Short notice cancellation calculator.

A short notice cancellation happens when a participant cancels a scheduled support without enough notice, or doesn't show up. If the conditions are met, you can claim up to 100% of the agreed fee from their plan, as if the support had gone ahead. If they gave enough notice, you can't charge anything.

The NDIS pricing schedule 2026–27, in force from 24 September 2026 under the Minister's pricing determination, sets maximum prices and item numbers but not claiming rules. The NDIA says it will “shortly publish updated pricing and claiming guidance documents”. Until it does, the short notice cancellation rules in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025–26 are the only published reference, and that's what this calculator applies.

What has changed is how therapy cancellations are numbered. Instead of choosing a “Cancellation” claim type on the direct service item, the 2026–27 schedule gives each therapy and professional support its own cancellation item — for example 15_054_0128_1_3_CA for psychology — priced at the same limit as the direct service.

The PAPL describes the 7-day rule as typically applying to disability support worker (DSW) supports and the 2-clear-business-day rule as typically applying to non-DSW supports. In practice:

If you deliver both kinds of support, your service agreement should say which rule applies to which service. A provider that offers personal care and occupational therapy, for example, would apply 7 days to the shifts and 2 clear business days to the OT sessions.

“Clear” means whole days between the day of cancellation and the day of the support. Neither the cancellation day nor the support day counts, and the time of day doesn't matter. For the business-day rule, weekends and public holidays in the participant's state are skipped.

That first strip is the case most people get wrong. Cancelling exactly one week ahead leaves only six clear days, so it is short notice — the same answer the NDIA gives in its own worked example. To avoid a fee for a Tuesday support, the participant would need to cancel by Monday 9 November 2026.

Here the weekend and Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday 3 November 2026 — a public holiday in most of Victoria — don't count, leaving one clear business day. In New South Wales, where that Tuesday is an ordinary business day, the same cancellation would give two clear business days and no fee — so always use the participant's state public holidays. The calculator above lets you enter them.

Short notice alone isn't enough. All of these must also be true:

The worker-pay condition links the fee to a real cost. If your award or employment contract means a casual worker isn't paid when a shift is cancelled with notice, check whether you're actually out of pocket before charging. For SCHADS pay obligations on cancelled shifts, see the SCHADS pay calculator.

You can claim up to 100% of the agreed fee — the price in the service agreement, which can't exceed the price limit for that item, time of day and location. You can choose to charge less — some providers charge a lower percentage for a first cancellation — or waive it entirely; the PAPL expressly allows waiving the fee at your discretion.

Remote and very remote limits are higher, so a cancellation fee for a support in an MMM 6–7 area can be higher too — as long as it matches the agreed rate. Need the exact limit for an item? Search the NDIS price guide.

These use 2026 dates, the 2026–27 national limits as the agreed rate, and the same calculation as the tool above.

On the invoice, show the cancellation as its own line with the cancellation item number, the original support date and a description such as “Short notice cancellation”. The NDIS invoice generator lets you edit each line's description.

For group-based supports, if one participant cancels with short notice and you can't fill their place, the PAPL lets you bill that participant at the rate they would have paid if they'd attended. Everyone else in the group is billed as if the whole group attended — their share doesn't go up because someone dropped out. The three conditions still apply to the cancelling participant's claim.

Your policy can be more generous to participants than the NDIS rules — 48 hours' or 24 hours' notice, a lower percentage, or a free first cancellation — and you then claim in line with what you agreed. It can't be stricter than the NDIS rules for NDIA-managed or plan-managed supports.

The NDIS service agreement generator includes a cancellation clause based on these rules that you can adjust.

There's no limit on how many cancellations you can claim for one participant, but the PAPL reminds providers of their duty of care. A run of cancellations can signal a change in health, a carer under pressure, a support that isn't working, or a safety issue. Follow up, and record the conversation.

The NDIA's guidance gives the example of a therapist who follows up a missed appointment, learns the participant had a sensory overload from an unexpected event, and reschedules without charging. Waiving a fee in circumstances like that is allowed and often the right call. If a pattern points to a reportable concern, use the reportable incident checker.

Keep the cancellation record with the claim: the original booking, the time and method of cancellation, your attempts to fill the time, and whether the worker was paid. If the NDIA or a plan manager queries a claim, that record is what you'll need.

The NDIS rules are short, and real rosters throw up cases they don't mention. Where the rules are silent, apply their logic — a fee recovers a genuine, unavoidable cost that the participant agreed to in advance — and write your approach into the service agreement so nobody is surprised.

Whatever you decide, be consistent. Charging one participant and waiving for another in the same circumstances is hard to defend if a complaint reaches the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

Short notice cancellation

A participant cancels a scheduled support with less than the required notice.

No-show

The participant doesn't attend within a reasonable time, or isn't at the agreed place when the worker arrives.

Clear day

A whole day between the cancellation day and the support day; neither of those days counts.

Clear business day

A clear day that is a Monday to Friday and not a public holiday.

DSW supports

Supports delivered by disability support workers, such as personal care and community access.

_CA item

A 2026–27 cancellation item number for a therapy or professional support, priced at the direct-service limit.

Agreed fee

The price in the service agreement — the base for the cancellation claim, never above the price limit.