What is Provider travel?
Also known as: Travel — labour costs, non-labour transport
Provider travel is the claimable cost of a support worker travelling to deliver a support. The NDIS treats it as two separate things: labour cost, being the worker’s time in transit, and non-labour transport, being the running cost of the vehicle claimed per kilometre. They use different support items and different rules.
Travel time is claimable only in defined circumstances and is capped — commonly up to 30 minutes in most areas and up to 60 in remote regions, subject to the current Pricing Arrangements. It must be agreed with the participant beforehand.
Kilometre claiming is separate again, and the rate depends on the vehicle: a worker’s own car, a provider vehicle, or a modified wheelchair-accessible vehicle claimed at actual running cost.
The distinction matters commercially because travel is routinely the largest category of revenue that providers simply never claim — the kilometres happen, nobody records them, and they are invisible by the time the invoice is raised.
When travel can be claimed
A provider can claim travel from a participant’s plan only when all of these apply:
- the support item allows provider travel
- the support is delivered face to face
- the participant agreed to the travel charges in advance, in the service agreement
- the worker is paid for the travel time
If any condition is missing, the travel is a business cost, not a claim against the plan. In a bulk payment request, travel lines use the TRAN claim type against the support item.
Labour costs: the worker’s time
Travel time is capped by location under the NDIA’s rules: up to 30 minutes each way in MM 1 to 3 areas and up to 60 minutes each way in MM 4 and 5 areas. Travel in remote (MM 6) and very remote (MM 7) areas is not subject to the time caps.
From 1 July 2025, therapy providers can claim half the relevant price limit for time spent travelling, up to the same caps. Show travel and therapy time as separate lines on the invoice.
When a worker visits several participants in one region, the provider can apportion the travel time between them, including the return trip. Agree the apportionment with each participant in advance in the service agreement.
Non-labour costs and activity-based transport
Non-labour costs are the running costs of the vehicle, such as fuel and wear, and are claimed as agreed with the participant. The per-kilometre guide amounts are set out in the pricing arrangements.
Activity-based transport is different: it is transport during a community participation support, such as driving the participant to an activity. The worker’s time is claimed at the support’s hourly rate against Core funding, and non-labour vehicle costs are claimed as agreed.
How Rostery helps
Rostery captures travel time and kilometres on each shift, so pay and claims both use the same recorded trip.
Questions people ask
Can NDIS providers charge for travel?
Yes, if the support item allows it, the support is face to face, the participant agreed in the service agreement and the worker is paid for the travel.
What is the NDIS travel time cap?
Up to 30 minutes each way in MM 1 to 3 areas and 60 minutes each way in MM 4 and 5 areas. Remote and very remote areas are not capped.
Can travel be split between participants?
Yes. Travel to several participants in one region can be apportioned between them, if each participant has agreed to the method in advance.
Is driving a participant to an activity provider travel?
No. That is activity-based transport, claimed as worker time at the support’s hourly rate plus agreed vehicle costs.
Checked against the official sources on 2 October 2026. Rules change: confirm the current position with the agency before you rely on it.
Related terms
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Rostery handles this in practice
SCHADS interpretation, NDIS price-guide validation, claiming and the evidence an audit asks for — built for Australian providers.