NDIS Funding Guide · 2026–27
Cleaning, gardening, domestic assistance and specialised help for children have different NDIS item numbers and prices. Choosing the right one begins with the job actually performed.
Verified against the attached NDIS Pricing Schedule, effective 24 September 2026 • Appendix 3, Table 15, page 34 • Reviewed 20 October 2026.
The short answer
House cleaning is not personal care, and yard maintenance is not a support worker community access shift. The 2026–27 schedule lists five different ‘Other Labour Supports’ items, ranging nationally from $53.02 to $61.16 per hour.
Five different supports, not one interchangeable ‘cleaner’ item
| 2026–27 item | Item number | National/hour | Remote/hour | Very remote/hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assistance with Personal Domestic Activities | 01_004_0107_1_1 |
$61.16 | $85.62 | $91.74 |
| Specialised Home Based Assistance For A Child | 01_016_0104_1_1 |
$61.16 | $85.62 | $91.74 |
| House or Yard Maintenance | 01_019_0120_1_1 |
$59.01 | $82.61 | $88.52 |
| House Cleaning And Other Household Activities | 01_020_0120_1_1 |
$60.10 | $84.14 | $90.15 |
| Community Engagement Assistance | 15_045_0128_1_3 |
$53.02 | $74.23 | $79.53 |
The original schedule groups these lines under “Other Labour Supports” rather than nursing or professional therapy. National, remote and very remote maximums differ. These maximums apply to NDIA-managed and plan-managed purchases where the item and claim are otherwise eligible.
When to choose each specific item
Assistance with Personal Domestic Activities
Appropriate: Assistance with disability-related domestic routines where a participant needs hands-on help to undertake everyday home tasks.
Not automatically appropriate: Do not use as a higher-priced substitute for a cleaner performing only routine cleaning tasks.
Exact support code: 01_004_0107_1_1 • National maximum $61.16/hour.
Specialised Home Based Assistance For A Child
Appropriate: Specialised in-home assistance for a child whose disability-related home support needs genuinely match the item.
Not automatically appropriate: Not a generic babysitting or school-holiday care code. Child safeguarding, relevant worker competence and the actual task are important.
Exact support code: 01_016_0104_1_1 • National maximum $61.16/hour.
House or Yard Maintenance
Appropriate: Eligible maintenance such as routine disability-related yard care or property upkeep where the participant cannot manage the task.
Not automatically appropriate: Not automatically major renovations, improvements, normal landlord obligations or equipment sales.
Exact support code: 01_019_0120_1_1 • National maximum $59.01/hour.
House Cleaning And Other Household Activities
Appropriate: Eligible cleaning tasks such as bathroom cleaning, floors and other household cleaning due to disability-related functional barriers.
Not automatically appropriate: Do not claim personal care worker weekday weekend penalty codes for ordinary cleaning when this is the appropriate item.
Exact support code: 01_020_0120_1_1 • National maximum $60.10/hour.
Community Engagement Assistance
Appropriate: The specific community engagement assistance support where the actual task aligns with the participant's relevant funded capacity-building purpose.
Not automatically appropriate: Do not assume every community access outing or therapy activity is community engagement assistance; match the full item and funding purpose.
Exact support code: 15_045_0128_1_3 • National maximum $53.02/hour.
The clearest difference: personal care, domestic assistance and cleaning
Personal care is assistance with a person's own self-care, such as washing, dressing and other personal routines. It has separate support worker items; ordinary national weekday daytime standard self-care is $73.58/hour using 01_011_0107_1_1. House cleaning is work such as cleaning the bathroom or vacuuming floors. It has a different item, 01_020_0120_1_1, at $60.10/hour nationally. Personal domestic activities may involve assistance with the participant's everyday home tasks and is separately listed at $61.16/hour nationally.
For example, an appropriately funded worker helping a participant wash and get dressed is delivering something different from a cleaner spending the same time vacuuming and washing the bathroom floor. A provider should not select the more expensive code just because both tasks happen inside the participant's home.
Who is allowed to deliver cleaning, gardening and home assistance?
The schedule's Table 15 does not stipulate a single named professional registration or qualification for all five items. That does not mean competence and safeguarding can be ignored. For gardening and cleaning, workers should have the skills, equipment, safety procedures and relevant clearances required for the actual job. Specialised child assistance warrants particular consideration of child-safe practices, experience and the participant's individual support plan.
Separate higher-intensity or professional health needs may require differently qualified staff and codes. For example, a continence nurse completing a clinical assessment is not appropriately billed as a cleaner, while a cleaner performing floor maintenance is not automatically providing high-intensity daily personal activities.
Worked invoices and common overcharging risks
- 90 minutes of eligible house cleaning at the national ceiling: 1.5 × $60.10 = $90.15. The invoice should identify the time and cleaning tasks completed.
- Two hours of eligible house or yard maintenance at the national ceiling: 2 × $59.01 = $118.02. Record the actual job and why it is an appropriate disability-related support.
- Cleaning and support worker care on the same visit: record the real work separately and check whether distinct lines are appropriate. Do not double bill the same 30 minutes or use personal-care pricing for all time without justification.
Be careful about separate cleaning products, equipment hire, worker travel, tolls or kilometre expenses. The five prices in the attached schedule do not themselves establish an additional entitlement to charge these costs. Consult the current catalogue and detailed claiming guidance before adding them.
Frequently asked questions
Can a cleaner charge the support worker Sunday rate?
Not automatically. The schedule's cleaning item and its hourly maximum are separate from the self-care worker Sunday code. Select the item that corresponds to the work and applicable claiming rules.
Can the NDIS pay for a normal spring clean or garden makeover?
A disability-related need and eligible support are essential. The schedule listing does not make cosmetic renovations or general household improvement projects automatically funded.
Are cleaning supplies or petrol included in the hourly price?
The schedule states the labour item price limit, but does not on its own authorise a separate supply or non-labour travel claim. Check current rules and the service agreement.
Original source: NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27, effective 24 September 2026. Claimability and registration conditions also need to be checked in the current NDIS Support Catalogue and other operative rules. This independent article explains published prices; it is not a funding decision for a specific participant. All dollar amounts are AUD and may change.
