Blog Aug 4 2025

What’s Changed: NDIS Plans in Victoria from July 2025

🎯 1. New Funding Release Schedule – Rolling Out from 19 May 2025

From 19 May 2025, all new and reassessed NDIS plans in Victoria moved to staged funding releases rather than receiving the full plan allocation at once:

Budgets are now divided into funding periods (e.g. quarterly, monthly), depending on your support categories Foundation+11The Salt Foundation+1Leap in!+1.

• While your total plan funding remains the same, access to funds is paced across the plan duration, which helps manage spending more evenly helpathandsupport.com.au+2The Salt Foundation+2empowrd.com.au+2.

• Unused funds roll over within each plan, but don’t transfer to a new plan helpathandsupport.com.au+4The Salt Foundation+4Leap in!+4.

🛠️ 2. New Pricing Arrangements from 1 July 2025

The 2025–26 Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL) came into effect on 1 July 2025, as guided by the 2024–25 Annual Pricing Review providerplus.com.au+14NDIS+14People with Disability Australia -+14.

✔️ Key Updates:

• Therapy prices reduced: physiotherapy now capped at $183.99/hour (down $10), dietitian and podiatry capped at $188.99/hour (down $5) People with Disability Australia -+4The Australian+4NDS+4.

• Psychology rates standardized across all states and territories to $223.99/hour NDS.

• Price increases of 3.95% applied to disability support worker rates, reflecting wage indexation NDIS+5infiniteability.com.au+5NDS+5.

🔧 Other Changes:

• Therapy setup or establishment fees have been removed providers can no longer charge these separately The Guardians.

• Intersection loading for remote and very remote areas has been removed for psychology/physio in certain states, including Victoria, making pricing more uniform infiniteability.com.au+15Leap in!+15NDS+15.

• Early childhood supports eligibility extended: children up to 9 years old (previously age 7) are now eligible under the early childhood approach helpathandsupport.com.au+2NDIS+2NDIS+2.

🚗 3. Travel Claim Limits for Therapy Providers

Therapy providers may now claim only:

• 50% of the standard hourly rate for travel time,

• with travel time capped per trip (e.g. typically up to 30 minutes) and return travel generally not payable NDIS+10speaklistenlearn.com.au+10Curate Care+10Curate Care+1People with Disability Australia -+1.
  This aims to reduce inflated travel claims and encourage better scheduling—though it may impact service availability in regional or rural areas People with Disability Australia -Curate Care.

🧠 4. Broader Sector Reforms & Planning Framework

• New planning framework: Rolling out from mid to late 2025, new assessments will shift full focus to support needs rather than functional capacity, with new “impairment notices” used to guide plan decisions The Salt Foundation+4Leap in!+4nursedcare.com.au+4.

• Replacement supports option introduced, allowing approved household or smart device items in place of traditional NDIS supports under specific conditions NDIS+2Leap in!+2The Salt Foundation+2.

• Federal‑state foundational supports being phased in from July 2025 to relieve demand on NDIS and slow growth to target 8% annually The Australian.