Price Guide 2025–26 in effect: what's changed and what it means

The 2025–26 NDIS Pricing Arrangements have been in effect since 1 July 2025. Nine months in, the patterns are clearer than they were at launch. This is a direct read on what’s changed, where it’s biting, and what to do about it.

What changed

Some support items consolidated. Several capacity-building items were collapsed into broader categories, reducing the total number of distinct line items providers can claim.
Tighter indexation. Annual price increases were modest, sitting below the rate of award-driven labour cost growth in the sector.
Travel and non-face-to-face time tightened. Specific limits on what can be claimed for travel and non-face-to-face activity have been more tightly enforced through audit guidance.
Some line items removed entirely. A small number of items — primarily lower-utilisation administrative codes — were removed from the catalogue.

Where it’s biting

For providers, the practical effects have shown up unevenly across the sector:

SIL and SDA providers report continued margin pressure. Specialist accommodation has unique cost structures that the price changes have not fully tracked.
Allied health providers are reporting that the indexation gap has begun to compress margins, particularly where workforce costs are governed by SCHADS or above-award EBAs.
Sole traders and small providers report disproportionate administrative burden — line item changes require service agreement updates that scale poorly.
Larger registered providers with integrated billing systems have absorbed the changes with less disruption, though margin compression is industry-wide.

For participants, the practical effect is mostly invisible. Plan dollar amounts haven’t changed because of the Price Guide; what’s changed is what those dollars buy and how providers structure their services around them.

What to do about it

For providers:

Reconcile your top-billed line items against the current Price Guide before your next billing cycle
Review service agreements for references to consolidated or removed items
Stress-test your unit economics against further indexation gaps

For participants:

Ask your plan manager or support coordinator whether any of your current providers have flagged service or pricing changes
The dollar value of your plan hasn’t changed — what providers can charge against it has

Sources

NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025–26
NDIS Annual Pricing Review (final determination, June 2025)
NDS State of the Disability Sector Report 2025

Information current as of 15 March 2026.