What NDIS counselling can help with
Counselling is one of the therapy supports the NDIS can fund. A counsellor can give you a safe space to explore emotions, build resilience, learn ways to communicate positively and set clear goals. They can also help you identify personal and social barriers linked to your disability and find ways to manage or get past them.
Like all NDIS therapy, it should be tied to your plan goals and focus on building or keeping your functional capacity, for example coping with a change in living arrangements, managing relationships or building confidence to take part in the community.
What the NDIS will not fund
The NDIS does not fund clinical mental health treatment, including counselling that is mainly to treat or reduce the symptoms of a mental health condition. That is the responsibility of the health system, such as state and territory mental health services, Medicare funded services and Primary Health Networks.
If you are unsure which side of the line a support falls on, ask what it is for. Building your capacity for daily life can be NDIS funded. Treating a condition is not.
Who can provide NDIS counselling
To be paid at the NDIS counselling price, the person delivering the support must be one of these:
- A member of the Australian Counselling Association
- An accredited registrant with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia
- A provisionally registered psychologist working towards full registration with Ahpra
How much counselling costs
For 2026/27 the NDIS price limit for a counsellor is $156.16 an hour in most of Australia, $218.62 in remote areas and $234.24 in very remote areas. The same limit applies to telehealth and non face to face work, and travel is capped at a lower rate.
Plan managed and agency managed participants cannot be charged above the price limit. Self managed participants are not bound by it, but it is a useful benchmark. Counselling is usually paid from your Capacity Building budget.
Counselling or psychology?
Psychologists are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and have a higher NDIS price limit, $252.99 an hour in 2026/27. Counsellors belong to a professional body instead. Both can be NDIS funded if the support builds capacity related to your disability.
Counselling can be a good fit for talking through life changes, relationships and coping strategies. If you need formal assessments, reports for the NDIA or more structured psychological therapy, a psychologist may suit better. Medicare's Better Access sessions are available from psychologists and some social workers and occupational therapists, but not counsellors.
Tips for getting the most from counselling
A few habits make NDIS counselling easier to keep funded and more useful to you:
- Agree on goals with your counsellor at the start and check them every few months
- Ask for a service agreement that sets out the hourly rate, cancellation terms and any travel charges
- Check what is left in your Capacity Building budget before you commit to regular sessions
- Ask for a short progress summary before your plan reassessment