NDIS Therapy Services in Australia: Price Caps by Discipline

Where can I find NDIS therapy providers?

The NDIS Provider Finder is the official register, but it lists registered organisations only, and self-managed and plan-managed participants can also use qualified unregistered practices that never appear there. The ranked list above covers both, ordered by the methodology explained above it: verified discipline coverage, measured response speed and current suburb coverage. If you are still working out which profession you need before comparing providers, start with the discipline map on allied health disciplines.

What are NDIS therapy services and who are they for?

NDIS therapy services are the allied health supports, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, psychology and exercise physiology, that build a participant’s skills, mobility, communication or mental health toward the goals in their plan. They are billed under the Capacity Building support category, Improved Daily Living or Improved Health and Wellbeing (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27), and suit anyone whose plan includes one of these budgets.

How to choose a provider for this service

The list above is ranked using the criteria explained in the methodology above it. Four checks matter most for therapy.

Registration. Occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists and psychologists must hold current AHPRA registration; exercise physiologists are accredited through Exercise & Sports Science Australia. Check the relevant register before booking.

Carevo measures whether a provider accepts an enquiry, not when care starts or a practitioner contacts you. Confirm current capacity and a start date directly. How Carevo measures enquiry acceptance.

Pricing transparency. Ask for a written session rate against the discipline’s NDIS price cap, and confirm whether travel time, at 50 percent of the service rate, and report writing are billed as separate line items.

Coverage and discipline fit. Confirm the provider services your suburb regularly and matches the specific discipline your plan goals need, since not every therapist covers every condition.

Which funding stream pays for therapy services, and who qualifies?

Most therapy sits under the NDIS Capacity Building budget, split between Improved Daily Living and Improved Health and Wellbeing, with hourly price caps set per discipline: $193.99 for occupational therapy and speech pathology, $183.99 for physiotherapy, $252.99 for psychology and $161.99 for exercise physiology, plus travel billed separately at 50 percent of the service rate (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). You qualify if your NDIS plan already includes one of these budget categories tied to a disability-related goal. People 65 and over generally can’t use NDIS Capacity Building; they instead access therapy as a clinical support under Support at Home, or through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme if not yet assessed (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025).

What does capacity building therapy mean under Improved Daily Living?

Capacity building means the therapy is funded to build a skill toward independence, not to deliver the same assistance indefinitely. Improved Daily Living is the Capacity Building category that carries most therapy; Improved Health and Wellbeing carries exercise physiology and dietetics. Funding is flexible within a category, so hours can shift between disciplines as goals change without a plan variation, and every therapy plan should name the skill being built, the sessions required and how progress will be measured (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, 2025). Families of children under 9 with developmental concerns usually enter through early childhood early intervention rather than a standard plan, where the same disciplines work under a key worker model.

What is an NDIS therapy assistant, and when does one make sense?

A therapy assistant delivers a program that a qualified therapist has designed and continues to supervise, at a much lower hourly rate than the therapist. The NDIS prices two levels: a Level 1 assistant works under the direct supervision of the therapist on set activities, while a Level 2 assistant works to a delegated therapy plan with regular but less direct oversight (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). The model makes sense once assessment and program design are done: the assistant runs the practice sessions, repetitions and community outings between therapist reviews, so the same budget buys more contact hours. It is not a substitute for assessment, diagnosis or report writing, which stay with the therapist. Compare providers on NDIS therapy assistants, and check that the supervising therapist’s review schedule is written into the service agreement.

Is therapy at home better than clinic sessions?

For daily living goals, therapy in the natural environment usually transfers better: the therapist works with your actual bathroom, kitchen, school route or workplace rather than a simulated one, and strategies hold because they were built where they will be used. Clinics keep the advantage where specialised equipment matters, gym setups for intensive physiotherapy for example, and some children concentrate better away from home. Home visits add travel billed at 50 percent of the service rate, so weigh the convenience against the budget. Many families mix the two: assessment and program design at home, then blocks of clinic or assistant-led sessions.

What evidence should therapy produce for a plan review?

At reassessment the NDIA looks for proof that capacity building worked, so a good provider documents a baseline at the first assessment, sets measurable goals against it and issues a progress report before each plan reassessment stating what changed and what is recommended next. Report writing is billed at the same hourly rate as therapy, so agree the report hours up front and keep a copy of every report. If therapy funding is reduced at reassessment, that written record is the basis for a review request; without it, continued funding rests on assertion alone.

Where therapy providers are available

Carevo lists 9,573 allied health and therapy providers nationally, including 1,927 occupational therapists, 1,796 physiotherapists, 1,578 speech pathologists and 1,795 psychologists, across 8,918 suburbs. Enquiries for therapy are among the most common on the platform, with 1,170 logged to date, and many families combine occupational therapy with physiotherapy or speech pathology as part of one plan.

Get matched with a therapy provider

Coordinated and restorative therapy

Therapy through this page covers three related needs.

Single discipline therapy. Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, psychology and the rest, booked directly.

Therapeutic supports for independent living. Therapy aimed at daily function rather than a clinical outcome: managing a household, travelling independently, building routines. Funded under NDIS Capacity Building.

Support at Home restorative care. The Restorative Care Pathway is a short-term aged care pathway, separate from NDIS therapy. It funds a coordinated, goal based program for up to 16 weeks after assessment. The standard budget is around $6,000 per episode, with a possible additional unit up to $12,000 where approved. Clinical supports have no participant contribution, while independence and everyday living supports can attract contributions. Read the Restorative Care Pathway guide before comparing local therapy providers.

Where several NDIS disciplines are involved, ask who is coordinating. A specialist support coordinator can manage provider handovers and budgets, but does not replace the treating clinicians. Uncoordinated allied health is a common reason a therapy budget runs out before its goals are met.

How this page is compiled

The provider rankings and figures on this page come from Carevo platform records, including provider registrations, measured response times and coverage, together with the cited official sources. Carevo is an Australian platform that connects families with NDIS and aged care providers. Carevo does not deliver care itself.

Funding sources and checks

Check the current NDIA pricing arrangements and Support at Home program rules for the proposed service. Funding depends on the approved support and available budget; a Carevo listing is not approval. Confirm availability and a start date directly with the provider.