An NDIS service agreement is a written agreement between you and your provider that sets out which supports you'll get, how and when they happen, what they cost, how you're billed, and what happens if plans change or something goes wrong. The NDIA says you must have one with a specialist disability accommodation (SDA) provider. For most other supports it isn't compulsory, but the NDIA recommends making one whenever you start with a new provider or your needs change. We think every participant should have one, and we never start supports without it.
Below is what a good agreement covers, how to make one step by step, and the things that should make you stop before you sign.
What is an NDIS service agreement?
The NDIA describes it simply: an agreement between you and your provider that describes what you have both agreed to about your NDIS supports.
It helps to know what it is not:
- Your NDIS plan comes from the NDIA and sets your funding. The service agreement is how you and one provider agree to use part of that funding.
- Service bookings and tenancy agreements are separate documents, and the NDIA says a service agreement is a different thing from both.
- It isn't a contract the NDIA looks after. Neither the NDIA nor the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is a party to service agreements, keeps records of them or enforces them. You and your provider keep the copies.
That last point matters. Your copy is the record. Keep it somewhere you can find it.
Do you need an NDIS service agreement?
There's one support where the NDIA says you must have one: specialist disability accommodation. For everything else, the NDIA recommends one rather than requiring it, especially when you start with a new provider or your needs change.
A good provider will offer one anyway. Registered providers delivering higher risk supports are audited against the NDIS Practice Standards, which expect them to work with each participant on a service agreement, explain it in the language and format the participant understands, and give the participant a signed copy if it's in writing. If a participant chooses not to have one, the provider keeps a record of that.
Our view is plain: ask for one, in writing, every time. A two or three page agreement that you have actually read is worth more than a handshake that everyone remembers differently.
What goes in an NDIS service agreement?
The NDIA's guide lists what a service agreement should include. Here it is in plain words, with what to look for under each heading.
Your details and your provider's
Names, contact details, and anyone else involved, such as a guardian or nominee. It can also note your goals and your NDIS plan, so the supports make sense against what you're working towards.
The supports and what they cost
This is the core of the agreement. For each support, the NDIA says it should show:
- the support category
- the item name or number
- a description in words you understand
- the quantity or hours
- the unit price
- the total cost
- the GST component, if any
It should also say how, where and how often you'll get each support, and spell out any extra charges, like travel. If a cost isn't in the agreement, ask why.
The NDIS pricing schedule 2026-27, in effect from 24 September 2026, sets maximum prices for NDIS supports. Providers can't charge more than those limits for NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants.
How the provider gets paid
Who sends invoices, to whom, and how often. If your plan is NDIA-managed, the provider claims from the NDIA. If it's plan-managed, invoices go to your plan manager. If you self-manage, they come to you. The agreement should say which.
Important dates
The start date, the end date, and when the agreement will be reviewed. The NDIA says the end date shouldn't be later than your plan reassessment date. When your plan changes, your agreement usually needs to change too.
How you'll work together
The NDIA's guide says a service agreement should cover:
- The provider's responsibilities: treating you with respect, communicating clearly and on time, working with you on supports that meet your needs, and explaining complaints, changes, privacy, records, safety rules and conflicts of interest.
- Your rights: to be treated with dignity, respect and fairness, to get safe and quality supports, to have choice, to ask questions, to make complaints, and to have your privacy protected.
- Your responsibilities: working with your provider, treating staff with respect, sharing information, raising concerns, paying invoices on time, and telling the provider if your needs or your plan change.
- Cultural safety: information that works for you, an interpreter if you need one, the choice to involve family, carers or community, and respect for the cultural practices and beliefs that matter to you.
Cancellations
How much notice you need to give to cancel a shift, any cancellation fees, and what happens if the provider cancels, pauses or replaces a support. Read this part slowly. It's the part people most often wish they had read.
Changing or ending the agreement
How the agreement changes if your needs change, how to end it, and how much notice you need to give. The NDIA says small changes can be added as a variation, a short extra document attached to the original. For big changes, such as a new plan, significant changes to your supports or a new provider, it recommends a new agreement.
Complaints
A clear process: what to do if you're unhappy, how to raise it, and who to contact if it can't be fixed. A good agreement also names the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission as somewhere you can go.
How to make an NDIS service agreement, step by step
The NDIA sets out four steps. Here's how they look in practice.
- Learn what a service agreement is. You're doing that now. It also helps to read up on your rights and responsibilities with providers before you start.
- Think about what you want in it. You can ask to change terms to suit you. You can ask for the agreement in a format you like and in words you understand, and ask the provider to arrange an interpreter. Make sure you understand what information you're giving and how it will be kept private.
- Work it out with your provider. The NDIA and the NDIS Commission made a service agreement template together. You don't have to use it, and it's a guide rather than legal advice, but it's a useful checklist even if your provider uses its own form.
- Finalise it. Take your time. Read it, get help to understand it if you want it, and remember you can say no or ask for changes. Once it's agreed, keep your copy.
Checklist before you sign
- Every support is listed, with hours or quantity, unit price and total
- Travel and any other extra charges are written down
- I know how and how often I'll be invoiced, and who pays
- The start date, end date and review date are there, and the end date isn't after my plan reassessment date
- I understand the cancellation rules and the notice I need to give
- I know how to change or end the agreement
- There's a complaints process that names the NDIS Commission
- I've had time to read it, in a format and words I understand
- I have my own copy
Red flags in an NDIS service agreement
Some things are worth a question before you sign, and a few are worth walking away from:
- Prices that aren't written down, or a line like "rates as per our current schedule" with no schedule attached.
- A clause that takes away your rights. The NDIA is clear that providers can't use a service agreement to contract out of the NDIS Code of Conduct or Australian Consumer Law. The NDIA also says you can change providers at any time. A clause that says you can't complain, or can't leave, is one to question before you sign, and it tells you something about the provider.
- A notice period you can't live with. You can change providers. The notice is whatever the agreement says, so make sure it's something you agreed to with your eyes open.
- Pressure to sign on the spot. You're allowed time to read it and get help.
- Gifts or sign-up offers tied to choosing the provider.
- Charges for supports you didn't receive. If this happens after you've signed, the NDIA has a page on what to do when something is wrong, and you can raise it with the Commission.
How we do service agreements at Glenrock
We keep ours short and plain, and we never start supports without one. After you get in touch, we reply within 2 business days and set up a free meet-and-greet at home or a cafe, usually within a week. We talk about what you need, which days suit, and which of our areas you're in.
Then you get a written quote first, so you can see the numbers on their own before there's anything to sign. Our prices follow the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 and never go above the price limits. You get a written quote and a service agreement before anything starts.
The agreement itself is written in plain language, and an Easy Read version is available for anyone who'd like it. It sets out the supports, the shifts, the cancellation notice, how to change or end it, and how to raise a concern, including our complaints and feedback process and the NDIS Commission's details. You can take it away, read it with family or your coordinator, and ask us to change things.
If you're wondering whether your funding works with us, we're a registered provider, so NDIA-managed, plan-managed and self-managed participants can all use us. Our post on registered vs unregistered NDIS providers explains why that matters.
Ready to talk it through?
If you'd like to see our service agreement before you decide anything, ask for it. Our getting started page walks through what happens from first call to first shift, or you can call us on (02) 5550 6138.
Sources: NDIA: What is a service agreement, NDIA: How to make a service agreement, NDIA: How to find and choose a provider, NDIA: How to change providers, NDIA: Pricing arrangements, NDIS Commission: Core module, provision of supports, NDIS Commission: NDIS Practice Standards. All checked 24 October 2026.