NDIS service agreement generator.

An NDIS service agreement is a signed agreement between a participant and a provider that sets out what supports the provider will deliver, how and when they will be delivered, what they cost, how the provider will be paid and how changes will be handled. The NDIA describes it as a document created to protect the participant: both sides share an understanding of the supports and their responsibilities, and know what to do if something goes wrong.

The NDIS Practice Standards define it as a written agreement between the provider and the participant on the supports to be provided and the conditions surrounding those supports. For a provider, it is also the document that proves the participant agreed to your prices, your cancellation terms and any travel you charge — the things that most often turn into disputes or rejected claims.

It depends who you are and what you deliver. The NDIA's guidance to participants is that a written service agreement isn't required in most cases, is mandatory for specialist disability accommodation (SDA), and is recommended every time a participant starts with a new provider.

Registered providers have a stronger obligation. Providers delivering higher-risk supports are audited against the Core module of the NDIS Practice Standards, and its Service agreements with participants outcome says each participant should have a clear understanding of the supports they have chosen and how they will be provided. The quality indicators expect you to:

• collaborate with each participant to develop a service agreement that sets expectations, explains the supports and specifies any conditions — including why those conditions are attached;
• support the participant to understand the agreement in the language, mode of communication and terms they are most likely to understand;
• where the agreement is written, give the participant a copy signed by both the participant and the provider — and where that isn't practicable or the participant chooses not to have one, record the circumstances;
• set out the arrangements for providing supports in an emergency or disaster;
• for supported independent living (SIL) in SDA dwellings, have documented arrangements with each participant and SDA provider covering concerns about the dwelling, conflicts, changes in support needs, vacancies and behaviours that may put tenancies at risk.

Providers registered only for lower-risk supports are assessed against the verification module (human resources, risk, complaints and incident management), which does not contain the service agreement outcome — but an agreement is still the simplest way to evidence agreed prices and terms. Unregistered providers and sole traders are in the same position: not audited on it, but exposed without one.

The NDIA lists what a good service agreement covers, and the Practice Standards add conditions, accessibility and emergencies. Combined, a complete agreement has these parts — the generator above builds each one.

The schedule of supports is the priced part of the agreement. Here is a fictional six-month agreement for a plan-managed participant, priced at the 2026–27 national price limits (effective 24 September 2026). Prices shown are maximums; you can agree a lower price.

Three things make a schedule like this easy to claim against. First, every line uses the exact support item number, so the plan manager or the NDIA portal matches it to the right budget. Second, quantities are realistic for the funding available in each budget — check them against the plan before anyone signs (the NDIS budget tracker helps). Third, claim types such as provider travel are listed as their own lines. In the 2026–27 schedule, cancellation, provider travel, non-face-to-face, NDIA-requested report and telehealth claims for many capacity building supports are separate item numbers with a suffix (_CA, _PT, _NF, _RR, _TH) — look them up in the NDIS price guide.

Cancellation and travel charges are where agreements matter most, because they can only be claimed if the participant agreed to them in advance. Under the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025–26, a short notice cancellation could be claimed at up to 100% of the agreed price where the participant gave less than the required notice (7 clear days for some supports, 2 clear business days for others), the provider couldn't find other billable work for the worker and still had to pay them, and the service agreement included the cancellation terms. Provider travel had similar conditions.

The NDIA says it will shortly publish updated pricing and claiming guidance for the 2026–27 schedule. Until then, write your terms so they work either way: state the notice period, the percentage you will charge, that you will only charge where you couldn't reassign the worker, and that charges follow the NDIS pricing rules in force at the time. Model your notice periods with the short notice cancellation calculator and travel charges with the NDIS travel calculator.

How the participant's funding is managed changes who pays you and which price rules apply. The NDIA says the maximum prices in the pricing schedule apply only to NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants.

A participant can have a mix — for example a plan-managed core budget and an NDIA-managed capital budget — so name the budget each line is paid from. For plan-managed participants, the NDIS invoice generator produces invoices that match the schedule of supports line for line.

For a registered provider, keep the evidence of each step: the meeting notes, the version the participant signed, how you explained it (for example an Easy Read copy), and any record of why a written copy wasn't given. Auditors ask for it, and the Practice Standards self-assessment shows where your process has gaps — try the Practice Standards self-assessment.

• Prices above the limit. For NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants, a price above the current maximum can't be paid. Re-check the schedule each time the limits change.
• Old item numbers. Item numbers and names change between years. A line with a retired number gets rejected or queried by the plan manager.
• No cancellation or travel terms. Without them in writing, you have no evidence the participant agreed, and the charge is hard to defend.
• Quantities that don't fit the plan. Agreeing to more hours than the budget can fund sets up a mid-plan shortfall — and with funding released in periods, it can bite within the first quarter.
• Conditions without reasons. The Practice Standards expect you to explain why any condition is attached, such as a minimum shift length.
• One-sided terms. Clauses that let only the provider change prices or end the agreement without notice, or that limit the participant's right to complain, risk being unfair terms and undermine choice and control.
• No review after a plan change. A reassessed plan can change budgets, management type or funding periods. The agreement should be reviewed when that happens.
• Inducements. Offering gifts or incentives for signing is about to become unlawful — the Department's timeline lists a ban on providers offering kickbacks and inducements from 27 November 2026.

The practical effect: re-issue your schedule of supports at the 2026–27 prices and item numbers, keep signed agreements and the records behind every claim for at least seven years, and remove anything from your onboarding that could look like an inducement.

Service agreement

A written agreement between the provider and the participant on the supports to be provided and the conditions surrounding those supports (NDIS Practice Standards).

Schedule of supports

The priced list of supports in the agreement: item numbers, units, quantities, prices and totals.

Support item number

The NDIS code for a support, for example 01_011_0107_1_1. The first two digits are the support category.

Price limit

The maximum price the NDIS will pay for a support item for NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants, set in the Minister's pricing schedule.

Plan manager

A provider funded in the participant's plan to pay invoices and keep records for plan-managed funding.

SDA

Specialist disability accommodation — housing for participants with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. The one support the NDIA says needs a written agreement.

Standard form contract

A contract prepared by one party and offered on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Unfair terms in these contracts can attract penalties under the Australian Consumer Law.