Policy and Advocacy NDIS Pricing Taskforce Update

On 24 March 2024 the Government announced the establishment of the new taskforce led by the NDIS Commission, NDIA and the ACCC that will receive and investigate complaints from NDIS participants about pricing differentiation (i.e. charging NDIS participants more for the provision of goods and services than equivalents available in the general market). You can read more about the announcement here.

Last year changes were made to the NDIA Code of Conduct to prevent price differentiation for the sale of goods to NDIS participants compared to non-NDIS participants. The NDIS Commission also issued Guidance (Code of Conduct for Providers) on how to interpret the NDIS Code of Conduct in September 2023 which noted that providers should not engage in practices that include:  

• “Charging a participant more than another person for substantially the same product, support or service without genuine, reasonable and objectively sufficient justification”; and 

• “Promoting, advertising and publishing higher prices for substantially the same products, supports or services for participants as compared with other people without genuine, reasonable and objectively sufficient justification.” 

OTA sought clarification from the new taskforce on its remit and received a response this week, which confirmed that the remit of the taskforce extends to both goods (products) and services. They advised that “The NDIS Commission expects that, if a Provider sets a different price for a product or service offered to NDIS Participants compared to the price offered to a person outside the NDIS, that the Provider will be able to explain the difference. We are encouraging NDIS Participants and Plan Managers to raise instances where Providers are unable, or unwilling, to explain their pricing, particularly in the context of a higher price being charged.”  

The NDIS Commission has begun writing to all participants this week to advise them of their ability to make a complaint to the new Taskforce, so we expect that this may lead to more awareness and discussion by participants about NDIS pricing.