NDIS rates 2026-27: new hourly caps for support workers

You'll still see these limits called PAPL, the Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits. The official document for 2026-27 is now the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27. Every support has a price limit, the most you are allowed to charge for it. It is a ceiling, not a rate you are owed.

The rates most workers use

National price limits per hour, from the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 (effective 24/09/2026). Everything here is up about 4.8%, except house cleaning and yard work, up about 3.6%.

Weekday evening rates start at 8pm. In remote areas (MMM 6) the weekday daytime personal care limit is $103.01, and in very remote areas (MMM 7) it is $110.37. Find any other code in the line item directory.

Which rate goes on which line

The date you did the shift decides the rate, not the date you send the invoice. 2 hours of weekday daytime personal care on Tue 30 June 2026 is 2 x $70.23 = $140.46. The same 2 hours on Wed 1 July 2026 is 2 x $73.58 = $147.16. If you are invoicing a June shift in July, use the 2025-26 column.

Weekday daytime is 6am to 8pm, evening is 8pm to midnight, and night is midnight to 6am. If one type of support crosses a rate change, the higher rate applies to the whole support. Two separate visits stay separate, each at its own rate. There is a worked example in how to invoice a plan manager.

Do I have to charge the new rate?

No. If you keep charging $70.23 you are still under the limit, you just do not collect the increase. Invoice the rate in your service agreement. If your service agreement sets the rate as the price limit, the new limit already applies. If it's a fixed rate, update it in writing with the participant (or their nominee) first, and let the plan manager know. Never charge above the limit.

A higher rate also uses a participant's budget faster for the same hours. Whether plan budgets were adjusted for the increase varies by plan, so ask the plan manager. If you need to write the new rate into an agreement, Crestyn has a service agreement generator that is free on the trial and included in any subscription.

Check your invoice template today

Quick test: your weekday daytime personal care line should not be more than $73.58. If your template or app is from last year, update the codes and rates. An invoice with a rate over the limit can be rejected. If a plan manager rejects one, correct it and resubmit under a new invoice number. See why NDIS invoices get rejected.

New to invoicing? Start with invoicing the NDIS as a sole trader, then how to invoice a plan manager and the checklist of required invoice fields.

One national price, no state columns

The 2025-26 catalogue listed a column for every state and territory, all showing the same figure. The 2026-27 catalogue has one national limit per item, plus the remote and very remote loadings. That changes how the prices are published, not what you charge.

Only if you do respite (STA)

Until 30 June 2026, a respite stay was claimed under one bundled per-day code that rolled support, accommodation and food into a single figure at a set staffing ratio, from about $860 a day (1:4 Saturday) up to $4,270 a day (1:1 public holiday). Those codes, 01_051_0115_1_1 through 01_065_0115_1_1, are now legacy items that can be claimed until 30 June 2027.

From 1 July 2026, an STA stay is claimed in parts:

Hourly STA support follows the same day and time splits as personal care, with a high intensity set at higher limits. Write new service agreements against the unbundled codes, and plan the move off the bundled codes well before 30 June 2027.