4 important changes to NDIS price guide and what it means for you
The NDIS price guide is a tricky document to wrap your head around at the best of times and a number of recent changes have made that even trickier!
The NDIS price guide is essentially a catalogue of NDIS services for all the types of supports available from NDIS service providers and how much they should cost. It sets the price that the disability support sector follows. When these prices change, it can impact your plan.
Every year, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) reviews the prices of supports to make sure participants are getting the best value from their funding packages. From July 1, 2022, a range of changes take place – some changes will affect how much of your package you use for particular services, and some will just change how you access a service.
We’ve broken down the important changes you need to know about, making it easy for you to get the most from your NDIS package and lead the life you want to live.
A note about some services that will cost more
We’ve all heard about how the cost of things we need for everyday life, like food and transport, is getting higher and higher. The same applies to the cost of providing supports to NDIS participants, so the NDIS has increased the amounts you will need to pay from your NDIS funding for a range of supports you may use under your plan.
The good news is, if you had funds left in your plan after June 30, 2022, they will be used to increase the value of your plan so you can pay these increased costs and your plan will be adjusted. If you did not have funds left in your plan after June 30, 2022, it’s important that you speak with your Support Coordinator about how your plan may need to be adjusted.
We’ve compiled a list of the changes below to make things easier to understand and make it easier for you to plan and choose how you use your NDIS package.
1. NDIS pricing changes to Disability Support Workers pay rates
The cost of providing supports has increased for service providers for a range of reasons. One of the things that has increased is the amount disability support workers should be paid, and this is so they can provide a high level of support safely and in a way that’s meaningful to you. This does means that accessing support workers is more expensive and your plan may need adjusting to suit.
Support workers will cost an additional 9% to include increased base pay rates, increased superannuation, and to bring some support workers in line with new minimum wage rules.
Have a chat with your Plan Manager, Local Area Coordinator or Support Coordinator to see how this affects you and the supports you receive.
2. More clarity around what High-Intensity Support means
The types of support a person needs is outlined by the NDIS in its pricing arrangements. But higher intensity supports were not clearly defined. So, the NDIS has now defined these are supports provided to a person:
- Who needs frequent support to work through behaviour that may lead to injury to yourself or to others, and/or
- Who needs support with ‘high intensity daily personal activities’. This means activities that may require medical or nursing assistance for feeding, clothing, bathing, self-care, seizure management, or medication by injection.
This doesn’t have any impact on the cost of these supports but helps everyone to understand the kind of supports you may need and how they can be provided in a safe way if you require higher intensity support.
For more information, view the NDIS website.
3. NDIS changes to pricing for provider travel in remote and very remote areas
Firstly, the meaning of remote and very remote locations has changed. If it is not possible to travel from a location to a major city (of more than 50,000 people) without crossing a remote area, then the location is considered to be remote/very remote.
There are lots of people in remote and very remote communities who have their support workers and other providers travel to them to provide support. The NDIS is making it easier for remote and very remote participants by making sure providers can cover the cost of travel to remote areas regardless of whether they are working on core supports, or “capacity building” supports. It wasn’t always this way! While travel to remote areas could be included in plans, it was only in the areas of capacity building supports where costs for remote travel could be applied. Now, no matter what support you need your provider can now deliver it in person if you’re living in a remote or very remote area of Australia.
If you live in a remote area, check out our blog post - Living rurally under the NDIS.
4. Specialist Disability Accommodation – Service Bookings
For some people living in Specialist Disability Accommodation, it can seem like you have everything you need and lots of people around to support you. But sometimes, you can find yourself needing support and a service booking hasn’t been arranged through the NDIS.
Now, your service provider can log service bookings for you so there’s no need to make the extra effort to contact the NDIS anymore. It’s important you and your team of providers are all on the same page when it comes to understanding your needs and what’s important to you, so when you need support quickly it is available.
If you would like more information on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Pricing arrangements and how it may affect you, contact your Support Coordinator. If you would like to read about it yourself, here are some relevant blog posts that might help: