A Guide to the NDIS Travel Allowance for Support Workers

If you’ve been finding the rules for provider travel costs confusing, you’re not alone – participants and providers alike are often less-than-certain of what costs can be added for delivering NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) supports to a participant.

There are three areas where travel fees for NDIS support workers can apply, which correspond to either compensating the provider’s time or expenses incurred because of the trip:

1. Time spent accompanying participants for core and capacity building supports (such as community access)
2. Time spent travelling to the participant to deliver face-to-face support (limits apply)
3. Non-labour travel costs such as parking fees, road tolls, running costs for the vehicle such as petrol costs. If these are incurred with the client in the car, they become ‘activity based transport’ costs.

With all of these, costs must be stated and agreed upon before the service is delivered (in the Service Agreement). If the costs cover providing support to more than one participant at a time, they must be split. Like all NDIS fees, travel charges must comply with NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Limits.

Let’s look at travel cost categories in more detail:

Time spent accompanying participants

Part of your services might include accompanying your client on outings, such as community participation activities.

The time you spent transporting them can then be claimed at your same hourly rate or less, as agreed upon beforehand.

This should be claimed separately on your invoice using the matching provider travel line item.

Time spent travelling to participants

There are a few T&Cs with this one – providers can only claim these travel costs if all of the conditions are met:

• The charge complies with NDIS pricing limits.
• The travel is necessary for delivering a specific disability support item.
• The support is delivered face-to-face.
• The NDIS provider can explain the travel charge and why it is a good use of funds.
• The provider and the participant agree that travel costs can be claimed, and the amount that can be claimed.
• The provider organisation is required to pay the support worker for the time spent travelling, OR the provider is a sole trader who must travel from their usual place of work to deliver face-to-face support.

Price limits for provider travel to participants

The NDIS limits the amount of travel time a provider can claim when travelling TO each participant. These align with the MMM (Modified Monash Model) which determines whether a location is in a city, rural, remote, or very remote.

• MMM1-3 areas have a maximum of 30 minutes.
• MMM 4-5 areas have a maximum of 60 minutes.
• Remote areas differ – providers may enter arrangements with participants to cover travel costs. These can be up to the relevant hourly rate for the support being delivered.

If delivering Core Supports, providers can claim for time spent travelling FROM the last participant back to their usual place of work. The same MMM-based maximums apply for rates.

If you are supporting more than one participant in an area, the cost of travel time should be split between your clients – participants will need to agree to this in advance, as with all travel costs.

Non-labour costs

Non-labour costs (or non-face-to-face costs) are not price controlled, though NDIS does provide guidance for what is considered reasonable. This is updated each time the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits rates are changed. 

These need to be agreed upon beforehand with your client, and set out clearly in the Service Agreement to cover:

• Per kilometre cost for an accessibility-modified vehicle.
• Per kilometre cost for an unmodified vehicle.
• Associated costs such as road tolls and parking.

If travelling TO the client, mileage can be claimed using Non-Labour Costs. If travelling WITH the client, mileage can be claimed under Activity Based Transport.

Tips to help you claim travel costs

Your claim must be compliant in terms of NDIS pricing arrangements and price limits, and the client’s own NDIS plan. Provider travel is not drawn from one budget like participant Core Budgets: Transport, but rather as part of service delivery.

Here’s how to make sure your claim process runs smoothly:

Be clear about travel costs before commencing

This takes any ambiguity out of the equation. A participant must agree to travel costs ahead of time, so you’ll need to clearly outline these in a service agreement – which can then be signed and kept in case of any queries or issues down the line.

You will need to list these agreed NDIS provider travel costs separately to the relevant support item on the invoice.

For example, say you accompany your client on a social and community participation outing that includes half an hour of travel each way. Depending on the Service Agreement, you might then generate an invoice with three items: The hourly rate of support delivered, the hourly rate of time spent travelling, and the non-labour cost per kilometre and any tolls incurred.

Maintain accurate records

Keeping a logbook is doubly helpful: It means your records will always be accurate, and it provides ready documentation in the event of an audit. This should include:

• The date of the service provided
• The time spent travelling to the participant
• If claiming kilometres, the distance travelled
• Receipts for any non-labour travel costs (tolls, parking)
• A brief description of the service delivered

This may feel tedious to do every time, but as experienced providers will know – it’s best to have a detailed record if you are audited, or if any relationship or communications deteriorate between yourself and a client.

The most important thing to keep in mind is transparency and full disclosure, both when setting up an agreement with your client and in record-keeping for NDIS invoicing. 

Submitting claims with NDSP

If NDSP is your client’s NDIS Plan Management Provider, we can help with invoicing to ensure you get paid promptly. Our system processes quickly, and flags any discrepancies before the invoice goes to the NDIA, so they can be corrected ahead of time to avoid NDIA delays (or worse, rejected invoices).

Find out more: Why NDSP Won’t Process Some Invoices and How We Guide You Towards Approval

Why not try our free-to-download NDIS invoice template – or get in touch with NDSP today to find out more about how we can help NDIS providers.