Why gym memberships are not funded
Since 3 October 2024 the NDIS Supports Transitional Rules have listed supports that generally are not NDIS supports. Under day to day living costs, the list includes membership and entry to a recreational club, standard gym equipment, general health and fitness costs, and the membership costs of recreational sports.
The reasoning is that going to the gym is something anyone might pay for. The NDIS pays for the extra support your disability creates, not the everyday cost of the activity itself.
What the NDIS can fund instead
Exercise physiology and personal wellbeing activities are one of the categories of NDIS supports. They cover supports that maintain or increase physical mobility or wellbeing through personal training or exercise physiology, to address the functional impact of your disability. In practice that can mean:
- Exercise physiology: an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with Exercise and Sports Science Australia assesses you and builds a program. The 2026/27 price limit is $161.99 an hour in most of Australia
- Personal training: a trainer with a Certificate III, IV or Diploma in Fitness or equivalent, often carrying out a program an exercise physiologist designed. The 2026/27 price limit is $69.39 an hour
- Physiotherapy: for movement, strength, balance and mobility goals linked to your disability, up to $183.99 an hour
- Support to take part: a support worker can help you travel to the gym and use the equipment safely, where that is reasonable and necessary for you
Which budget pays
Exercise physiology and personal training are usually paid from the Health and Wellbeing part of your Capacity Building budget. Some plans fund exercise physiology as therapy from improved daily living skills instead.
Support worker help to attend the gym usually comes from Core, either assistance with daily life or social, economic and community participation. Check where your funding sits, because the 2026 funding reset treats those budgets differently.
The 2026 funding reset
Since 1 October 2026, a support determination reduces social, economic and community participation budgets by 50% and improved daily living skills budgets by 10%, when a plan is created, reassessed or renewed. Health and Wellbeing is not one of those two groups.
If a worker supports you at the gym from your community participation budget, that funding may be much smaller after your next reassessment or renewal. A program you can do with less hands on help, or a group session, may stretch your plan further.
Making a good case
The NDIA asks whether a support relates to your disability and is reasonable and necessary. Exercise supports are more likely to be funded when:
- You have a plan goal about strength, mobility, balance, weight or fitness that your disability affects
- A GP, physiotherapist or occupational therapist recommends exercise physiology in writing
- Your exercise physiologist reports progress with clear measures, such as fewer falls or easier transfers
- You can explain why the health system or a mainstream program does not already meet the need
Ways to keep costs down
- Use group exercise physiology or personal training. In a group, the price limit for each person is the hourly limit divided by the number of people
- Ask your exercise physiologist to train you, a family member or a personal trainer to run the program between sessions
- Look for council leisure centres that offer concession or companion rates, and ask whether a Companion Card is accepted
- Get a quote that lists travel, reports and cancellation charges before you start