Payments and billing

Telehealth

Support activities can be delivered online, including group support activities. These should be delivered using the relevant line item from the NDIS Price Guide and Support Catalogue.

Telehealth services can be offered to participants who are not, or cannot be, in the same physical location as the provider. Providers must ensure the standard of care delivered through telehealth is equal to face-to-face care.

A new ‘Telehealth’ claim field has been added to the myplace provider portal for supports delivered via telehealth.

From 1 July 2020 the price limit should be based on the location of the person delivering the support at the time of service delivery.

However, participants in remote or very remote locations can agree that price limits for remote and very remote locations can apply, if those activities are part of delivering a specific disability support item to that participant, the provider explains why they represent the best use of the participant’s funds, and the provider has the agreement of the participant in advance.

When providing a service using telehealth, with agreement from the participant, providers can use the support line items that they would normally use to provide face-to-face services.

A new ‘Telehealth’ claim field has been added to the myplace provider portal for supports delivered via telehealth.

From 1 July 2020 the price limit should be based on the location of the person delivering the support at the time of service delivery. However, participants in remote or very remote locations can agree that price limits for remote and very remote locations can apply, if those activities are part of delivering a specific disability support item to that participant, the provider explains why they represent the best use of the participant’s funds, and the provider has the agreement of the participant in advance.

The costs of training and upskilling staff are included in the base price limits for supports and are not considered billable non-face-to-face supports. More information is available in the NDIS Price Guide and Support Catalogue.

Registered providers must not add any other charge to the cost of the supports they provide.

Where price limits apply, prices charged to participants must not exceed the price limit prescribed for that support in the NDIS Price Guide and Support Catalogue.

Support coordination

After 31 March 2021 participants will not be able to use their Core budget to access support coordination.

The 3 temporary support coordination line items in Core – Assistance with Daily Life category will be deactivated on 1 April 2021.

Once the 3 line items have been deactivated, providers can only claim through the myplace provider portal using the bulk upload process.

If you provided support coordination to a participant against their Core budget prior to 1 April 2021, you can still claim up to 90 days after you delivered the service.

If you provided support coordination to participants against their Core budget prior to 1 April 2021, you can still claim up to 90 days after you delivered the service.

Once the 3 support coordination line items have been deactivated, providers can only claim through the myplace provider portal using the bulk upload process.

Providers will be unable to claim for support coordination services from a participant’s Core budget for support coordination delivered from 1 April 2021.

Service bookings will need to be updated to reflect this change. Participants and providers can both make edits to service bookings. There is more information on the Service bookings page.

The flexibility to fund support coordination services from Core budgets ends on 31 March 2021, a transition period was announced in the 1 March 2021 Price Guide update.

Participants who were not utilising this support during the COVID-19 pandemic - prior to 1 March 2021 - should not start using this support during the transition period.

The myplace provider portal will not accept new service bookings using the temporary support coordination line items after 28 February 2021.

Participants can continue to access funds for support coordination from their Capacity Building budget.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

Eligible providers can purchase PPE for workers and claim the cost against the participant’s plan. Temporary support items are available so providers in restricted areas can claim for PPE used when delivering essential Assistance with Daily Life supports in one of these three categories:

0104 High Intensity Daily Personal Activities
0107 Daily Personal Activities
0115 Assistance with Daily Life Tasks in a Group or Shared Living Arrangement.

The temporary PPE supports are only claimable within the following areas and dates:

Victoria – 29 July to 31 March 2021
NSW – 29 July to 28 February 2021.

Stay updated with the latest advice from your state or territory’s public health unit to ensure you and your workers are complying with local guidance about when to use PPE when supporting people with disability.

If you are a registered provider (or an unregistered provider supporting plan-managed participants), you cannot charge more than the NDIS Price Guide and Support Catalogue or claim separately from participant plans for PPE provided to support workers.

Providers can no longer claim the cost of PPE directly from the NDIA. This support measure ended on 28 February 2021. Eligible providers have until 31 March 2021 to submit their direct claims to the NDIA, only for costs incurred before 1 March 2021.

From 1 March 2021, providers in restricted areas can only claim for PPE used by a support worker when delivering services against a participants plan if:

state or territory public health orders require disability support workers to wear PPE
they deliver essential services in certain Assistance with Daily Life support categories
the participant agrees.

This temporary PPE support is available in Victoria from 29 July 2020 to 31 March 2021.

A list of restricted areas and the dates they apply is in the NDIS Price Guide Addendum.

Only providers delivering essential Assistance with Daily Life supports in restricted areas in one of 3 support categories can claim against a participant’s plan:

0104 High Intensity Daily Personal Activities
0107 Daily Personal Activities
0115 Assistance with Daily Life Tasks in a Group or Shared Living Arrangement.

Participants can recover the costs to purchase their own PPE - including masks - using their NDIS funds when they:

receive at least one hour a day of face-to-face daily living supports, and
live in a restricted area.

Participants can use the Low Cost Disability-Related Health Consumables line item in their core supports budget to purchase PPE. See participant FAQs.

Currently the only providers able to claim for PPE to support them to meet public health guidelines are those delivering essential Assistance with Daily Life supports in restricted areas in one of three support categories:

0104 High Intensity Daily Personal Activities
0107 Daily Personal Activities
0115 Assistance with Daily Life Tasks in a Group or Shared Living Arrangement.

The temporary PPE supports are only claimable within the following areas and dates:

Victoria – 29 July to 31 February 2021
NSW– 29 July to 28 February 2021
restricted areas of Western Australia – 31 January to 13 February 2021
South Australia – 19 November to 23 December 2020
restricted areas of Queensland – 8 January to 22 January 2021
a list of restrictions by area and the date they are applicable appears in the NDIS Price Guide Addendum.

We will continue to monitor the situation and will respond to emerging issues as they arise.

Direct claiming to the NDIA by providers for PPE for disability support workers ended on 28 February 2021.

Providers have until 31 March 2021 to submit direct claims for PPE costs incurred up to 28 February 2021.

For a list of restricted areas please read the Price Guide Addendum 2020-21 available on the Price Guides and Pricing page.

Eligible registered providers must lodge invoices via the myplace provider portal before 31 March 2021:

Log in to the myplace provider portal
Select the ‘payment enquiry’ tile
Complete the details of the organisation representative
Select ‘single payment issue’
Submission on behalf of a participant – select ’no’
Drop down box – Request details – select subject ‘Payment Request Enquiry’
Do you have a service booking? No
Do you have a payment request number? No
Is there an amount involved in the enquiry? – select ’no’
In the ‘Feedback’ text box, put Vic/NSW/SA/Qld/WA PPE Invoice
Associated documents – you must upload an invoice, not a CSV file
Select what you would like to do with this payment issue. Choose ‘Submit’.

To avoid a delay in payment, providers must:

put Vic/NSW/SA/Qld/WA PPE Invoice in the ‘Feedback’ text box
lodge invoices either fortnightly or monthly
include the following information in the invoice:
- participant/s name and NDIS number/s
- supports start and end date
- one of the three support line items
- total number of ‘assistance with daily life’ support hours per participant

The NDIA will accept one invoice with multiple participant numbers.

All provider claims are subject to the NDIA payment assurance process.

For enquiries, please contact provider.support@ndis.gov.au or phone 1800 800 110.

Direct claiming to the NDIA by providers for PPE for disability support workers ended on 28 February 2020.

Providers have until 31 March 2021 to submit claims for costs incurred before 28 February 2021.

For a list of restricted areas please read the Price Guide Addendum 2020-21 available on the Price Guides and Pricing page..

Providers of plan or self-managed NDIS participants must lodge invoices by email to provider.support@ndis.gov.au

Invoices must include:

participant/s name and NDIS number/s
supports start and end date
value and details of claim (i.e. number of participants x number of hours x number of days)
any GST included in the $1.70 per hour unit price
the category of support delivered:
- 0104 High Intensity Daily Personal Activities
- 0107 Daily Personal Activities
- 0115 Assistance with Daily Life Tasks in a Group or Shared Living Arrangement
provider ABN, legal name and bank account details.

Note: bank accounts must be a business name. Personal bank accounts will not be accepted. Invoices without a valid ABN will not be processed.

Providers can invoice the NDIA for these supports on a fortnightly or monthly basis for costs incurred up to 28 Feburary 2021.

All provider claims are subject to the NDIA payment assurance process.

For enquiries, please contact provider.support@ndis.gov.au or phone 1800 800 110.

Worker Mobility Reduction Payment

The Victorian and Commonwealth Governments introduced a $15 million Worker Mobility Reduction Payment initiative to enable disability residential service providers to limit worker mobility in disability residential settings, where possible to help prevent the spread of infection.

This ended on 31 December 2020.

Eligible providers who have opted in to the Worker Mobility Reduction Payment initiative received detailed instructions on how to submit an invoice to the NDIA.

Providers had until 28 February 2021 to submit a worker mobility reduction claim to the NDIA.

Supported Independent Living (SIL)

Two support items are available for participants residing in SIL properties and diagnosed with COVID-19 until 30 June 2021.

Eligibility to access these items has been extended to participants living in SIL who are required to quarantine or self-isolate.

We will continue to monitor the situation and may implement further measures.

The two support items are:

Cleaning services: a one-off professional deep cleaning service of a residence of an eligible participant.
Additional supports: to allow for higher intensity support including staffing increase, personal protective equipment (PPE), professional laundering, and any ancillary expenses required by eligible participants.

The NDIS will not cover additional administrative costs, staff sick leave, medical costs associated with a hospital stay or everyday expenses.

Providers can continue to claim usual SIL costs for eligible participants in hospital or isolated in alternative accommodation. Alternative accommodation will also be claimable through the short term accommodation support item.

The new line items are available in the NDIS Price Guide and Support Catalogue.

From 25 October 2020, providers can use a new ‘irregular SIL supports’ claim field in the myplace provider portal when a SIL support is delivered in unexpected or unplanned circumstances. For example, when a participant cannot attend their day program due to illness or if a family stay has been cancelled. Details are in the NDIS Price Guide and the Provider SIL Pack.

If you have a participant residing in SIL who is diagnosed with COVID-19 you must immediately notify the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission .

The NDIS Commission will inform the NDIA, and we will update the participant’s plan as quickly as possible to include additional funding against these new items as stated supports.

You can continue to claim usual SIL costs while an eligible participant is in hospital or isolated in alternative accommodation.

Alternative accommodation will also be claimable through the short term accommodation support item.

If you have a participant residing in SIL who is diagnosed with COVID-19 you must immediately notify the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

The NDIS Commission will inform the NDIA, and we will update the participant’s plan as quickly as possible to include additional funding against these new items as stated supports.

You can claim from these items following the normal myplace portal processes.

Yes, cleaning services and additional supports for participants in SIL who are required to self-isolate or quarantine have been extended nationally until 30 June 2021.

The 2 support items are:

Cleaning services: a one-off professional deep cleaning of a residence per participant newly diagnosed with COVID-19, with one claim allowable per participant diagnosed with COVID-19.
Additional supports: to allow for higher intensity support including staffing increase, personal protective equipment (PPE), professional laundering, and any ancillary expenses directly related to the participant’s diagnosis.

You can claim $300 to cover the cost of a one-off professional deep cleaning of a residence per participant newly diagnosed with COVID-19, with one claim allowable per participant diagnosed with COVID-19.

The ongoing cost of cleaning is covered in the daily amount.

Attendance at therapy, day programs or similar events is the choice of a participant. If a participant does not attend one of these events, they or their support coordinator should ensure they are not charged (within agreed service agreements). This may require amendment of service bookings.

If a SIL provider ‘steps in’ to provide support in this instance then:

For intermittent occurrences (one to three days), these will be covered in the current SIL quote (under intermittent events), provided up to the total in the quote.
From 25 October 2020, providers can use a new ‘irregular SIL supports’ claim field in the myplace provider portal when a SIL support is delivered in unexpected or unplanned circumstances. For example, when a participant cannot attend their day program due to illness or if a family stay has been cancelled. Details are in the NDIS Price Guide and the Provider SIL Pack.

NDIS participants have choice and control over how they use the funded supports in their plan. Providers should discuss with participants when there is an impact on service delivery, including any new arrangements and the impact on service fees.

The NDIS Price Guide and Support Catalogue states that providers can only charge participants for services delivered. It is the responsibility of the provider to ensure that the claim accurately reflects the supports delivered.

When informed of a confirmed participant diagnosis, the NDIA will update the participant's plan as quickly as possible to include additional funding against these new items as stated supports.

If you have a participant residing in SIL who is diagnosed you must immediately notify the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission .

The NDIS Commission will inform the NDIA, and we will update the participant's plan as quickly as possible to include additional funding against these new items as stated supports.

We have a dedicated team to manage COVID-19 related participant issues and will monitor these cases and the time it takes to update plans – if there are delays NDIA processes will be adjusted to improve this process.

Yes. However, when a participant has tested positive for COVID-19 and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has notified the NDIA, additional funding will be added to the participant’s plan to meet these costs.

These items can be claimed within the dates listed in the Price Guide Addendum.

Advance payments

On 21 March 2020, the Minister for the NDIS announced a number of new measures to support participants and providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Included in these temporary measures was an advance payment to eligible registered providers to increase their immediate availability of funds.

Eligible registered NDIS providers received a one-off advance payment in the week commencing 30 March 2020. The advance payment represented approximately one-third of a provider’s payment claims processed via the NDIS myplace portal between December 2019 and February 2020.

This financial assistance has enabled NDIS providers to continue delivering supports during this time.

To cover the additional costs of service delivery for existing supports, a temporary 10% COVID-19 loading was added to price limits for some Core and Capacity Building supports delivered between 25 March and 30 June 2020.

The cancellation rules also temporarily changed and three new support coordination items were added to the NDIS Price Guide under Core Supports to support plan flexibility.

The advance payment will be recovered through an offset method, starting 1 October 2020.

Over six months, from October 2020 to March 2021, the NDIA will apply offsets against a provider’s monthly payment requests until 16.67 per cent of that provider’s total advance payment has been recovered each month.

For example, if a provider received an advance payment of $10,000, the NDIA will offset against all claims by that provider until a total of $1,666.70 (16.67% of $10,000) is reached per month. Any payment requests above $1,666.70 in the month will be processed and paid to the provider as per normal.

By offsetting the advance payment recovery over six months, repayment is smoothed over a longer period.

Existing claims and remittance processes continue without change.

Yes, if you did not opt out of receiving the advance payment, it will need to be repaid (in accordance with section 182 of the NDIS Act).

Recovery of the advance payment to providers via the offset recovery method commenced on 1 October 2020.

No. The NDIA will offset 16.67 per cent of all claims made by the provider until the total advance payment has been recovered.

Yes. The total amount offset by the NDIA will be equal to the advance payment you received.

In the event that the total advance payment is unable to be offset against future claims, you will be obliged to repay the balance of any outstanding advance payment to the NDIA within 30 days of the Agency issuing a demand on you.

Treasury and the Australian Taxation Office have confirmed that the advance payment made to providers are not included in the JobKeeper turnover test for NDIS providers.

The advance payment will not be treated as input taxed loans and they should be excluded from Goods and Services Tax (GST) turnover.

The GST turnover test only includes supplies that have or are likely to be made in the test period and the advance payments are for supplies that will be made in a later period.

We encourage you to seek advice from a taxation specialist.

Payments and billing

On this page:

Eligible registered providers must lodge invoices via the myplace provider portal before 31 March 2021: