NDIS franchises in Australia: registration, pricing and the checks to make

• In the June 2026 quarter, 280,258 NDIS providers were active, but only 10,842 of them supported NDIA-managed participants, who can only use registered providers.
• Registering costs nothing to apply for, but you pay an approved quality auditor, and registration generally lasts three years.
• The NDIS Code of Conduct applies to registered and unregistered providers alike, including a ban on charging participants higher prices without reasonable justification.
• For 2026–27 the NDIA has published a pricing schedule of what it considers appropriate and reasonable maximum prices, and a Bill introduced on 14 May 2026 would let the Minister make pricing determinations.
• Be wary of promised NDIS revenue: general fitness, gym memberships and massage not provided by an allied health professional for disability-related purposes are on the list of supports that aren't NDIS supports.

Registration decides which participants you can serve, how you are audited and what your compliance costs look like. Check these points first.

• You must be registered to deliver supports to participants with NDIA-managed funding, plan management, specialist behaviour support, specialist disability accommodation, supported independent living (SIL) and NDIS digital platform services, or to use regulated restrictive practices.
• Unregistered providers can serve participants who self-manage or plan-manage their funding. At 30 June 2026, 25% of participants fully or partially self-managed their plans.
• Most active providers serve plan-managed participants: in the June 2026 quarter, 210,956 providers supported plan-managed participants and 133,703 supported self-managed participants.
• Under a brokerage or subcontracting arrangement, you can deliver supports under another provider's registration. The registered provider must make the claim and is responsible for everything delivered under its registration.
• In a franchise, that means asking whether you will hold your own registration or work under the franchisor's, and who pays for audits and compliance.
• Registered providers must meet conditions of registration, including the NDIS Practice Standards, the Code of Conduct, complaints and incident management, worker screening for certain roles and notification rules.

1. Work out which registration groups (classes of support) you will deliver, because they decide your audit type and the NDIS Practice Standards that apply.
2. Apply to the NDIS Commission. There is no registration fee, but you pay an approved quality auditor, and audit costs depend on your size and participant numbers, so get several quotes.
3. Complete a verification audit, a desktop review for lower-risk supports, or a certification audit for higher-risk supports, which has a desktop stage and then an onsite stage within 3 months.
4. Pass a suitability assessment of the business and its key personnel, such as the CEO, managers and board members. All key personnel need an NDIS worker screening clearance.
5. Receive a certificate of registration, generally for three years, and appear on the NDIS Provider Register.
6. If you completed a certification audit, prepare for a mid-term audit 18 months into your registration. New providers may also have to complete participant-engagement parts of an audit within a set time.
7. Tell the Commission about changes to key personnel and other notifiable events, and renew before your registration ends.

• The NDIA publishes what it considers appropriate and reasonable maximum prices for NDIS supports. For 2026–27 this is the NDIS Pricing Schedule, effective 1 July 2026.
• The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, introduced on 14 May 2026, proposes a power for the NDIS Minister to make pricing determinations setting maximum amounts.
• Changes to prices in existing service agreements must be discussed with participants, and participants must agree before they take effect.
• Under the Code of Conduct, you must not charge or represent higher prices for NDIS participants without reasonable justification.
• Only NDIS supports can be funded, and funding can't be spent on the 15 categories of goods and services on the list of supports that aren't NDIS supports.
• Wages are rising: home care disability employees under the SCHADS Award get an initial increase of up to 15% to minimum rates from 1 December 2026, with other award changes from 1 October 2027.
• Plan budgets are growing more slowly: total plan inflation was 4.7% a year in the June 2026 quarter, down from 5.9% in the March quarter.

• The Code of Conduct binds registered and unregistered providers, their key personnel and workers: act with integrity, honesty and transparency, deliver supports safely and competently, and respect participants' privacy and decisions.
• Providers must take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to violence, exploitation, neglect, abuse and sexual misconduct, and act promptly on quality and safety concerns.
• Registered providers must make sure workers in certain roles, including key personnel, have NDIS worker screening clearances.
• Staff of registered providers must complete the Commission's worker orientation module, Quality, safety and you.
• Workers on temporary visas need visa conditions that allow the work, which you can confirm through the Department of Home Affairs' VEVO service.
• Personal care for participants who live alone and are supported by one worker carries extra registration conditions, including risk assessment and monitoring.

• Marketing that implies NDIS funding for general fitness, gym memberships, recreation or massage not provided by an allied health professional for disability-related purposes. All are on the list of supports that aren't NDIS supports.
• In September 2026, after ACCC concerns about unfair contract terms, a fitness franchisor narrowed its restraints, reduced late-payment interest, removed early-termination fees and corrected false NDIS/NDIA claims.
• Revenue projections that assume NDIA-managed participants while you will be unregistered, or prices above the NDIA's pricing schedule.
• A brokerage arrangement under the franchisor's registration that doesn't spell out who claims, who is responsible and who pays for audits.
• No budget for audits, worker screening, incident management and complaints systems.
• Earnings claims made outside the disclosure document, or projections with no reasonable basis.
• Pressure to sign quickly. The franchisor can't sign until 14 days after you receive the disclosure document, a copy of the Code and the agreement in its final form, and must refund any payment made in that window within 14 days of your written request.

FranchiseScope doesn't quote a Register cost median for NDIS franchises: its aged and disability support category is mostly home care systems, so it isn't a reliable guide to NDIS-focused businesses. Use each franchisor's disclosure document instead.

• Upfront: franchise fee, audit fees, rostering, claiming and incident systems, training, insurance and vehicles.
• Wages at award rates, including the SCHADS increase from 1 December 2026, plus supervision, travel time and training.
• Ongoing fees: royalties, marketing levies and technology fees, and whether they are charged on NDIS revenue.
• Ramp-up: participants choose their providers, so ask current franchisees how long it took to build a caseload.
• Cash flow: payments can come from the NDIA, plan managers or participants, so check how quickly each pays. The NDIA reported 98.5% of its payments within 3 business days since 1 July 2025.

• Decide which supports you will deliver and whether they need registration.
• Confirm in writing whether you will hold your own registration or deliver under the franchisor's, and who carries the risk.
• Check the franchisor's registration details on the NDIS Provider Register.
• Test every service the franchisor markets as NDIS-funded against the lists of NDIS supports and supports that aren't NDIS supports.
• Model revenue with the 2026–27 pricing schedule and realistic caseloads, then stress-test it for pricing changes.
• Cost wages at award rates, including the SCHADS changes from 1 December 2026.
• Call current and former franchisees listed in the disclosure document.
• Get independent legal and accounting advice before you sign.