SDA Pricing and Payments

Price Guide 2020‒21 for Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA Price Guide)

Like other parts of the NDIS, SDA employs a market-based approach by allocating funding to eligible participants. A participant can use that confirmed funding to then source the supports that appeal to them from the market.

For SDA this means the NDIS provides funding through a participant’s plan and the participant (often with additional support such as a support coordinator) then finds and applies for the SDA option that best suits their needs.

The SDA Price Guide is a summary of prices that apply to SDA under the NDIS.

On 30 March 2021, the SDA Price Guide was updated, with changes effective from 20 March 2021:

The following SDA price calculator was updated on 30 March 2021, with changes effective from 20 March 2021:

2020-21 SDA price calculator (XLSX 52KB)

Updates to the SDA Price Guide and SDA price calculator – March 2021

On 30 March 2021, the SDA Price Guide and SDA price calculator were updated, with changes effective from 20 March 2021. New tables in the SDA Price Guide utilise Disability Support Pension rates and Maximum Reasonable Rent Contribution clauses to calculate the fortnightly maximum contribution providers can charge for single and shared living arrangements. The new tables are:

Table 1: Fortnightly Maximum Reasonable Rent Contribution (pg. 8)
Table 2: Fortnightly Maximum Board (pg. 9).

The SDA price calculator has been updated to include:

an ‘Income’ tab (previously labelled ‘Results’) to help providers calculate expected annual income per participant, per year for 3 scenarios:
- the SDA single rate for a participant in a room
- the SDA share rate for 2 SDA participants sharing a room
- the SDA share rate for 1 SDA participant sharing a room with 1 non-SDA participant.
a new ‘MRRC’ tab is included to help providers calculate maximum rent and board contributions for participants in single and shared room arrangements.

The SDA Price Guide should be read in conjunction with a number of other documents, including the:

Previous SDA price guides and calculators can be found on the Price guide archive page.

The NDIA conducted an SDA Limited Cost Assumptions Review during 2019. The costs that are likely to be incurred by providers or investors in developing SDA are calculated by the NDIA based upon available evidence and expert advice. These cost assumptions are then used to develop the final SDA prices.

During 2018, the Disability Reform Council commissioned a review of the SDA Pricing and Payments Framework. A recommendation from this review was that concerns raised by the sector relating to SDA cost assumptions be reviewed by the NDIA.

The review found that construction cost assumptions for new build Fully Accessible and Robust Design categories required an increase to ensure these offerings remained attractive for investment when compared to other SDA categories.

The review also found that increases to location factors were necessary to ensure investment is attractive in some parts of Sydney and Melbourne, areas where land values are higher which poses a challenge for achieving investment at rates comparable to other locations.

The price charges made from 1 July 2019 were:

Increases in construction cost assumptions for Fully Accessible design category for all new builds by 16 per cent

- this increased new build price limits for Fully Accessible design of between 10.1 and 16.4 per cent, depending on the build type.

Increases in construction cost assumptions for Robust design category for all new builds by 14 per cent

- this increased the price limits for robust design of between 9.4 and 14.1 per cent, depending on the build type.

Increases to some location factors, which increased price limits for dwellings in the following areas by between 4.0 and 10.5 per cent, as follows:

Apartments only:

NSW – Sydney – City and Inner South
NSW – Sydney – Eastern Suburbs
NSW – Sydney – Inner West
VIC – Melbourne – Inner East
VIC – Melbourne – Outer East

Houses and apartments:

VIC – Melbourne – South East

Where increases to location factors are for apartments only, this reflects the higher-density of housing in these areas and trends in supply and demand in those areas.

The new price limits, which applied from 1 July 2019, were outlined in the revised SDA Price Guide 2019–20.

Any new participant plans created from Monday 28 October 2019 accommodated the price changes.

For providers with SDA in existing plans affected by the change, please do not implement the price changes for these plans. The NDIA will proactively contact you to discuss forward payment-claiming and backdating processes. The changes apply to new builds in Fully Accessible and Robust design categories or new build SDA dwellings in one of the listed locations, only.

The NDIA has compiled a list of affected providers and will be contacting each of them directly. There is no action required from providers or participants.

SDA Limited Cost Assumptions Review Final Report.

Review background

The SDA Limited Cost Assumption Review was a commitment made by the NDIA and the Disability Reform Council to assess construction costs, location factors and other pricing assumptions after the sector raised concerns in these areas during the 2018 SDA Pricing Review Framework.

The findings presented in the final SDA Limited Cost Assumption Review are based on information gathered across two rounds of consultation with the sector, public submissions, as well as additional analysis performed by the NDIA and independent experts.

Recommendations from the Review have been endorsed by the NDIS Pricing Reference Group and NDIA Board.

Ongoing monitoring

The Review also recommended the NDIA continue to monitor the impact of the distribution of SDA design categories and location factors, to ensure any remaining or emerging problems are identified and addressed.

SDA market monitoring activities will inform the next full SDA price review, scheduled for 2023.

In November 2015, the Disability Reform Council (DRC) endorsed the SDA Pricing and Payments Framework (the Framework). The Framework provided guidance and instruction on how SDA pricing was to be developed, and for whom, and in what circumstances, SDA funding would be provided.

As outlined in the Framework, the DRC reviewed the Framework in 2018 its third year of operation. Visit the Department of Social Services website to read the Framework .

Development of SDA Benchmark Pricing and Payments

Between January and March 2016 the NDIA consulted widely on SDA pricing. An SDA Position Paper on Draft Pricing and Payments was published on 1 April 2016 seeking feedback on draft prices and approach.

Archived document: Specialist Disability Accommodation Position Paper on Draft Pricing and Payments (DOCX 1.98MB)
Archived document: Specialist Disability Accommodation Position Paper on Draft Pricing and Payments (PDF 1.05MB)

Feedback provided on the SDA Position Paper resulted in adjustments and highlighted areas for further clarification.

The NDIA published the SDA Pricing and Payments Decision Paper 1 June 2016.

Archived document: Specialist Disability Accommodation Decision Paper on Pricing and Payments (PDF 984KB)
Archived document: Specialist Disability Accommodation Decision Paper on Pricing and Payments (DOCX 307KB)

In March 2017 the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Specialist Disability Accommodation) Rules 2016 (SDA Rules) were registered. The SDA Rules were agreed by the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments and are now the central authorising document for SDA.

The SDA Rules deal with the criteria for when a participant will have SDA included in their NDIS plan, the dwellings that can be used for SDA and the payments that will be paid to registered providers of SDA. Most of the requirements and obligations in relation to SDA are set out in the SDA Rules.

National Disability Insurance Scheme (Specialist Disability Accommodation) Rules 2016

The Rules also allow the NDIA to further specify a number of requirements such as design categories for dwellings, other features that affect prices, and SDA prices. These matters are further outlined in the SDA Price Guide described above for current SDA dwellings and projects.

The design requirements for future SDA projects are contained in the SDA Design Standards.