The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has released its Annual Pricing Review (APR) for 2024–2025, outlining a series of price changes that will directly affect NDIS providers from 1 July 2025. These changes impact therapy supports, disability support work, support coordination, plan management, and more. But this year’s review goes beyond pricing tweaks — it signals a broader shift in how the NDIA will manage pricing, workforce development, and service sustainability going forward.
For the first time, pricing decisions are being shaped by a multi-year strategy, informed by recommendations from the Independent Pricing Committee (IPC). The NDIA is moving away from flat, uniform price limits and towards a differentiated model — one that reflects the complexity, cost structures, and outcomes associated with different types of supports.
Overview of the 2025 NDIS Pricing Changes
The 2025 pricing review marks the beginning of a structural shift in how the NDIA regulates service pricing. Instead of applying a flat hourly rate across multiple service types, the Agency is now recognising that not all supports are delivered — or costed — the same way. The result is a more targeted approach to pricing that considers the service type, delivery setting, workforce requirements, and actual market rates.
A key driver behind this shift is the work of the Independent Pricing Committee (IPC), established in 2024. The IPC reviewed how pricing affects participant outcomes, provider viability, and market behaviour. Their main conclusion: flat pricing creates inefficiencies, distorts provider incentives, and fails to reflect the complexity of many services.
In response, the NDIA is:
- Introducing differentiated price limits for high-variance supports like therapy, dietetics, and psychology
- Phasing out outdated pricing loadings in jurisdictions where price differences are no longer justified
- Adjusting rates based on market data, including private billing trends, MBS, and private health insurance figures
- Reforming how session length and travel time are billed, especially in therapy supports
The 2025 changes are just the first phase of a multi-year pricing workplan. This roadmap will include deep dives into therapy, support coordination, and disability support worker markets, allowing the NDIA to implement more accurate and fair pricing reforms over time.
In simple terms: pricing is no longer just about covering basic costs — it’s being used to shape a fairer, more sustainable system for participants and providers alike.
New Therapy Pricing – Increases and Reductions
Therapy supports are one of the most used — and most debated — services under the NDIS. In the six months to December 2024 alone, over 412,000 participants accessed at least one therapy service, with payments exceeding $2.4 billion. But while demand continues to grow, the NDIA has found that current flat pricing doesn’t match real-world rates or delivery models.
What’s Changing
The NDIA is replacing state-specific premiums with a single national price limit for therapy types. It’s also introducing more flexible billing options (in 10-minute increments) and adjusting travel claim rates to better reflect actual costs. These changes are based on large-scale benchmarking using:
- Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) rates
- Private Health Insurance (PHI) billing data
- Pricing from other government schemes and private listings
Key Therapy Price Changes (Effective 1 July 2025)
- Psychology: Increase from $222.99/hr → $232.99/hrWhy? Current NDIS price is below the 75th percentile of broader market rates.
- Physiotherapy: Decrease from $193.99/hr (or $224.62 in some states) → $183.99/hrWhy? Current pricing is up to 68% above market benchmarks.
- Dietetics & Podiatry: Decrease to $188.99/hrWhy? Pricing significantly exceeds industry rates based on session data.
Other Therapy Pricing Updates
- Session Billing: Price limits now published in 10-minute increments to encourage flexible session lengths, not just flat 60-minute bookings.
- Travel Claims: Capped at 50% of the hourly therapy rate. Providers can still bill for travel, but the on-costs will be reduced to improve value for participants.
- Pricing Methodology Review: A full therapy pricing review will be conducted by late 2026 to reassess how services should be structured and priced in the long term.
These changes mark a shift away from price-driven growth and towards evidence-based sustainability. The NDIA’s goal is to ensure participants still have access to quality therapy while making room for fairer pricing across the sector.
Disability Support Worker (DSW) Price Updates
Disability Support Worker-related services make up the largest share of NDIS spending — over $15 billion in just six months, or 65.5% of total scheme expenditure. With more than 300,000 participants using DSW services and over 136,000 providers active in the space, small changes to pricing have wide-reaching effects.
Key Trends in the DSW Market
- Sole traders dominate by volume, making up 77% of providers, but only accounting for $2.2 billion in claims (just 15% of total spend).
- Companies deliver most of the services, representing 18% of providers but responsible for $11.6 billion in claims.
- Registered providers charge at the price limit more frequently (68%) than unregistered ones (55%).
- Strong growth in remote and very remote areas, especially among unregistered providers.
These dynamics show a fragmented market, with smaller providers growing in number but larger providers still doing most of the work. The NDIA is now adjusting pricing to better reflect the actual cost of service delivery and encourage more stable, high-quality provider models.
Price Model Adjustment from 1 July 2025
The NDIA will update DSW price limits using the Disability Support Worker Cost Model, which is based on:
- Minimum wage levels under the SCHADS Award (2020)
- 12% superannuation (new rate from 1 July 2025)
- Operational and corporate overhead assumptions (e.g. rostering, training, admin)
These updates are tied to Fair Work Commission decisions and will ensure providers can continue to meet legal pay and entitlements without sacrificing service quality.
The goal is to balance provider viability with market stability — especially for those investing in workforce development, clinical governance, and support for participants with complex needs.
Support Coordination: Price Stability with Future Reform Ahead
Support coordination continues to play a vital role in helping participants navigate their NDIS plans. As of December 2024, over 262,000 participants — roughly 38% of the scheme — accessed support coordination through more than 10,000 providers. While demand is rising, average claims per provider are shrinking, reflecting a surge in small-scale, often unregistered providers.
Market Snapshot
- Around 3,000 providers support only one participant, with average claims of just $2,000.
- Over 50% of providers support five or fewer participants.
- A small group of 184 large providers support 250+ participants each and account for 35% of total claims.
- Unregistered providers now account for 68% of the market by volume, but registered providers still process over 90% of the spend.
The NDIA sees this fragmentation as a sign of rapid market expansion — but not necessarily increased service quality. That’s why structural reform is on the way.
Pricing Changes (or Lack Thereof)
- Level 1 – Support Connection: Price limits will be indexed in line with DSW pricing, using the same adjustment model.
- Level 2 – Coordination of Supports andLevel 3 – Specialist Support Coordination: No change in price for now. The NDIA is maintaining current limits while broader reforms roll out.
What’s Coming Next
- Mandatory registration for all support coordinators from mid-2025
- Rollout of the Navigator role to help participants access higher-quality coordination
- Ongoing Support Coordination Pilot, focusing on measuring service quality and outcomes
The NDIA’s message is clear: pricing is being held steady while reform catches up. But once the pilot concludes and new roles are defined, support coordination pricing will be reevaluated to reflect the real work — and outcomes — involved.
Plan Management: Streamlined and Digital
Plan management is now the default for most NDIS participants. In the second half of 2024, over 448,000 participants — 65 percent of the scheme — used plan managers to process their NDIS payments. Since early 2022, this number has grown by 46 percent, with plan-managed spending exceeding $13.4 billion in just six months.
While participant use has increased, the provider landscape has become more concentrated. A small number of large, national providers now process the majority of claims, even in remote and very remote regions.
Key Trends in the Plan Management Market
- The top five providers processed $4.2 billion in payments over six months.
- More than 93 percent of plan-managed spending comes from long-term, consistently active providers.
- Virtual service delivery has become the standard, reducing the need for location-based pricing.
- A growing number of providers now offer plan management as a stand-alone service rather than bundling it with other supports.
The NDIA sees the market as stable, efficient, and no longer in need of incentives that were introduced during early rollout phases.
Pricing Changes from 1 July 2025
- Monthly Fee Maintained: The standard monthly fee for plan management (support item 14_034_0127_8_3) remains at $104.45. Most plan managers now support more than 20 participants, achieving administrative efficiency through scale.
- One-Off Establishment Fee Removed: The $232.35 setup fee (support item 14_033_0127_8_3) will be discontinued. With most participants now long-term users and system setup streamlined through the PACE rollout, the NDIA sees little justification for a separate onboarding charge.
- Remote Loadings Removed: Remote and very remote price loadings will no longer apply. Delivery is almost entirely virtual, and providers in all regions now operate under similar cost structures. A single national price will apply across Australia.
Together, these changes reflect a market that has matured. Plan management is now a high-volume, largely digital service — and pricing is being streamlined to match how it operates in practice.
Nursing and Other Supports
While most attention in the 2025 pricing review is on therapy and support coordination, the NDIA has also addressed pricing for nursing and community-based services that fall outside of the Disability Support Worker (DSW) cost model. These supports are essential for participants with higher clinical needs and are often delivered by qualified nurses under different award classifications.
Price Setting Background
Unlike DSW supports, NDIS-funded nursing services are not tied to the SCHADS Award. Most NDIS nursing staff fall under the Nurses Award 2020, which has not been directly impacted by recent aged care wage increases announced by the Fair Work Commission. NDIS nursing price limits were originally set using high-end wage assumptions and have been indexed annually since 2019.
Current NDIA analysis shows that existing nursing price limits remain 3.5 to 24.5 percent above the updated Nurses Award wages, which means they still offer enough margin to attract and retain qualified staff. However, to reflect broader economic conditions and rising operational costs, the NDIA is making adjustments.
Price Adjustment Method
From 1 July 2025, nursing and other supports not covered by the DSW model will be indexed using a blended formula:
- 80 percent Wage Price Index (WPI)
- 20 percent Consumer Price Index (CPI)
This approach is intended to reflect both wage pressures and inflation across goods and services. The adjustment applies to nursing, selected community supports, and other services outside the core DSW and therapy categories.
Implications for Providers
- Services that rely on qualified nurses should review award compliance, wage structures, and billing practices to ensure alignment with updated pricing.
- Providers offering mixed services (e.g., personal care and clinical supports) need to separate billing and documentation by support type.
- While no major price increases are being rolled out for 2025, the NDIA is monitoring future changes in the Nurses Award and will review pricing again as additional wage adjustments take effect in the aged care sector.
This section of the pricing review signals a steady approach to supporting clinical services while preserving funding stability.
New NDIA Pricing Workplan and Review Cycle
One of the most significant long-term changes in the 2025 review isn’t a rate adjustment — it’s a structural shift in how pricing decisions will be made from now on. The NDIA has committed to moving away from a one-size-fits-all annual pricing update and toward a multi-year pricing workplan, aimed at more targeted, predictable, and strategic reform.
Why the Annual Review Model Is Changing
The NDIA acknowledges that the current annual cycle doesn’t provide enough time to properly analyse complex markets like therapy or disability support. It also leaves providers with very little notice before new prices take effect on 1 July each year.
To fix this, the NDIA will:
- Publish a three-year pricing workplan by the end of 2025
- Set clear timelines for reviewing specific service categories (e.g., therapy, support coordination, DSW)
- Use sector feedback, pilot programs, and external benchmarking to guide future price limits
- Release pricing updates earlier in the financial year, giving providers more time to plan
Key Features of the Workplan Approach
- Deep dives into complex areas like therapy supports and blended payments
- More differentiated pricing, based on service type, workforce needs, and participant outcomes
- Flexible reform schedule, allowing the NDIA to respond to emerging trends or workforce shortages
- Better alignment with government budgeting cycles and Fair Work Commission wage decisions
What It Means for Providers
- Pricing won’t change for every service every year — but when it does, it will be based on deeper consultation and data
- You’ll have more notice, more transparency, and a clearer understanding of what’s coming next
- The NDIA’s new framework will make it easier to anticipate adjustments and align your operations accordingly
This change sets the tone for everything that follows. Rather than reacting to external pressures, the NDIA is now building a roadmap for smarter pricing that balances cost recovery, quality, and long-term sustainability.
Conclusion
The NDIA’s Annual Pricing Review for 2024–2025 is a clear shift toward smarter, more tailored pricing. Rather than applying blanket price limits across the board, the Agency is now setting prices based on market data, workforce conditions, and the actual cost of service delivery. This is a major development for providers — not just because of the new rates, but because of the NDIA’s commitment to a long-term pricing strategy.
For therapy providers, plan managers, support coordinators, and DSW service providers, the changes taking effect on 1 July 2025 bring both challenges and opportunities. Some price limits will increase, others will decrease, and session-based billing will become more flexible. Travel rules are tightening, and plan management incentives are being streamlined.
Most importantly, pricing reform is no longer a once-a-year event. The NDIA’s upcoming three-year pricing workplan will introduce deeper, more targeted reviews, with timelines that give providers time to adapt.
If you’re delivering NDIS services, now is the time to align your systems, pricing, and service model with what’s coming — and to stay ready for more detailed reviews ahead.
