Travel is one of the most confusing parts of NDIS invoicing. You’re not just delivering support — you’re often driving between participants, to appointments, or out into the community with someone, and it’s not always obvious what you can bill for and what comes out of your own pocket. If you’re setting up your independent practice, check out our pillar guide on How to Become an NDIS Sole Trader for a complete breakdown of getting started.
This guide breaks travel down into plain steps so you can claim what you’re entitled to, correctly, every time.
Note on NDIS Pricing: As with all NDIS pricing detail, exact rates and caps are set out in the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements / Pricing Schedule and are reviewed periodically — always confirm current figures there before finalising a claim. This guide focuses on the mechanics: what travel is, how it’s categorised, and what you need in place before you charge for it.
1. Labour Cost vs Non-Labour Cost: The Core Split
NDIS pricing separates the cost of your time (labour) from the cost of getting you there (non-labour).
- Hourly Support Rate (Labour): Covers the actual delivery of support. (If you’re unsure what to charge for your time, use our NDIS Hourly Rate Calculator to set sustainable rates).
- Travel (Non-Labour Cost): Sits in a separate bucket and is claimed on top of, not instead of, your support time.
This distinction matters because the two are claimed differently on an invoice and are subject to different rules. Mixing them up — for example, folding travel time into your standard hourly rate rather than itemising it — is one of the most common invoicing mistakes support workers make. It can make an otherwise legitimate claim harder for a plan manager to approve simply because it isn’t transparent.
A simple way to think about it: Your support rate answers “What did I do for the participant?” Your travel claim answers “What did it cost to get there?” Keeping those two questions — and their answers — separate on every invoice will save you time explaining claims later.
2. How Per-Km Reimbursement Works
When you drive your own vehicle between participants, or to a participant’s home, you can generally claim the distance travelled at a per-kilometre rate, plus in some cases the time spent travelling. The exact per-km rate and any caps on how much travel time can be claimed relative to your support time are set in the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements — these are reviewed and can change, so don’t rely on a rate you were quoted last year.
In practice, most sole traders work out their per-trip claim from two inputs:
- Distance driven (from a mapping app or odometer reading)
- Time spent travelling (where relevant)
Both should be recorded at the time of the trip rather than reconstructed afterwards from memory, which is where accuracy — and defensibility if a claim is ever queried — tends to fall apart.
Key Rules for Vehicle Reimbursements:
- Only claim genuine work travel: Travel must be directly related to delivering the support — never claim your personal commute from home to your first job of the day.
- Keep consistent records: Log the distance and time for every single trip you intend to claim.
- Watch the caps: Check the current cap on how much travel can be claimed relative to the support delivered — most pricing frameworks limit this so travel doesn’t dwarf the actual support hours.
3. Activity-Based Transport vs Non-Labour Costs: What’s the Difference?
These two terms get confused constantly, but they cover completely different scenarios — and using the wrong one on an invoice can get a claim rejected.
| Travel Type | What It Covers | How It’s Billed |
| Activity-Based Transport | Transporting the participant themselves as part of a funded activity (e.g., driving them to a medical appointment or community outing). | Billed under its own specific support item, separate from your standard hourly rate. |
| Non-Labour Costs (Provider Travel) | Your own travel as the provider to get to a participant’s home, or moving between two participants back-to-back. | Billed as a separate non-labour travel line, calculated using distance and/or time. |
In short: If you are transporting the participant, it’s usually Activity-Based Transport. If you are just getting yourself to or between shifts, it’s Non-Labour Costs (Provider Travel). Getting this coding right keeps your invoices clean and defensible.
4. Participant Consent and Documentation (Before You Claim)
You cannot simply start charging for travel because you drove somewhere. Under NDIS guidelines, provider travel needs to be agreed upon with the participant (or their nominee) upfront, ideally in writing as part of your service agreement, before you start claiming it.
Best Practices Before Charging:
- Service Agreement First: Confirm travel arrangements, rates, and any agreed caps in the service agreement before support begins.
- Log Every Trip: Record the date, purpose, distance, travel time, and participant for every trip.
- Store Supporting Evidence: Keep odometer readings, mapping app routes, or calendar entries in case a plan manager or the NDIA requests proof.
- Update When Patterns Change: Revisit the arrangement if your travel patterns change significantly — don’t assume an old agreement automatically covers new circumstances.
Streamline Your Records: This is exactly the kind of detail that’s easy to lose track of in a notebook or spreadsheet. Using dedicated NDIS accounting software like Sole makes it easy to log trips as you go, ensuring you have a clean, audit-ready record whenever you need it. It also pairs naturally with cancellation tracking, since a cancelled shift you’d already travelled towards can raise its own separate questions about what’s claimable.
5. How to Show Travel on an NDIS Invoice
Travel should always appear as its own line item, separate from your support time, using the correct support item number for the type of travel you’re claiming (Activity-Based Transport or Non-Labour Costs).
Invoice Checklist for Travel:
- [ ] List the date of the trip alongside the related support session.
- [ ] Show the distance (km) and/or time claimed, along with the rate applied.
- [ ] Reference the correct support item number from the NDIS Support Catalogue.
- [ ] Keep travel and direct support clearly separated so a plan manager can instantly verify the claim.
Our NDIS invoice template resource shows what a compliant, clearly itemised invoice looks like — and Sole’s invoicing tools apply the correct support item structure automatically, so travel doesn’t need to be manually coded every time.
6. Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Charging without prior consent: Claiming travel without agreeing to it upfront in the service agreement.
- Blending rates: Folding travel costs into your hourly support rate instead of itemising it separately.
- Incorrect coding: Billing provider travel as Activity-Based Transport, or vice versa.
- Reconstructing logs later: Not keeping a trip-by-trip log, then having to guess or estimate records after the fact.
- Exceeding NDIS caps: Claiming travel time or distance that exceeds current NDIS Pricing Arrangements limits.
- Using outdated rates: Forgetting to check the current per-km rate and cap before pricing a new participant arrangement.
Getting travel claims right comes down to simple habits: agree it upfront, log it consistently, and code it correctly.
A quick note: This article explains the mechanics of travel claims but isn’t a substitute for checking the current NDIS Price Guide or getting advice specific to your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I charge NDIS participants for my travel time?
In many cases, yes — provider travel time and distance can generally be claimed as a non-labour cost, subject to caps set out in the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements and agreement with the participant in advance. Always confirm current rates and limits before claiming.
What’s the difference between Activity-Based Transport and Non-Labour travel costs?
Activity-Based Transport covers transporting the participant as part of a funded activity, billed under its own support item. Non-Labour Costs (provider travel) covers your own travel to or between shifts, billed as a separate travel line item.
Do participants need to agree to travel charges in advance?
Yes. Under NDIS guidelines, provider travel arrangements should be agreed with the participant or their nominee before you start claiming — ideally documented in the service agreement.
How do I show travel costs on an NDIS invoice?
Travel should appear as its own line item, separate from your support time, using the correct support item number for the type of travel claimed, with the date, distance or time, and rate clearly shown.
Is there a limit on how much travel I can claim?
Yes, current NDIS Pricing Arrangements generally cap how much travel can be claimed relative to the support delivered. Check the current Price Guide for the exact limits that apply to your support items.
