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Sheet A-04 · Pricing Arrangements Determination 2026, section 5

How SDA prices are set

The most the NDIS pays for SDA is a maximum fixed through a chain of documents. Section 5 of the NDIS (Pricing Arrangements) Determination 2026 makes the maximum the amount, or the amount worked out by the method, in an NDIS pricing document; for SDA, the NDIA’s 2026–27 Pricing Schedule gives the method: a base amount per participant multiplied by a location factor for the dwelling.

General information, not financial, tax or investment advice. This sheet describes how maximum prices are set; it does not estimate what any dwelling will earn. The official place to check is the NDIA’s page on the SDA pricing arrangements.

Sheet
A-04
Set
A-00 to A-05
Drawing
How SDA prices are set
Rests on
Determination 2026, s 5; NDIA 2026–27 SDA pricing documents
Checked
9 Oct 2026
Scale
Not to scale

1A-04Authority

The chain of documents

Each document below rests on the one above it. The NDIA notes that its pricing schedules set the maximum prices payable for NDIS supports, SDA among them.

  1. The ActThe National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. The Pricing Schedule says the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026 sets up a new framework under which the Minister may make a pricing determination, including the maximum amount, or the method for working it out, and gives the NDIA a statutory function to advise the Minister on pricing.
  2. The Determination, section 5The NDIS (Pricing Arrangements) Determination 2026, quoted below.
  3. The Pricing Schedule for SDA 2026–27Incorporated into the pricing determination under subsections 45C(11) and 45C(12) of the Act, it specifies the method for working out the maximum amounts payable for the supports it covers.
  4. Its appendicesAppendix 1 and Appendix 2 hold the base amounts; Appendix 3 holds the location factors.

“(1) For the purposes of subsection 45C(1) of the Act, the maximum amount for the acquisition or provision of an NDIS support, or a class of NDIS supports, is:

(a) if a maximum amount is specified for the NDIS support or class of NDIS supports in an NDIS pricing document – that amount; or

(b) if a method for determining a maximum amount is specified for an NDIS support or class of NDIS supports in an NDIS pricing document – the maximum amount worked out using that method.”

NDIS (Pricing Arrangements) Determination 2026, section 5(1)

2A-04Method

The method, drawn out

Base amountFrom Appendix 1 when the dwelling is not shared with anyone who is not an SDA-eligible participant; from Appendix 2 when it is shared with one or more people who are not, dependants aside.
Location factorFrom the tables in Appendix 3, the factor that applies to the dwelling’s location.
SDA amountAn annual amount per participant, which already includes any GST.

The Schedule says which base amount applies, and what adjustments are needed, depends on the factors in its three appendices. The maximums in Part 2 of the Schedule apply where a participant’s funding is managed by the NDIA, or by a registered plan management provider. The NDIA’s pricing page also points to an SDA price calculator for an enrolled home.

3A-04NDIA

The Pricing Arrangements for SDA

Alongside the Schedule, the NDIA publishes its Pricing Arrangements for SDA, setting out what it considers the appropriate and reasonable maximum prices for SDA supports. The 2026–27 edition was published in line with the recommendation of the 2022–23 SDA Pricing Review, and with the Consumer Price Index yearly to 2027. It is published at least three times a year, with further amendments numbered in sequence from the base version.

The Schedule says the SDA Rules adopt it under the title “National Disability Insurance Scheme Price Guide for Specialist Disability Accommodation”, while the Old Framework Plans Determination 2024 calls it the “Pricing Arrangements for Specialist Disability Accommodation”. For older dwellings, the Pricing Arrangements also carry the minimum design requirements on sheet A-02.

Revision block

DateItem
14 May 2026The NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 is introduced into Parliament. The Pricing Arrangements were published against that background, and anticipated being used to inform the NDIA’s advice to the Minister if the Bill passed.
30 Jul 2026Version 1.0 of the Pricing Arrangements for SDA 2026–27 is released.
24 Sep 2026The NDIS Pricing Schedule for SDA for 2026–27 takes effect. It says the amending Act of 2026 sets up a new framework for pricing.

4A-04Separate lines

Rent, and what a provider may claim

The NDIA’s provider guide says participants pay a reasonable contribution towards rent, along with everyday living costs such as electricity. The Rules deal with rent in a section of their own. Section 21 of the SDA Rules says an eligible participant “may be required to contribute to rent for the specialist disability accommodation that the eligible participant resides at”. The NDIA says the rent a provider charges must not exceed the maximum reasonable rent contribution set out in the SDA pricing arrangements, and that the recommended maximum moves with changes in the Disability Support Pension.

A participant’s plan sets an SDA budget, the most the NDIA will pay for their SDA supports. Where a participant lives in SDA of lower value than their plan allows, the provider can claim only the value of the property.

Registering as an SDA provider is on sheet A-05. The cover sheet is A-00.