An NDIS service agreement is a formal agreement between a provider and a participant that sets out the supports to be delivered, and the conditions under which they’ll be provided. It sets out what you’ve both agreed to, protects the participant’s rights, and gives you a clear basis for how the support relationship works.
This article goes over what a good NDIS service agreement covers and what an NDIS service agreement template should include. There’s a separate section for registered providers and one for unregistered providers, because the obligations are different depending on your status.
This article is up to date as of April 2026, however the NDIS is actively consulting about improvement service agreements so watch this space.
Do you actually need one?
In short, yes, you should have one. For registered providers, it’s effectively required.
The NDIA’s position is that written service agreements are recommended but not strictly mandatory for most supports. The one exception is if you’re providing Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), where a written service agreement is required under the NDIS rules.
However, registered providers who are required to meet the NDIS Practice Standards need to comply with the Service Agreement outcome. This requires you to show that collaboration occurred with each participant to develop an agreement that includes expectations, explains the supports to be delivered, and specifies any conditions. It also requires that where a written agreement exists, the participant receives a signed copy.
I’ve seen different auditors interpret this differently. Some take a strict view that a written agreement is required to demonstrate the outcome, while others accept alternative evidence of shared understanding. Honestly, a written service agreement is the cleanest and most defensible way to demonstrate compliance with the Practice Standards. The providers who come to audit without written agreements will have a harder time of it.
Best practice for registered and unregistered providers alike is to have a written service agreement in place with every participant before supports begin.
NDIS service agreement requirements for registered providers
If you’re registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, here’s what your service agreements need to cover to meet your obligations under the Practice Standards and the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL).
The parties
The agreement needs to identify both parties to the agreement, you as the provider and the participant. For GST-free supplies, the ATO specifically requires that the written agreement identifies the NDIS participant.
Beyond that baseline, it’s good practice to include enough detail that there’s no ambiguity about who the agreement is between. We’d recommend including your organisation’s full legal name (or your own name if you’re a sole trader), your ABN, and your NDIS provider registration number. For the participant, their full name and NDIS participant number. If a nominee, plan manager, or representative is involved in the agreement, record their details and their role.
The supports being delivered
Describe the supports clearly. This includes what they are, how often they’ll be delivered, where, and in what format. Be specific enough that both parties know exactly what’s been agreed to, and remember you’re protecting all parties here. Vague descriptions like ‘community access supports as required’ might lead to problems later on. If you’re delivering multiple support types under the one agreement, list them separately.
Include the relevant NDIS support item number and the hourly rate for each support. The NDIS Pricing Arrangement ands Price Guide (PAPL) requires that the agreement include the prices of supports, so listing the actual rate (not just a reference to the price guide) is the right approach. When prices change, you should at minimum get an addendum signed by both parties, if not a new agreement altogether.
How the supports will be delivered (including telehealth and non-face-to-face)
If you plan to deliver any supports via telehealth or any non-face-to-face activities (e.g. report writing, care coordination, or phone-based support), these must be specified in the service agreement before you can claim for them. This is a requirement of the PAPL, not just best practice.
Many providers assume they can just charge for non-face-to-face time as needed. They can’t, unless the participant has agreed to it in advance through the service agreement. The same applies to telehealth: if it’s not in your agreement, you can’t claim it.
Provider travel
If you’ll be travelling to deliver supports and intend to claim travel costs from the participant’s plan, this must also be agreed in the service agreement in advance. The PAPL is clear: the agreement between the participant and provider needs to specify the travel costs that can be claimed.
Travel claiming rules under the PAPL are specific. For labour costs (travel time), providers in MMM1–3 areas can claim up to 30 minutes travel to and from each participant. In MMM4–5 areas, the limit is 60 minutes. For therapy providers, the price limit for travel time is 50% of the regular price limit for that support item. Non-labour costs (e.g. kilometres at up to $0.99/km, tolls, and parking) can be negotiated with the participant and should be documented in the agreement.
If you travel to see multiple participants in the same trip, travel time can be divided among them (this is known as apportioned pricing), but this division needs to be agreed with each participant in their service agreement.
The key point is that providers can’t decide to charge travel and expect the participant to accept it at invoicing time, without having an agreement in advance.
Cancellation policy
Your cancellation policy must be documented in the service agreement. This allows you to claim short notice cancellation fees from a participant’s plan, and without it in the agreement, you’re not going to be able to claim.
Under the current PAPL (2025-26, Version 1.1), cancellation notice periods depend on the type of support:
- DSW (Disability Support Worker) related supports: 7 clear days’ notice, less than 7 days is considered short notice.
- Non-DSW supports (such as therapy): 2 clear business days’ notice, less than 2 clear business days is considered short notice.
Where a short notice cancellation occurs and the conditions are met, you can claim up to 100% of the agreed fee. However, this is only applicable if you were unable to find alternative billable work for the worker in that time, and you were required to pay the worker regardless.
You can choose to offer more generous terms (a shorter notice period) or waive the fee altogether at your discretion, but you can’t include stricter conditions than the minimum set out in the PAPL.
Document your cancellation policy clearly in plain language. Participants may dispute a cancellation fee on the basis that they didn’t understand the terms.
Duration and review
State the period the agreement covers and include how and when the agreement will be reviewed, and what triggers a review (such as a change in supports, a new NDIS plan, or a price change).
How to change or end the agreement
Both parties should understand how to make changes to the agreement and how to end or terminate it. The PAPL requires that service agreements cover how either party may change or end the agreement, and how any problems or issues will be handled. What that looks like in practice is up to you, but make sure its included.
Emergency and disaster arrangements
This part is missed or overlooked quite often. The Practice Standards require that service agreements set out the arrangements for providing supports in the event of an emergency or disaster. This requirement was introduced in 2021, which means agreement templates up before then and never updated are often missing it.
For most providers, a straightforward statement about how you’ll contact the participant if supports are disrupted, how you’ll prioritise continuity of critical supports, and who the participant should contact if they can’t reach you during an emergency is sufficient.
SIL arrangements
For providers offering SIL supported in SDA settings, there are additional requirements. Documented arrangements must be in place addressing how participant concerns about the dwelling will be communicated, how conflicts between participants will be managed, how vacancies will be filled in shared living, and how behaviours of concern that may put tenancies at risk will be managed if relevant. These should be in the service agreement or a documented supplement to it.
Participant and provider responsibilities
Include a clear statement of what each party has agreed to do. For participants, this typically includes things like providing reasonable notice for cancellations, notifying the provider if their plan changes or is suspended, and being present at the agreed time and place for supports. For providers, this includes delivering the agreed supports competently and safely, notifying the participant of any changes, and complying with the NDIS Code of Conduct.
Rights and complaints
Include information about the participant’s rights. In terms of complaints, providers are required to provide participants with information about the NDIS Commission as an avenue for raising concerns. Including that information in the service agreement is good practice, though it isn’t specifically mandated as a service agreement requirement. A reference to your complaints policy for further detail is worth including.
Privacy
It’s not mandatory that this included in the service agreement, but it’s worth including that you collect and hold personal information in the course of delivering supports, and a pointer to where the participant can find more information or raise concerns about their information.
Signatures
Where a written agreement exists, the Practice Standards require that each participant receives a copy signed by both the participant and the provider. If a participant chooses not to have a copy, or if providing one isn’t practicable in the circumstances, make a record of that.
If a participant is unable or unwilling to sign but is happy to proceed, document that conversation. What you want to avoid is having no record at all of whether the agreement was offered, discussed, or accepted.
For unregistered providers
If you’re operating as an unregistered NDIS provider (i.e. working with self-managed and plan-managed participants) you have no formal obligation under the NDIS Practice Standards. The Commission doesn’t regulate you in the same way.
There are however (at least) two good reasons to have written service agreements with your participants.
It protects both of you. A service agreement sets clear expectations, gives you a basis for your cancellation policy, documents what you’ve agreed to charge, and gives the participant a clear understanding of the service they’re receiving. This is quite relevant for sole traders, who are often operating without the organisational infrastructure that larger providers have, so a clear written agreement can offer practical protection.
Second, if your supports are GST-free, you need a written agreement. Under the ATO’s rules, an NDIS supply is GST-free only if (among other conditions) there is a written agreement between you and the participant (or another person such as a plan manager). That written agreement must identify the NDIS participant and state that the supply is a reasonable and necessary support specified in their NDIS plan.
The ATO notes that the written agreement can be a combination of documents, as long as together they form a written record of a legally binding obligation to supply a support that is in the participant’s plan. A service agreement is the easiest way to satisfy this requirement.
Unregistered providers should also document cancellation terms, travel costs, and telehealth arrangements in their agreements for the same practical reasons as registered providers, i.e. so that participants understand what they’ve agreed to, and you have a basis to claim those costs.
What good looks like
A service agreement needs to be honest, specific, and understood by the participant.
The outcome that auditors are assessing (for registered providers) is this: each participant has a clear understanding of the supports they have chosen and how they will be provided. The document is evidence of that understanding, but the understanding itself is what matters. An agreement that a participant has signed without understanding isn’t compliant.
So:
- Write in plain language
- Go through the agreement with the participant where possible rather than just emailing it over for signature
- Ask whether they have questions and record the discussion
- Make the agreement accessible in terms of language and format
- Keep it current and review it as planned
Common gaps at audit
Some common gaps include:
- No emergency or disaster arrangements included (especially for agreements created before the Standards changed in 2021)
- Telehealth and non-face-to-face claiming not documented, but the provider has been claiming for either or both
- Travel costs not agreed in advance, with providers charging whatever they decide after the fact
- Cancellation terms missing or not matching the current PAPL requirements
- Agreements that haven’t been updated after a price change
- No record of whether the participant was offered a copy, or why they didn’t receive one
- Generic agreements that describe a different business (not the provider’s actual service, location, or way of working)
A well-constructed service agreement covers the supports, the prices, how they’ll be delivered, travel and telehealth arrangements, cancellation terms, emergency arrangements, and the responsibilities of both parties. And importantly, it stays current as your business and your participant’s needs change.
