How much does NDIS Therapy cost?

According to the latest NDIS Quarterly report, close to 99% of NDIS Participants receive funding in their NDIS plan for therapies.

This funding is for therapies like occupational therapy, speech therapy, psychology, physiotherapy and also more unusual ones like art therapy, music therapy and rehabilitation counselling.

Where to find the NDIS therapy funding in your NDIS Plan

Funding for therapy is found in the Improving Daily Living Skills category, which falls under the CAPACITY BUILDING section of your NDIS plan. 

NOTE: this is different from the CORE funding part of your NDIS Plan which includes funding for support workers. (See our resource called Understanding your NDIS Plan for help understanding the different sections of your plan)

When engaging NDIS Registered Therapy Providers for Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Psychology, Physiotherapy and more, you will need to know how much their hourly fee is under the NDIS so that you can work out how many hours of therapy are included in your NDIS plan.

Does my therapist have to be NDIS Registered?

Your therapist does not have to be NDIS registered if your NDIS plan is self-managed or plan managed.
They simply need an ABN to invoice you, making sure they use the right line items from the NDIS Support Catalogue if they want to be paid quickly.

Using our NDIS Price Guide search tool, you can see all the therapy line items easily! 

Therapy items in the Support Catalogue

This also means you can keep your existing therapists after joining the NDIS and use your NDIS funding to pay them.

How do I know how many hours of therapy I have in my plan?

If it's not specified, you can do this by dividing the total amount of funding in your plan by the hourly rate of the therapy/therapies you want to use. This may be the NDIS rate or lower.

NOTE: You can use this bucket of funding for ANY therapy, even if it has something specified in your plan.

NOTE: The team at MyCareSpace can help you work this out.

How much is my NDIS therapy going to cost?

It depends on whether you are using registered or unregistered NDIS providers. 

You can use both unregistered and registered NDIS providers, but it's likely you'll find that NDIS registered providers charge higher rates than unregistered NDIS providers.

If you are using a therapist who is not NDIS registered, your therapy is likely to cost less per hour. For example, a physio may charge you $130/hour but a physio who is a registered NDIS provider will use the NDIS rate of around $194/hour.

Prices do differ across different types of therapy, with Psychology being the most expensive and counselling being the least expensive. 

NOTE: your therapy funding includes "assessment, planning, and delivery of therapy", which means that this funding can be used for assessments (like functional capacity, wheelchair or housing assessments) and for ongoing therapy.

Remote Pricing

Higher rates are paid for therapy delivered in rural and remote areas. These prices can be seen in the NDIS Price List and will depend on their MMM rating.

For Areas MMM4-5, the Remote rate applies. For Areas MMM6-7, the Very Remote rate applies. See an extract:

Assessment Recommendation Therapy or Training - Psychologist
Improved Daily Living Skills

15_054_0128_1_3
$214.41   H (NSW)
$328.76 (Remote)
$352.25 (Very Remote)

See how to work out if you are in a Rural or Remote region

NDIS Therapy Prices

The NDIS Support Catalogue (NDIS Price List) contains the current prices for all therapies. MyCareSpace has an easy-to-use NDIS Price List tool where you can search for all NDIS prices.

NDIS Therapy Rates

NOTE: the latest price list saw specific line items added for more alternative therapies like Music Therapy and Art Therapy.

NOTE: there are also matching line items for popular therapies in the SOCIAL and COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION funding

How much is Online Therapy?

Teletherapy or online therapy means the therapy is not delivered face-to-face, but rather over the phone or video.

It can be used to deliver therapy like Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Psychology and even Physiotherapy where appropriate and with the agreement of the participant.

Providers can only claim Telehealth Services where ALL of the following conditions are met:

• The delivery of the support by telehealth is appropriate
• The proposed charges for the activities comply with the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits and with the Service Agreement with the participant
• The activities are part of delivering a specific therapy to that participant (not things like enrolment, administration or staff rostering)
• The provider explains the activities to the participant, including why they represent the best use of the participant’s funds (that is, the provider explains the value of these activities to the participant)
• The provider has the agreement of the participant in advance (that is, the service agreement between the participant and provider specifies that Telehealth services can be claimed).

Providers have a duty of care to their participants to ensure they are providing the same standard of care through video technology as in a clinical setting.

Teletherapy costs the same as a direct face-to-face service.

Claims for Online Services should be made using the same relevant support line item in the NDIS Price Guide. When making a claim on the portal, you would select the "Telehealth Services" option.

How much is online therapy when it's delivered to a participant in a remote or very remote area?

In general, the cost of teletherapy = the price of therapy delivered at the location of the provider. So, even if a participant is in a remote area, the rate charged depends on where the provider is located.

For example: if the speech therapist is located in the metro Sydney area, and the participant is in a very remote area in Western Australia, the rate charged would be the regular metro Sydney rate.

BUT, participants in Remote or Very Remote areas can agree to pay the remote or very remote prices, if they are satisfied that the support provides value for money.

How much can a therapist charge for travel

Your therapists can charge you for travel. They can claim for:

• the time spent travelling to each of you: 30 minutes in MMM1-3 areas and 60 minutes in MMM4-5 areas.
• the time spent travelling from you (if you are the last participant), back to their usual place of work.
  Note: this travel is only claimable when the provider must pay their worker for the return travel time.
  Note: the maximum amount of return travel is 30 minutes in MMM1-3 areas and 60 minutes in MMM4-5 areas.

See how to work out MMM region

Shared Travel Time

Where a worker is travelling to provide services to more than one participant in a ‘region’, then it is reasonable for a provider to apportion all of the travel time (including the return journey where applicable) between the participants.

This apportionment should be agreed upon with each participant in advance as part of the service agreement.

How will your therapist charge for travel?

Claims for travel must be made separately from the claim for therapy on your invoice. The hourly rate for travel is the same as the therapy rate, unless otherwise agreed beforehand with the participant.

There is a matching “Provider Travel” line item for each therapy. The therapy is allocated to the therapy line items. The travel is allocated to the matching travel line item.

How much can my Therapist charge for travel

Top 3 Tips when choosing a Therapist

1. Choose a therapist that has availability now (or very soon) - confirm a start date. If you agree to waitlist, make sure you have a start date.
    
2. Choose a therapist that can help you reach your goals - this may not be the therapist you think you need!
   Did you know that both an OT AND a Physio can deliver therapy to help you reach the same goals?
    
3. Watch out for travel costs. Did you know that you have to agree to any travel costs up front!