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In short. The NDIA publishes maximum prices for most supports. A provider can charge less, never more. The rate changes with the day, the time and the type of support, which is why two invoices for the same service can differ. Always check the current published price limits rather than a figure you read somewhere, including this page.

Read this bit first

We are deliberately not printing rate figures here.

NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits are updated, usually annually and sometimes mid-year, and a number typed into an article stays there long after it stops being true. A stale rate quoted with confidence is worse than no rate at all, because people act on it.

The current document is published by the NDIA and it is the only version that counts: NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.

What we can usefully explain is how the thing works, which does not change every year.

What is a price limit?

For most supports, the NDIA sets a maximum. The provider can charge that or less. They cannot charge more, and if they do, that is a problem you can raise.

Price limits exist because participants are not in a normal market. You often cannot shop around easily, you may not be well placed to negotiate, and the funding is public money. The cap is a protection.

A few things sit outside strict caps and are quoted on the market instead. Where a support is not price-limited, you should still be told the rate in writing before it starts.

What changes the rate for the same support?

This is the part that confuses people looking at an invoice.

  • The day. Weekday, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday rates are all different. Public holidays are the highest.
  • The time. Daytime, evening, overnight and sleepover are priced differently. A shift that starts in the day and runs into the evening can attract more than one rate.
  • The type of support. Personal care, community participation, household tasks and skill building sit under different line items with different limits.
  • The ratio. One worker to one participant costs more per participant than one worker supporting two or three, which is a large part of why shared arrangements make higher support levels affordable.
  • Where you are. Remote and very remote loadings apply in some areas. Metropolitan Sydney is not one of them.

So the same two hour shift can legitimately be invoiced at quite different amounts depending on when it happened. That is not a provider being creative.

What else can appear on an invoice?

Some of these are legitimate and some depend on your service agreement. All of them should have been explained to you before they appeared.

Provider travel. Time a worker spends travelling to you, within limits, and sometimes a per kilometre amount. It should be in your service agreement. It should not be a surprise.

Non face to face supports. Time spent on things directly related to your supports but not in the room with you, such as writing a report you asked for. It has to be genuinely for you, and it should be agreed.

Cancellation charges. There are rules about short notice cancellations and how many can be charged. If you are being charged for cancellations regularly, check the notice period in your agreement against the current pricing arrangements.

Establishment fees. Available in some circumstances at the start of a new arrangement, once.

How do I check an invoice?

  1. Find the line item on the invoice. It should name the support, the date and the time.
  2. Open the current price limits document from the NDIA link above.
  3. Match the line item to the published limit for that support, that day type and that time of day.
  4. Check the hours against what actually happened.
  5. Check the travel and non face to face lines against your service agreement.

If the charge is above the published limit, raise it with the provider in writing first. Most billing errors are errors. If it is not resolved, your plan manager can help, and the NDIS Commission is on 1800 035 544.

If you are plan managed

Your plan manager checks invoices against price limits as part of what they do, and it does not come out of your support budget. Ask them for a spending report if you have not seen one. A good plan manager will flag an unusual charge before you notice it. There is more on the three ways a plan can be managed in our guide to support coordinators, LACs and plan managers.

If you are NDIA managed, the payment system applies the limits. If you are self managed, you are doing the checking yourself, which is worth building into a monthly routine rather than a yearly panic.

Questions worth asking a provider about money

  • What rates will you charge me, by day type and time?
  • Do you charge for travel, and how is it calculated?
  • Do you charge for non face to face time, and for what?
  • What is your cancellation policy, and how much notice do you need?
  • Will you send me an itemised invoice showing dates, times and line items?
  • Who do I contact about a billing question?

All six should be answerable before you sign anything, and all six should be in your service agreement.

A note on cheap providers

A provider charging well below the price limit is not automatically a bargain, and it is not automatically suspicious either. Ask what the difference is being funded by.

Sometimes it is genuine efficiency or a deliberately low overhead. Sometimes it is paying workers poorly, which shows up later as turnover, which shows up as a different stranger every week.

The rate is not the whole cost. A cheaper provider whose workers leave every three months costs you continuity, and continuity is the thing that is hardest to buy back.

Where we sit

Serenica Support charges within the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits and we will put the applicable rates in writing before anything starts. Our service agreement sets out travel, non face to face time and cancellations in plain words, and you can ask for a copy before you commit to anything.

Serenica Support is a registered NDIS provider, registration number 4-LOHEV53, delivering eleven registration groups across Sydney. The full list is on our services page.

We are not a plan manager and we are not registered for plan management. If you want someone checking our invoices who is not us, that is a reasonable thing to want and we would encourage it.

General information only. This is not financial advice or advice about your plan. Rates change, so check the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits rather than relying on any figure quoted elsewhere. For questions about your own plan, speak to your support coordinator, your local area coordinator, or the NDIA on 1800 800 110. For concerns about a provider, the NDIS Commission is on 1800 035 544.

Want our rates in writing before you decide anything? Ask and we will send them. Make a referral or call 1800 770 781.