Preparing for the NDIS as a service provider

What you need to know as a service provider under the NDIS, including pricing arrangements and how to best support your participants.

After a three-year trial, the NDIS began its national rollout in 2016. The NDIS can be complex to understand and navigate, and many businesses have questions about its rules, regulations and guidelines.

You don’t have to be NDIS-registered to deliver services. Participants who have signed up for a plan management service (such as Blitzit Plan Manager) can choose whoever they like to provide services. Participants that are agency-managed, however, require service providers to be NDIS-registered.

If you’re interested in becoming a registered provider, visit the NDIS’s provider registration page.

The NDIS and participants both decide which service they require is ‘reasonable and necessary,’ so it’s a phrase that will probably come up in your work with the NDIS. It just means that the service or support you provide must achieve the participant’s goals as laid out in their plan, as well as meeting other criteria such as representing value for money.

To truly understand how you can help your participants, you not only need to know what they are looking for, but also whether it meets their goals and aspirations. Goals might include increasing independence, employment support or participating more in the community. Your service needs to be appropriate to these goals.

Participants are looking for value for money, as well your ability to meet their needs. Are you in the right location, for example, or do you need to charge travel costs? Do you have police check? All of these factors determine whether you’re the right provider for the participant.

See NDIS Plan Options for more information on the service and support categories.

The following is a list of the NDIS services and support categories. Note that there are further sub-categories under each of the main categories. See core, capacity building and capital supports on the Understanding your NDIS plan page for more information.

  • Assistance with daily life (core)
  • Transport (core)
  • Consumables (core)
  • Assistance with social community and civic participation (core)
  • Assistive technology
  • Home modifications and specialist disability accommodation 
  • Support coordination
  • Improved living arrangements 
  • Increased social and community participation
  • Finding and keeping a job
  • Improved relationships 
  • Improved health and wellbeing 
  • Improved learning
  • Improved life choices 
  • Improved daily living 



In the NDIS, participants request goods or services, which are paid out of the participant’s NDIS-allocated budget. If a participant is plan-managed, Blitzit Plan Manager is responsible for paying your invoices from the funds allocated to the participant’s budget.

The NDIS publishes a price catalogue, which lists the maximum amount it is willing to pay to fund a service or support. Most providers registered with the NDIS do not exceed the prices laid out in the catalogue, but participants can choose a higher rate and pay the gap if they choose – this is agreed with you beforehand. 

Note that you should always have a service agreement that includes notice periods and cancellation terms in place with your participant before any funds are paid or services are provided. This is vital to protect you and the participant in the case of a misunderstanding or disagreement.

Get in touch if you want to learn more about Blitzit Plan Manager, or sign up to our e-newsletter to learn more about the NDIS and disability services industry.