For NDIS providers, maximizing revenue while maintaining compliance is essential to building a sustainable business. One often underutilized opportunity lies in billing for travel expenses and non-face-to-face activities. Understanding how to correctly claim the NDIS travel allowance can help providers cover real business costs and offer consistent support across distances.
What Is the NDIS Travel Allowance?
The NDIS travel allowance enables support providers to recover the costs associated with traveling to deliver face-to-face services. This includes mileage, tolls, parking, and time spent travelling between appointments. The NDIS Price Guide provides specific guidance on what can be claimed, how much, and under what circumstances.
Key elements include:
- Travel time can be charged at the hourly rate for the support item being delivered.
- Providers can also claim non-labour travel costs (e.g. vehicle costs, public transport fares) up to a cap.
- Travel must be directly related to service delivery, and the participant must agree in advance to travel charges.
Billing Travel Allowance: A Practical Example
Consider Sarah, a support worker who travels 15km to a participant’s home to provide personal care. She then travels 10km to her next appointment. Here’s how she invoices:
- Travel time: 30 minutes from her last client to this one = 0.5 hours at $62.17/hour (daily living support rate) = $31.09
- Non-labour costs: 15km x $0.97/km (NDIS vehicle rate) = $14.55
- Total claim for travel: $45.64
Sarah records the travel distance, keeps a log, and the participant has agreed to the charges in their service agreement. She includes the travel claim on her invoice as a separate line item.
How to Invoice for NDIS Travel Allowance Correctly
To ensure claims for the NDIS travel allowance are approved:
- Get prior agreement: Make sure travel charges are explained clearly in your service agreement.
- Log travel details: Maintain accurate records including time, distance, and purpose.
- Separate line items: Include labour and non-labour travel costs separately on the invoice.
- Stay within caps: Non-labour travel costs are capped per the price guide.
Refer to the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document to verify current rates and rules.
Non-Face-to-Face Activities: Another Revenue Stream
In addition to travel, many providers are missing out on claiming non-face-to-face support activities. These include case notes, planning, coordinating with other professionals, and setting up for a session—tasks that directly support the participant but happen behind the scenes.
These tasks must be:
- Directly linked to a support in the participant’s plan
- Justified as necessary and reasonable
- Documented clearly in case notes
Example: A psychologist spends 20 minutes reviewing a participant’s notes and writing a session summary. At a rate of $214.41/hour, the provider can claim $71.47 for this non-face-to-face time.
Boosting Your Bottom Line & Maximize Revenue
When implemented correctly, the NDIS travel allowance can significantly boost your revenue and ensure your time and resources are fairly compensated. Combined with non-face-to-face activity billing, providers can better reflect the true scope of their work and maintain financial health.
If you’re not already tracking and invoicing for travel and indirect activities, now is the time to update your systems. Fairtime’s timesheet and invoicing tools are built with these rules in mind, helping you remain compliant and maximize your NDIS earnings.
Visit the NDIS Price Guide for current rates and full conditions—or reach out to our team if you’d like help getting started.
