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NDIS pricing and SCHADS: how they actually interact

NDIS price limits and the SCHADS Award are not the same thing. Treating them as the same is the single most expensive misconception in disability services.

The NDIS Price Guide is a billing ceiling. The SCHADS Award is a labour cost floor. They are completely different mechanisms operating on the same business. This framework walks through the five questions every disability provider should answer about how the two interact.

Have you mapped your billable hours against your Award hours?

How NDIS-billable hours map to Award-payable hours depends on the support type, the travel arrangements, the handover patterns, and the cancellation rules. The two are linked but they are not the same.

Where it goes wrong: assuming the NDIS-funded hour is the Award-paid hour. The margin can sit in either direction and is easy to lose track of without a proper mapping.

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Are you costing the full labour load (not just the hourly rate)?

The true cost of a billable hour depends on the underlying hourly rate plus casual loading, leave accrual, superannuation, workers' compensation, payroll tax, and any applicable allowances. Each line item compounds.

Where it goes wrong: pricing and quoting against the headline rate without modelling the on-cost. The shortfall surfaces only at the financial year close.

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Are you handling cancellations correctly under SCHADS?

How cancellations should be handled depends on the cancellation pattern, the timing, and the Award rules on rostered shifts. The NDIS reimbursement framework and the Award obligations operate on different logic.

Where it goes wrong: declining to pay the worker because the participant cancelled, on the basis that NDIS has not paid. The two systems do not pass through that way and the Award obligation remains.

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Is sleep-over funding aligned to the SCHADS sleepover rules?

Whether NDIS sleepover funding covers the Award sleepover entitlement depends on the funded rate, the shift structure, and the Award provisions in force at the time. The 2026 determination changes some of this.

Where it goes wrong: pricing sleepovers at the NDIS line item without modelling the SCHADS labour cost. The shift may run at a loss across a year.

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Have you tested your NDIS billing pattern against an Award audit?

Whether the NDIS billing pattern reflects Award compliance depends on whether the pay run accurately matches what was rostered and worked. A clean NDIS audit does not imply a clean Award audit.

Where it goes wrong: treating NDIS billing accuracy as a proxy for SCHADS compliance. The two are audited separately and on different evidence.

Three things to watch for

1. Ceiling vs floor

NDIS prices are a billing ceiling. SCHADS is a labour cost floor. Margin is the difference. Treating them as the same erodes margin invisibly.

2. Hidden labour costs

Casual loading, super, leave accrual, workers comp, payroll tax. Your true labour cost is well above the headline hourly rate. Model it accurately.

3. Cancellation gap

NDIS funded cancellation does not always equal SCHADS payable cancellation. The two systems have different rules and the worker has to be paid either way.

NDIS price limits and the SCHADS Award are not the same thing. Treating them as the same is the single most expensive misconception in disability services.

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