ndis therapy costs: what a cancellation, report or travel actually claims from your plan

One hour of therapy, five different item numbers

Most people picture an NDIS therapy budget as a simple sum: the hourly rate multiplied by the number of sessions. The schedule does not work that way. A single therapy hour can be claimed under several different support item numbers, and only one of them is the session itself.

Alongside the direct service code, most therapy supports have companion codes for telehealth, non-face-to-face work (such as report writing), provider travel, NDIA-requested reports and short-notice cancellations. Each has its own price limit, and each draws on the same plan budget.

We pulled the price limits for every one of these codes from the 2026–27 NDIS Pricing Schedule. Two patterns hold across every therapy discipline.

1. A cancellation can claim the same as attending

This is the one that surprises people. The price limit for a short-notice cancellation is identical to the price limit for the session itself. So is report writing, and so is an NDIA-requested report.

A cancelled speech pathology session can claim $193.99 — exactly what the session would have claimed. For psychology, it is $252.99.

2. Provider travel is capped at half the hourly rate

Provider travel is the exception. Across every discipline we checked, its hourly price limit is exactly 50% of the direct-service limit.

The 2026–27 price limits, side by side

National price limits per hour, effective 1 July 2026:

These are maximum price limits, not automatic charges. A provider cannot claim more than the limit, but whether a particular claim can be made at all — and on what notice — is governed by the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and your service agreement.

What this means in practice

Two plans funding the same number of sessions can run out at very different times, depending on how much non-session activity is claimed against them. If your therapy involves detailed reporting, or your therapist travels to a home, school or workplace, that activity draws on the same budget as the sessions.

Some practical steps:

• Ask what gets claimed. Your service agreement should set out whether travel, report writing and cancellations will be claimed, and on what terms.
• Check the notice period. Short-notice cancellation rules are set by the NDIS, and the price limit is the same as the session — so late changes have a real budget cost.
• Factor in travel. Home, school and workplace visits are valuable, but travel is claimable at up to half the hourly rate.
• Consider telehealth where it suits. The session limit is the same, but there is no travel to claim.

Check any support item yourself

• Search every NDIS support item — look up any item number and its 2026–27 National, Remote and Very Remote price limits, including companion codes.
• NDIS Budget Calculator — estimate how many sessions a plan funds.
• The State of NDIS Pricing in 2026–27 — our full analysis of every price change, with the dataset in JSON and CSV.

Figures are national price limits from the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27, effective 1 July 2026. Remote and very remote limits are higher. For the rules on when each claim type can be made, see the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits. This is general information, not financial advice — check your service agreement and plan.