Providers can only claim for Provider Travel if:

• The NDIS Price Guide indicates that providers can claim for Provider Travel in respect of that support item; and
• The proposed charges for the activities comply with the NDIS Price Guide; and
• The activities are part of delivering a specific disability support item to that participant; and
• The support is delivered directly (face-to-face) to the participant; and
• The provider explains the activities to the participant, including why they represent the best use of the participant’s funds (that is, the provider explains the value of these activities to the participant); and
• The provider has the agreement of the participant in advance (that is, the Service Agreement between the participant and provider should specify the travel costs that can be claimed); and
• The provider is required to pay the worker delivering the support for the time they spent travelling as a result of the agreement under which the worker is employed; or the provider is a sole trader and is travelling from their usual place of work to or from the participant, or between participants.

Provider Travel has been split into two categories:

1. Labour costs – the time taken for travel for a provider to deliver services to a NDIS Participant.

2. Non-labour costs – additional travel-related costs (such as road tolls, parking fees and the running costs of the vehicle).

For Example:

If a Physiotherapist is completing a home visit, they may claim for the time taken to travel to and/or from the client’s home, this is the labour cost. During this travel period, they may be required to travel via a road toll, this can be reimbursed as a non-labour cost.

Provider Travel – Labour Costs (Time)

• The maximum amount of travel time that can be claimed for the time spent travelling to each participant (for each eligible worker) is 30 minutes in MMM1-3 areas and 60 minutes in MMM4-5 areas.
• Capacity-building providers (e.g. allied health professionals) can also claim for time spent travelling from the last participant to their place of work. The maximum amount of travel time that can be claimed for return travel (for each eligible worker) is 30 minutes in MMM1-3 areas and 60 minutes in MMM4-5 areas.
• Where a provider is travelling to deliver services to more than one participant in a ‘region’, these travel costs can be apportioned between the participants receiving services. This apportionment should be agreed with each participant in advance as part of the service agreement.

Provider Travel – Non-Labour Costs

• If a provider incurs additional costs when travelling to deliver supports to a participant, they may negotiate with the participant for them to make a reasonable contribution towards these costs.
• The NDIA considers that the following would be reasonable contributions:
  • For a vehicle owned by the provider, up to $0.97 per kilometre; and
  • For other forms of transport or associated costs (e.g., road tolls, parking, public transport fares), up to the full amount.
• Non-labour costs associated with provider travel can only be claimed where the rules governing provider travel allow a claim to be made for labour costs.