Do you feel like you are spending almost as much on your therapist's travel as on the therapy itself?

This resource sets out just how much a therapist can charge you and tips to reduce travel costs.

Which NDIS capacity building providers can charge travel?

Capacity building services include services like Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Physiotherapy, Physiology, Psychology and more.

Capacity building Providers (mostly allied health professionals) are able to claim for provider travel if there is a  'Y' in the 'Provider Travel' column in the NDIS Support Catalogue for the service line item. 

In truth, there is a Y for almost all items!

These NDIS providers can charge you for:

1. Labour Costs (their time)

This is the time they spend:

1. travelling to your appointment and 
2. returning to their usual place of business afterwards - ONLY IF you are their last appointment.

2. Non-Labour Costs

With your agreement (via a service agreement) a therapist may also charge you for a portion of their non-labour travel costs. 

Some charge back more than others so make sure you check your invoices!

This may include parking, running costs of the vehicle, tolls etc.

This travel cost could include:

• a cost per kilometre* for a vehicle owned by a Provider and
• other forms of transport or associated costs up to the full amount, such as road tolls, parking,
• public transport fares.

*Check the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document for the latest rates.
 

How much labour travel time can NDIS capacity building Providers/Therapists claim?

The maximum amount of time therapists can claim is:

1. 30 minutes in MMM1-3 areas (most participants fall into this MMM area as it includes major cities, inner regional and some outer regional) 
2. 60 minutes in MMM4-5 areas (regional and remote areas)

For therapy supports providers, including early childhood therapy, the price limit for provider travel time is 50% of the regular price limit for these items. For example, if a speech pathologist travelled for 1 hour in an MMM5 area to deliver support to a participant, the maximum claimable for this travel time component would be $97.00 (which represents 50% of the direct hourly price limit of $193.99). This does not impact the amount that can be claimed for non-labour costs.

Find your MMM region by entering your address here

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Therapy Prices

• Price limits will be set in 10-minute blocks to allow more flexibility. This is intended to encourage greater flexibility in billing and service delivery.
• It aims to clarify that 1 hour is not a ‘default’ or ‘expected’ service length, and that the length of service can vary depending on the agreement between the participant and provider, based on individual needs and circumstances.

How it will work?

• NDIA will publish therapy rates per 10 minutes.

• Providers will multiply that rate by how many 10-minute blocks were delivered.

• The total claimed must still follow existing rules (e.g. maximum hours per plan, no rounding up, etc.).​

Therapy Travel

• Travel claims for therapy will be capped at 50% of the 10-minute rate on a pro rata basis to encourage more efficient scheduling by providers and provide clear cost expectations for participants to help them get better value from their funding. 
• This is known as a labour time cap — it limits how much of a therapist’s time for travel can be billed under NDIS.

What does “10-minute rate on a pro rata basis” mean?

• If the therapy rate is, say, $190/hour, that breaks down to $31.67 per 10 minutes.

• The max travel claim per 10-minute block of therapy is 50% of that, or $15.84 per 10 minutes of therapy delivered.

• This keeps travel costs in proportion to the therapy time actually provided.

Why is this happening?

• To prevent overclaiming for travel when the therapy session is short.

• To keep the NDIS more sustainable: aligning travel charges with service value.

• More flexibility: Not every therapy session needs to be exactly 60 minutes. Some may be 30 mins, 40 mins, or 70 mins.

• Fairer billing: Providers will claim only for the actual time spent, not rounding up to the hour.

• Easier for participants: Less risk of being overcharged or losing funding due to fixed-length pricing.

Case Example of Therapy Travel:

Let’s say a therapist:

• Delivers a 30-minute therapy session
• Therapy rate = $190/hr → $31.67 per 10 mins
• Maximum travel claim allowed:
• 30 minutes = 3 × $31.67 = $95.01 for therapy

Travel claim must be no more than 50% of that → $47.51

Even if the therapist spends 40 minutes traveling, they can only claim $47.51 for travel in this case.

Additional Notes:

This rule is in addition to existing travel time caps:

• 30 minutes max in metro areas
• 60 minutes max in remote areas

It focuses on keeping travel costs proportionate to the length of the actual service provided.

Tips to reduce travel cost

1. Check your service agreement for specified labour and non-labour travel costs. Negotiate with your provider to limit these costs. Make sure you don't get a shock when you get the first bill!
2. Find another provider. Ask the connections team at MyCareSpace to find you a therapist closer to your location so you are able to get more therapy and spend less on their travel!
3. Collaborate with people in your area to share the travel costs of a single therapist.