NDIS Funding Guide • Allied health and specialist supports • Table 27

Orthoptics focuses on visual function, eye movement and binocular vision assessment and treatment within professional scope. An NDIS claim needs a disability-related purpose beyond ordinary medical eye care.

Based on NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27, effective 24 September 2026, Table 27, page 50. Rates are maximum amounts for the unit shown; updated if the official schedule changes. Reviewed 20 October 2026.

What does this professional service involve?

Orthoptics focuses on visual function, eye movement and binocular vision assessment and treatment within professional scope. An NDIS claim needs a disability-related purpose beyond ordinary medical eye care.

A person may need several types of disability support, but that does not mean their providers are interchangeable. What matters is the professional task being delivered, the participant's functional need, who undertook it and the scope of the agreed service. Professional therapy may involve assessment, planning, evidence-based intervention, training and measurable progress against practical daily life goals.

When should this support code be used?

For eligible disability-related functional vision intervention delivered by an appropriately credentialled orthoptist.

When it should not be used

Do not use an orthoptist item to bill an optometrist, ophthalmologist or an unrelated eye health service. Medical or Medicare-funded work cannot simply be recategorised as NDIS therapy.

The 2026–27 schedule is a price document; the existence of a code does not authorise charging an NDIS plan for any related activity. Confirm participant funding, goals, the current rules and what actually happened before selecting a code.

Who is qualified to deliver it?

Current registration with the Australian Orthoptic Board as required by this schedule.

Before agreeing to a service, ask for the practitioner's full name and relevant professional status. Where the title is registered or accredited, verify current registration or membership with the named Australian body. Also check the person's competence for the particular intervention. A provider's business registration is not evidence that every staff member holds the profession's qualifications.

Every item code and 2026–27 maximum rate

The following 6 code entries cover 1 main item family shown in this section of the attached schedule. The unit is an hour unless otherwise displayed. The support item's initial number and category are important: some professions appear under different Core, employment, improved health or capacity building purposes. Select the item that corresponds to the actual work and funding category, even where multiple codes show the same hourly price.

How do provider travel, reports, telehealth and cancellations work?

For this table, the schedule lists a separate provider travel time item such as 15_618_0128_1_3_PT, capped at $97.00/hour nationally ($135.80 remote, $145.50 very remote). That is different from the direct professional service code 15_618_0128_1_3, which has a national limit of $193.99/hour. The half-rate travel limit does not mean every journey is automatically billable. Consent, relevant travel limits, actual travel and the currently applicable claim conditions still matter.

Non-face-to-face (_NF): may identify eligible participant-specific work conducted without the participant being present, such as relevant clinical preparation or documentation. It is not a blanket administration fee. Telehealth (_TH): describes a genuine remotely delivered service that is clinically appropriate for the task. NDIA requested report (_RR): is a specific report category and should not be selected for every clinician report. Cancellation (_CA): requires that a fee is allowed by current NDIS conditions and the agreement; an empty appointment slot does not by itself justify invoicing.

These therapies generally have a single professional direct-service maximum rather than different daytime, evening and weekend hourly prices. Do not copy disability support worker Sunday or night rates onto a therapy invoice. Geographic pricing is based on where the service is physically delivered; check the Modified Monash classification and the isolated-town modifications where relevant.

What does this look like in practice?

An orthoptist assesses functional visual difficulties affecting reading or safe participation and provides an appropriate intervention plan within professional scope.

Worked price example: the listed national direct-service limit for 15_618_0128_1_3 is $193.99/hour. A genuine, agreed 75-minute session would correspond to a mathematical hourly-limit ceiling of $242.49 for direct service alone; this is a calculation example and does not establish that every minute or additional component is claimable.

The progress note should identify what was assessed or practised, the participant's functional goals, the service duration, any preparation or reporting separately billed, and why the claimed item and provider level were appropriate.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further guidance

Official NDIS 2026–27 schedule · Official NDIS support catalogue · Understanding the NDIS price schedule.

Beyond Health Services independent information guide. This is not an official NDIA ruling or a guarantee of funding.