, choice, and how supports are delivered across the scheme.
In this blog, we’ll explain what the Annual Pricing Review is, what the NDIA is asking, and why therapy supports are a key focus. We’ll also show you where to find the official pricing documents and what people really mean when they search for the “NDIS hourly rate”.
What is the NDIS Annual Pricing Review
The NDIS Annual Pricing Review (APR) is the NDIA’s formal, evidence-based check-up on how NDIS prices are set and whether the current rules are still doing their job. Each year, the NDIA looks at claims data, research and feedback from participants and providers to decide if existing price limits and pricing rules are supporting good outcomes, fair access and a sustainable market. If the review shows things aren’t lining up in practice, the NDIA can recommend changes to price limits or the way pricing works for different types of supports.
In practice, the APR looks at two things:
- Price limits: the maximum amounts registered providers can charge for specific NDIS supports (where price limits apply).
- Pricing arrangements: the rules that shape how supports are delivered and billed, such as what is included in a support, and how certain claim types work.
What’s included in the 2025–26 review
The NDIA states the 2025–26 APR examines pricing across five categories:
- supports delivered by disability support workers
- therapy supports
- support coordination
- plan management
- social, community and civic participation
Download the NDIS support Catalogue, click here!
Download the NDIS pricing arrangements and price limits 2025–26, click here!
Why Occupational Therapists should participate
Occupational therapists sit within the NDIS Therapy Supports market, which is one of the five priority areas in the 2025-26 Annual Pricing Review. Any changes to therapy pricing structures or pricing rules can flow through to day-to-day OT practice and, ultimately, affect participant access to services.
The NDIA describes the Annual Pricing Review as an evidence-based process that draws on market data, research and consultation. Submissions from OTs help add the missing “practice reality” that claims data alone can’t capture, particularly in community settings where quality care often involves more than the time spent face-to-face.
This year, the NDIA is also exploring whether price limits should work differently depending on provider factors such as registration status, experience, qualifications and outcomes. OT feedback can help surface risks, safeguards and unintended consequences so any changes support quality, participant choice and safe, sustainable service delivery.
Occupational Therapists SHOULD CARE!
For OTs, pricing rules shape more than the therapy hourly rate. They also affect:
- Whether and how non-face-to-face clinical work can be claimed
- How travel time and costs are treated for mobile/community sessions
- What happens with short notice cancellations, and when fees can be charged
How to participate in the NDIS Annual Pricing Review 2025–26 (step-by-step)
- Start at the NDIA Annual Pricing Review page. This is the official “hub” and it links you through to NDIS Engage.
- Click through to NDIS Engage. The NDIA states you can participate by visiting NDIS Engage.
- Download the consultation paper(s) you’re responding to. If you’re an OT, prioritise the Therapy Supports consultation material (because therapy supports are one of the review’s five key categories).
- Choose how you’ll respond (you can do either or both):
The NDIA says consultation is open via an online survey and submissions on NDIS Engage.- Option A: Complete the online survey (quickest)
- Option B: Upload a written submission (best if you want to attach examples/data) (engage.ndis.gov.au)
- Write your responses using clear, de-identified real examples.
Keep it practical. Short dot points are fine. Focus on what the NDIA is asking about (e.g., therapy delivery costs, non-face-to-face workload, travel, risks of tiered pricing, and safeguards). - Submit before the deadline.
The NDIA states the surveys are open until 11:59pm AEDT on 8 February 2026. - Save your submission copy for your records.
Keep what you submitted (and any examples you referenced). It helps if you later respond to follow-up consultations or share aligned feedback through peak bodies.
When is the new NDIS price Guide coming out
If you’ve been Googling “NDIS Price Guide 2026” and not finding a clear answer, you’re not the only one. Our team is also watching the NDIA pricing updates closely, because what most people still call the “Price Guide” is now spread across two core documents rather than one neatly labelled PDF. On the official pricing page, the main documents are the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (which the NDIA notes was previously called the NDIS Price Guide) and the NDIS Support Catalogue.
Here’s the most accurate way to understand the timing:
- The Annual Pricing Review consultation is open until 11:59pm AEDT on 8 February 2026.
- The NDIA explains that changes informed by the Annual Pricing Review are effective from 1 July each year (the start of the new financial year).
- The NDIA can also release interim updates with their own effective dates, which is why it’s important to check the most current version on the website, not an old PDF saved to your desktop. For example, the current 2025–26 documents are listed as effective from 24 November 2025.
The NDIA states: “The surveys are open until 11.59pm AEDT on 8 February 2026.”
That deadline matters because historically, if clinicians don’t respond, decisions may be shaped by incomplete data and assumptions that don’t match daily practice.
NDIS Price Guide 2026 PDF download
If you’ve been trying to find a “NDIS Price Guide 2026” PDF, here’s the shortcut our own team would use.
Where to go:
- Visit the official NDIA Pricing arrangements page (https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-arrangements/making-pricing-decisions/annual-pricing-review)
- On that page, download both of these documents:
- NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL) – this is what most people still think of as the “Price Guide” (it contains the rules and price limits).
- NDIS Support Catalogue – this lists the support item numbers, descriptions and which claim types (travel, non–face-to-face, cancellations, etc.) apply.
Always check the version and effective date shown on the NDIA page, that’s your confirmation you’re looking at the latest pricing for 2026 rather than an older PDF saved on your computer.
FAQs
Not exactly. The Annual Pricing Review is the process of reviewing pricing rules and settings. The “Price Guide” people search for is usually the published pricing documents (PAPL + Support Catalogue) that list current price limits and rules.
No. The participant consultation paper states price limits are the highest prices registered providers can charge, and that participants and providers can negotiate lower prices. therapy deep dive notes that self-managing participants are not subject to price limits (and can use registered or unregistered providers).
Conclusion: what to watch next
NDIS pricing conversations are loud right now because this review is about more than rates. It is about whether the rules and structure behind therapy pricing should change. The practical next step is to stay anchored to the official documents (Pricing Arrangements, NDIS Price Guide 2026, and Price Limits plus the Support Catalogue). And to treat the Annual Pricing Review as your window to influence what happens next. Especially, if you deliver OT in home and community settings where travel, non-face-to-face work and cancellations are real parts of safe service delivery. If you’re an occupational therapist, even a brief submission with clear, de-identified examples helps ensure the NDIA’s assumptions reflect the realities of practice. And if you’re a participant, family member or coordinator, tracking the official pricing updates and asking the right questions upfront keeps costs predictable and supports choice.
Check out our latest blog post about NDIS price guide:
References (official sources used in this blog):
- NDIA – Annual pricing review (2025–26 consultation hub):
https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-arrangements/making-pricing-decisions/annual-pricing-review - NDIA – Pricing arrangements (downloads for Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits + Support Catalogue, effective dates):
https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-arrangements - NDIA – News: Have your say on NDIS pricing ahead of 2025–26 review:
https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/11015-have-your-say-ndis-pricing-ahead-2025-26-review - NDIA – News: Travel claiming rules, gap fees and other costs (therapy travel update from 1 July 2025):
https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/10827-travel-claiming-rules-gap-fees-and-other-costs - NDIS Engage – 2025–26 Annual Pricing Review consultations (project page):
https://engage.ndis.gov.au/projects/annual-pricing-review-consultations - NDIS Engage – Upload a submission (written submission option):
https://engage.ndis.gov.au/projects/annual-pricing-review-consultations/surveys/secure_form/survey/upload-a-submission
