As an independent Disability Support Worker, you can decide how much you want to charge for the NDIS support services that you provide - within limits.
But deciding what to charge per hour can be a tricky process - there are a lot of factors to consider when figuring out what to charge for your NDIS services.
In this article, we’ll dive into how to choose your NDIS support work rates.
Are There Limits On My Pricing?
Yes! The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits exist.
Some NDIS Participants will need to follow the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and won't be able to pay for services above the set rate. Others are able to negotiate prices. It all depends on the Type of NDIS Funding Plan the Participant has.
- Self-Managed Participants do not need to follow the price limits set by the NDIS. They can pay any price they negotiate with their Providers and use any Provider they want.
- Plan-Managed Participants can use any Provider they want (unregistered or registered), but cannot pay more than the rates in the Pricing Arrangements.
- Agency-Managed Participants can only use NDIS Registered Proviers. They cannot pay more than the rates set by the NDIS Pricing Arrangements.
Choosing Your Hourly Rate
If you’re using online Support Worker platforms like Kynd, you decide your rates.
When choosing the rates for your services, think about:
- The current NDIS Pricing Arrangements maximum weekday rate
- Discussing different rates with Participants (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun, Nights)
- Any travel, distances, other costs or transport involved
- What you and your Participants are happy with to ensure success
Also, think about:
- Your qualifications, skills and past experience
- What hourly rates do other Support Workers offer
- Typical prices in your area (higher or cheaper)
- Any special/rare skills you offer for Participants
If you're starting as a Support Worker, you can use a few strategies to help build your business. For instance, you may offer lower rates to attract more clients in the short term so you can build your reputation and experience and then increase your rate. While the overhead costs you have as a sole trader are extremely small compared to a larger organisation, you may want to factor these into your rates.
Price Positioning
As an independent Support Worker, you can position yourself in the market any way you wish. You may decide to position yourself as having lower rates to attract more requests for work. You may want to set your rate so clients see your services as good value, whether you offer cheaper rates or more services.
Or you may decide to charge top dollar and position yourself as a top-shelf choice. To do this, you may have to wait until you have the right profile, credentials and experience up your sleeve so that you can justify your higher prices.
Another way to position yourself is the ability to differentiate your rates. You could do this by offering different rates to Participants depending on their needs.
Or, instead of having different rates for different times you could have one rate no matter the time. This is a much simpler way to charge and will make you more attractive to Participants who regularly look for support on different weekdays.
Consistent Earnings For Independent Support Worker
One of the biggest challenges of being a sole trader is getting consistent payments and chasing invoices if they are not paid on time by Participants or their Plan Managers.
When you sign up as an independent Support Worker on Kynd, not only do you get to set your own rate, but you get guaranteed fortnightly payments!
Using Kynd also guarantees the lowest Support Worker platform rate - it means your Participants don't pay top dollar, allowing you to keep the bulk of your rates.
When you Bring Your Own (BYO) clients to Kynd, you get to keep 93% of your rate!
Summary
One of the perks of being an independent Support Worker is setting your own rate.
While there are a few limits you need to abide by while setting your rate, it's really a personal choice how much you charge. You're in control of your 'strategy'!
To get started as an independent Support Worker, sign up to Kynd today.
