Provider travel

What is NDIS provider travel?

NDIS provider travel is the time and running costs a provider can claim from a participant's plan when a worker travels to deliver a face-to-face support. Travel time is capped at 30 minutes to each participant in MMM 1–3 areas and 60 minutes in MMM 4–5 areas, therapy travel time is claimed at no more than 50% of the hourly price limit, and kilometres, tolls and parking are claimed separately. It can only be charged if the participant agreed to it in their service agreement first.

People often search for an "NDIS travel allowance", but there's no separate allowance in a participant's plan. Provider travel is paid from the same budget as the support itself. It's also different from three other kinds of travel that get mixed up with it:

• Transport funding: money in a participant's plan to help them get around, such as taxis or community transport.
• Activity based transport: a worker driving the participant to, from or during a community participation support, claimed under community participation items.
• Award travel and vehicle allowances: what an employer must pay workers under the SCHADS Award. That's an employment obligation, not an NDIS claim; see SCHADS pay rates.

Which travel rules apply in 2026–27

The NDIS pricing schedule 2026–27, in force from 24 September 2026 under the Minister's pricing determination, sets maximum prices and item numbers. It doesn't restate the travel claiming rules. Those were last published in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025–26, and the NDIA has said updated pricing and claiming guidance is coming. Until it is published, the 2025–26 rules are the latest official guidance, applied to 2026–27 prices.

One thing did change: therapy travel now has its own item numbers. Each therapy item has a matching provider travel item ending in _PT, priced at half the direct-service limit. Support worker items have no separate travel items, so support worker travel time is still claimed against the support item with the provider travel claim type.

How provider travel works

Provider travel has two parts, and each has its own rules and its own invoice line.

1. Labour costs: the worker's travel time

Travel time is claimed in hours, up to a cap that depends on the Modified Monash Model (MMM) category of where the participant is when the support is delivered, not where the worker starts. The NDIS uses the 2019 MMM, which you can look up in the Department of Health's Health Workforce Locator, plus the NDIA's list of isolated towns that are treated as remote.

The cap is per worker, per participant. Travel beyond the cap isn't claimable, although you may still have to pay the worker for it. The return trip to the worker's usual place of work after the last participant can be claimed within the same cap, but only if you're required to pay the worker for that travel.

The rate depends on who delivers the support:

• Support workers: travel time at the hourly rate agreed for the support, or a lower rate if that's what you agreed.
• Therapists and early childhood professionals: up to 50% of the direct-service hourly price limit. In 2026–27, claim it on the item's _PT number at that item's price, not on the direct-service item at half price.

2. Non-labour costs: kilometres, tolls and parking

You can also negotiate a reasonable contribution to the cost of getting there. The 2025–26 PAPL sets a per-kilometre amount the NDIA considers reasonable for a vehicle owned by the provider or worker, and allows road tolls, parking and public transport fares up to their full cost. Non-labour costs go on the "Provider travel – non-labour costs" item for the support's registration group, such as 01_799_0107_1_1 for daily personal activities, 04_799_0125_6_1 for community participation or 15_799_0128_1_3 for therapeutic supports. These items have no price limit and a notional unit price of 1, so you claim the dollar amount as the quantity. The free NDIS travel calculator applies the current per-km figure, caps and rates for you.

When provider travel is claimable (and when it isn't)

Under the 2025–26 PAPL, every one of these has to be true before you claim travel against a support:

• The support item allows provider travel (the support catalogue lists this for each item, and therapy items have a _PT item).
• The support is delivered face to face. Telehealth, phone and other non-face-to-face supports have no travel.
• The travel is part of delivering a specific support to that participant, not general admin.
• You explained the travel charges and why they're good value, and the participant agreed in advance in their service agreement.
• You have to pay the worker for the travel time, or you're a sole trader travelling from your usual place of work to or between participants.

Shared runs

When a worker sees several participants in the same area, the PAPL says it's reasonable to apportion all the travel time, including the return journey, and the non-labour costs between them, as long as each participant agreed to the method in advance. Travel from one participant to the next counts as travel to the second participant. Never bill the whole trip to each participant: that's double claiming, even if each claim is under the cap on its own.

Provider travel vs other NDIS travel

The quickest test is who is travelling and who pays. Provider travel is the worker getting to the participant, claimed by the provider. Everything else is either the participant's own travel or an employment cost between the provider and its staff.

Remote and very remote areas (MMM 6–7)

In MM 6 and MM 7 there's no fixed time cap. Providers can make specific arrangements with the participant to cover travel, up to the hourly rate for the support item (or up to 50% of the hourly price limit for therapy). The higher remote and very remote price limits in the 2026–27 schedule apply to the support, and therefore to travel time claimed at the support rate. Because those costs add up quickly, the PAPL asks providers to help participants keep them down, for example by grouping appointments in the same community so travel can be shared, or using telehealth where it suits. You can check remote pricing for any item in the NDIS price guide, and the Department of Health explains the categories on its Modified Monash Model page.

What participants should know

Travel comes out of the same budget as your support, so a provider who travels a long way can use up your funding faster. Before you sign a service agreement, ask:

• Will you charge travel time, at what hourly rate, and with which cap?
• Will you charge the trip back to base after my session?
• What per-kilometre amount will you charge, and will tolls and parking be added?
• If you visit other people near me, how will travel be shared?

You can say no to travel charges, ask for a lower travel rate, or choose a provider closer to you. The NDIA's note on travel claiming rules, gap fees and other costs also reminds providers they can't add gap fees or other charges the pricing arrangements don't allow.

Records to keep for travel claims

Travel is one of the claim types plan managers and the NDIA query most, so keep evidence for every travel line. A simple trip log per worker should show the date, the participants visited, start and finish times for each leg, the kilometres (odometer readings or a mapping record) and receipts for tolls and parking. Keep it with the shift record and the invoice. If a claim is reviewed, that log shows the cap was applied, shared runs were apportioned as agreed, and non-labour costs were real.

It also helps your own pricing. Travel beyond the cap, and unpaid return legs, are costs you carry. If your trip logs show workers regularly travelling well past the cap, look at rostering workers closer to participants or grouping visits by area rather than absorbing the loss.

Common provider travel mistakes

• Claiming therapy travel at the full rate. Use the _PT item, which is half the direct-service limit.
• Putting kilometres on the support line. They belong on the non-labour item as a dollar quantity.
• Using the worker's location for the MMM category. It's where the participant is that counts.
• Claiming the return trip when the worker isn't paid for it.
• Charging travel that isn't in the agreement. Agree it in writing first, then claim future visits.
• Billing a full shared trip to every participant. Apportion it as agreed.