NDIS Rehabilitation Counselling
What NDIS rehabilitation counselling involves, the current hourly price limits, and how sessions are claimed.
Rehabilitation counsellors work at the junction of disability and participation: returning to work or study, holding a role as circumstances change, or building toward one for the first time. Sessions cover goal planning, adjustment, workplace strategy, and coordination with employers or education providers.
The Support Catalogue lists rehabilitation counselling at the standard hourly therapy rate, with a matching employment-support item for workplace-specific delivery. The core item and its price limits render in the table below.
Does the NDIS fund rehabilitation counselling?
The NDIS funds supports it decides are reasonable and necessary for your goals. The same item can be approved for one participant and not another, so no list or website can tell you what your plan will include.
Rehabilitation Counselling appears under Improved Daily Living (Capacity Building) in the current NDIS Support Catalogue. Whether rehabilitation counselling supports can be claimed depends on your individual plan, your goals, and how your funding is managed. Your plan manager or support coordinator can confirm what applies to you.
If you intend to claim, check with your plan manager or support coordinator before purchasing.
NDIS rehabilitation counselling rates: current price limits
Each price limit below is the most a provider can charge for that item under managed arrangements. The agreed price in your service agreement can sit anywhere up to it.
| Item code | Support item | Unit | National limit | Remote (MMM 6) | Very remote (MMM 7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15_620_0128_1_3 | Therapy - Rehabilitation Counsellor - Direct Service | per hour | $193.99 | $271.59 | $290.99 |
Source: NDIS Support Catalogue, effective . Price limits are GST-exclusive per the Pricing Arrangements.
How rehabilitation counselling is claimed
Supports are billed against the item codes above, at or below the price limit, under a service agreement that records the agreed price, how provider travel is charged, and the cancellation terms. Invoices quote the item code, the date, the quantity, and the rate - which is what plan managers check before paying.
How your plan is managed - self-managed, plan-managed, or agency-managed - changes who you can buy from and how invoices are paid. Your plan documents state which applies to you. Agency-managed participants generally need to purchase through registered NDIS providers. Self-managed and plan-managed participants can buy from any suitable supplier.
| Claiming rule | What the Pricing Arrangements say |
|---|---|
| Provider travel time | Up to 30 minutes each way per worker in MMM 1-3 areas; up to 60 minutes in MMM 4-5; no time limit in Remote (MMM 6) and Very Remote (MMM 7) areas. |
| Travel price limit | Travel time is claimable at up to 50% of the item's hourly price limit, plus non-labour costs (e.g. per-kilometre vehicle costs) per the PAPL worked examples. |
| Short-notice cancellation | Notice window: 7 days for disability support worker supports; 2 clear business days for other supports. A late cancellation or no-show can be billed at up to 100% of the agreed fee if the provider could not find other billable work (and pays the worker); providers may waive the fee. Terms must be documented in the service agreement. |
| Remote loadings | National price limits carry a 40% loading in Remote (MMM 6) areas and a 50% loading in Very Remote (MMM 7) areas, as the loaded columns in the rates table show. |
Source: NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (claiming rules narrative, published ), via ndis.gov.au pricing arrangements. Read .
Provider registration
The item codes above carry registration group 0128 in their item numbers - the group a provider registers for with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to deliver this service. The Commission's public register records who holds it.
Invoices and agreements for rehabilitation counselling
Two documents carry the admin: the service agreement sets the price, travel billing, and cancellation terms before supports start, and the invoice quotes the item code and rate so the claim goes through first time.
Find rehabilitation counselling providers
The provider directory is where our provider coverage lives, organised by service and state. Whoever you shortlist, verify their registration status on the NDIS Commission's public register before signing an agreement.
NDIS rehabilitation counselling FAQs
What does rehabilitation counselling cost under the NDIS?
The hourly price limit sits at the standard therapy rate, shown in the table above with its remote loadings. As with every Support Catalogue professional item, the limit is the most a provider can charge under managed arrangements, and your service agreement records the actual figure.
Does the NDIS fund rehabilitation counselling?
The NDIS funds supports it decides are reasonable and necessary for your goals. The same item can be approved for one participant and not another, so no list or website can tell you what your plan will include. If you intend to claim, check with your plan manager or support coordinator before purchasing.
How does this differ from employment services?
Mainstream employment programs place people in jobs; rehabilitation counselling is individual capacity building around participation, billed hourly against the therapy item above. The two can run side by side - the counsellor works on strategy and adjustment while an employment service handles placement mechanics.
Can sessions involve my employer?
Yes, with your consent. Workplace visits, employer education, and negotiated adjustments are standard rehabilitation counselling work. Time on site bills against the same hourly item, and provider travel follows the time limits in the claiming table above - agree the billing pattern in your service agreement first.