NDIS functional capacity assessment cost
There is no fixed NDIS price for a functional capacity assessment. The OT bills their time at or below the therapy price limit in the NDIS Pricing Schedule, so the cost depends on hours. Most assessments take somewhere between eight and fourteen hours including the report, which commonly lands between about $1,500 and $3,000, funded from Capacity Building Improved Daily Living.
NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 (formerly NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits)
NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025-26, non face to face and NDIA requested report rules
NDIS Support Catalogue 2026-27, Improved Daily Living support items
NDIS Code of Conduct
How the price is built
A functional capacity assessment, or FCA, is an occupational therapy service, so it is billed under the therapy support items rather than as a single product. The NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27, which replaced the Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document, sets a national hourly price limit for occupational therapy. The 2026-27 schedule holds the OT limit at the 2025-26 figure. Every hour of the assessment is charged at or below that limit. Higher remote and very remote limits apply in MMM6 and MMM7 areas. Providers can charge less than the limit, and self managed participants can negotiate.
What the hours include
A typical FCA includes a face to face assessment of one and a half to four hours, often at home, plus standardised tools, interviews with family or support workers, and reading existing reports. Report writing is usually the largest part, often four to nine hours for a comprehensive report. The report is claimed as non face to face time or, where the NDIA has asked for it, as an NDIA requested report, both priced at the same hourly limit as direct therapy. Travel to the participant is claimed separately under the provider travel rules. Ask for a written quote that breaks these parts down before you agree.
Which budget pays
FCAs are funded from the Capacity Building budget, in the Improved Daily Living category, which covers therapy assessment, training and recommendations. They cannot be paid from Core supports. A participant needs enough unspent Improved Daily Living funding in their current plan to cover the quote. If the assessment is needed for a plan reassessment or a change of circumstances and there is no funding, the participant or their support coordinator can ask the NDIA about funding for the report. The assessment must also be a reasonable and necessary support and, for GST purposes, covered by a written service agreement.
Keeping the cost reasonable
A good provider will agree the scope in advance, tell you which tools they will use, and give an estimate with a range of hours rather than an open ended figure. Very high quotes should be questioned, and very low ones may not produce a report the NDIA will rely on. Providers must claim only for time actually spent and must be able to show what they did. Under the NDIS Code of Conduct, honest and transparent pricing is a legal obligation, and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission takes complaints about overcharging.
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