ndis pricing 2026–27, decoded: 210 support items up, 65 down, 106 new

NDIS pricing 2026–27, decoded: what actually changed

The 2026–27 NDIS Pricing Schedule took effect on 1 July 2026. To understand what it means in practice, we analysed every one of the 670 price-limited support items in the new schedule and compared each one against last year’s limit.

The short version: this was not an across-the-board rise or an across-the-board cut. It was a split decision, and which side of it you land on depends almost entirely on the type of support you use.

The numbers at a glance

• 210 items increased
• 65 items decreased
• 106 new items were added
• 41 items were removed

A split decision

Everyday supports — personal care, community access and support coordination — rose by about 5% on average. These are labour-based supports, so the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage decision flowed straight through to their price limits.

Therapy went the other way. The Annual Pricing Review reset a swathe of allied-health limits, with reductions averaging 7.7% where they applied. The two exceptions bucked the trend hard: psychology and specialist behaviour support both rose 8.6%, to $252.99 per hour, reflecting their higher qualification and complexity requirements.

What a $15,000 plan now buys

The clearest way to see the impact is in sessions rather than percentages. Based on one-hour sessions at the national price limit, here is what a $15,000 therapy budget funds this year compared with last:

The squeeze lands hardest on mental-health and behaviour supports: where a plan bought 64 psychology sessions last year, it now buys 59. Occupational therapy and speech pathology held steady at $193.99 per hour. Dietetics and exercise physiology actually became cheaper, so the same budget stretches further.

The biggest movers

The largest single cut — −19.5% — hit the “Other Professional” therapy line, which was realigned to a new $156.16 per hour tier alongside counselling and art therapy.

Why prices moved

Wages pushed everyday supports up. Support work, supported independent living, community participation and support coordination are labour-based, so the wage decision produced a consistent lift of roughly 4–5% across those categories.

The Annual Pricing Review reset therapy. Allied-health limits were reviewed against benchmarks: dietetics and exercise physiology were trimmed, a new lower “Other Professional” tier was introduced, and psychology and specialist behaviour support were lifted.

Look up any support item

We have published the full analysis, along with the underlying dataset, so participants, plan managers, support coordinators and providers can check the detail for themselves:

• Read the full data report: The State of NDIS Pricing in 2026–27 — category-by-category breakdown, methodology, and the dataset in JSON and CSV.
• Search every NDIS support item — look up any support item number and its 2026–27 National, Remote and Very Remote price limits.
• NDIS Budget Calculator — estimate how many sessions a plan funds at the new limits.

Journalists and researchers: the figures and dataset are open for reuse with attribution. For comment, or a breakdown by state or category, contact info@daar.com.au.

Source: NDIS Pricing Arrangements & Price Limits, effective 1 July 2026. Purchasing-power figures assume one-hour sessions at the national price limit and a $15,000 budget.