Two things are worth knowing. Some therapies can come from more than one category, depending on your goal. That’s why an exercise physiologist might be paid from Improved Daily Living for one person and Improved Health and Wellbeing for another.

Ongoing behaviour support is the exception. You can’t claim it under Improved Daily Living. It sits under Improved Relationships and has its own support items and practitioner requirements.

What therapies can you access?

We’ll build your therapy around your goals, so this isn’t an exhaustive list. It’s a guide to what each profession commonly helps with.

Occupational therapy

An occupational therapist looks at what you want to do each day, then works out what’s getting in the way. They might:

• Assess your home and recommend equipment or changes that make daily tasks safer
• Build your skills in personal care, cooking, cleaning or managing your routine
• Recommend and trial assistive technology, from simple aids to communication devices
• Support sensory needs and help you manage environments that feel overwhelming
• Write the functional capacity assessments that evidence what you need at your next reassessment

Physiotherapy

A physiotherapist works on how you move, and how comfortable you are doing it. They might:

• Assess and improve your mobility, balance and transfers so you can move around safely
• Help you manage pain through hands-on treatment and exercise
• Work on strength, posture and coordination so you can join in at home and in the community
• Support motor development so children can keep up with their peers
• Train the people who support you to help with mobility and transfers safely

Speech pathology

A speech pathologist helps you be understood, and helps you understand others. They might:

• Build your spoken communication, including clarity, vocabulary and confidence
• Set up and train you on communication devices and boards
• Support safe eating and drinking, including swallowing assessments and mealtime plans
• Work on social communication so conversations and relationships feel easier
• Support literacy and comprehension where these affect daily life

Psychology

A psychologist supports your mental health and how you cope. They might:

• Provide evidence-based therapy for anxiety, depression, trauma and adjustment
• Help you build coping strategies and emotional regulation skills
• Complete cognitive and psychological assessments that inform your supports
• Work with your family and support team so everyone uses the same approach
• Support you through a move, leaving school, or a change in your health

Exercise physiology

An accredited exercise physiologist uses exercise to improve how your body works day to day. They might:

• Build strength, endurance and fitness so you can access your community
• Improve balance and coordination to reduce falls
• Help you manage fatigue and improve your sleep quality
• Support metabolic health where your disability or medication affects it
• Design a program you can keep doing at home or at a local gym

Dietetics

An accredited practising dietitian helps you eat well in a way that fits your life. They might:

• Develop an eating plan that supports your health goals
• Manage texture-modified diets where swallowing safety is a concern
• Support mealtime routines, food refusal and restricted eating
• Help you manage nutrition where your disability or medication affects appetite or weight
• Build practical skills like shopping, reading labels and planning meals

Counselling and social work

Counsellors and accredited social workers support you and the people around you. They can help after a diagnosis or injury, with family relationships, with transition planning, or with navigating other services alongside your NDIS supports.

Who can deliver therapeutic supports?

Your therapist needs the right qualifications. In most cases that means registration or membership with their professional body. AHPRA covers psychologists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Speech Pathology Australia covers speech pathologists, and Exercise and Sports Science Australia covers exercise physiologists.

Therapy assistants can deliver some supports at a lower hourly rate. They work under the supervision of a registered allied health professional. It’s a sensible way to stretch a therapy budget, so ask your therapist whether it suits your goals.

Whether you need a registered NDIS provider depends on how you manage your plan. If the NDIA manages it, you’ll need registered providers. If you’re plan-managed or self-managed, you have more choice. Either way, your provider must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct.

What therapy costs under the NDIS in 2026-27

Therapy funding runs out faster than most people expect. Reports, travel and cancelled sessions all come out of it. By the time you notice, the sessions that mattered most have gone. Knowing the real numbers up front is your best protection.

The NDIA sets a maximum price for every therapy. From 2026-27 you’ll find these in the NDIS Pricing Schedule, which replaced the old NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL). The rates below are national maximums, effective 1 July 2026. 

Remote and very remote rates are higher. Occupational therapy, for example, caps at $271.59 an hour in remote areas and $290.99 in very remote areas. 

A few rates moved this year after the Annual Pricing Review. Psychology rose from $232.99 to $252.99. Dietetics dropped from $188.99 to $178.99, and exercise physiology dropped from $166.99 to $161.99. Occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech pathology stayed the same.

If the NDIA or a plan manager manages your plan or you use NDIS plan management, a provider can’t charge you above these limits. If you self-manage, you can negotiate. Pick a therapist who charges more than the cap, though, and you’ll pay the difference.

It’s worth knowing what else comes out of the same budget. Provider travel, non-face-to-face work, NDIA-requested reports and cancellations are all claimable. Invoices now carry letters at the end of the support item code, so you can see exactly what you’re paying for.

Who can get therapeutic supports?

You can use your funding for therapy if your plan includes any of the three budget categories above. The therapy has to relate to your disability, connect to a goal in your plan, and meet the reasonable and necessary test.

That last part trips people up, because reasonable and necessary isn’t a fixed list. It means the support relates to your disability, it’s likely to work, it’s value for money, and it isn’t something health or education should provide.

Think therapy belongs in your plan and it isn’t there? Raise it before your next plan reassessment, not after. Evidence helps. Assessments, therapy reports and clear notes on what’s changed all strengthen your case.

How to get your therapeutic supports organised

Four months on a waitlist isn’t just an inconvenience. Skills slip, routines wobble, and your plan quietly runs out of time. That’s why the first question is who’s actually available near you, not who looks good on a website.

Getting started depends on how you manage your plan:

• If you use Support Coordination services, they’ll search for available therapists, check capacity and handle referrals.

• If you’re plan-managed, your plan manager pays the invoices and can tell you what your budget covers. You still choose the therapist.

• If you self-manage, you have the most choice and the most admin. You can use unregistered providers and negotiate rates.

At Maple Community Services, we walk alongside you to get therapy organised as part of a wider support team. We work with your therapists, your Support Coordinator and your family, so what happens in a session carries through into everyday life.

Three things matter to us:

• Continuity. Therapy works when the same people stay in your corner. Our staff retention sits at 96%, against a sector average of 17 to 25% turnover.

• We speak your language. With 50+ languages across our team, we look for a therapist you’re comfortable talking to, not just whoever is free first. 

• We roll fast. We acknowledge every referral within two hours, and we average five business days from referral to support starting.