How Many Domestic Assistance Hours Should Be in an NDIS Plan?

Published by SESI Care Services · Updated August 2026 · 2-minute summary

Quick answer: There is no standard number of domestic assistance hours in an NDIS plan. The NDIA funds the hours that are reasonable and necessary for you — based on which household tasks your disability stops you doing, how often they need doing, and what family or housemates can fairly be expected to share. Domestic assistance is paid from Core – Assistance with Daily Life at the standard support-worker price — $73.58 per hour on a weekday in 2026–27 — so four hours a week costs about $15,300 a year from your plan.

Key takeaways

• Domestic assistance means a support worker helping with cleaning, laundry, meals, shopping and home organisation. It is funded under Core – Assistance with Daily Life.
• The NDIA funds tasks you cannot do because of your disability — not tasks you would rather not do.
• The starting point is a list of tasks, how long each takes and how often — then subtract what you can do and what others in the household fairly share.
• The 2026–27 price is $73.58 per hour for weekday daytime support; evenings, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays cost more.
• Core is flexible, so hours can move between domestic help, personal care and community access within the same budget.
• If your plan falls short, ask for a plan variation with a task list and, ideally, an OT functional assessment.

What counts as domestic assistance under the NDIS?

Domestic assistance is support-worker help with the running of your home. The NDIS price guide calls it assistance with personal domestic activities, and it sits inside Core – Assistance with Daily Life. Typical tasks:

• Cleaning — vacuuming, mopping, bathrooms, kitchen, changing beds
• Laundry — washing, drying, folding, ironing
• Meals — planning, shopping, preparation, cooking
• Shopping and errands
• Organising and decluttering living spaces
• Light garden and bin tasks, where these are not covered by a separate yard maintenance line

Two things are not domestic assistance. Standard household items — a vacuum cleaner, cleaning products, a dishwasher — are everyday living costs, not NDIS supports, under the NDIS Support Lists. And personal care — showering, dressing, toileting — is a separate kind of support, assistance with personal activities, although it is paid from the same Core budget.

SESI’s household tasks service covers cleaning, laundry, meal preparation and home organisation across Victoria.

How does the NDIA decide how many hours to fund?

The NDIA applies the reasonable and necessary test to domestic assistance like any other support. In practice the planner is weighing four things:

1. Functional capacity. Which tasks can you not do, or not do safely, because of your disability? Fatigue, pain, mobility, cognition and mental health all count. A task you can do on a good day but not a bad day is still a task you need help with.
2. Frequency. How often does each task genuinely need doing to keep the home safe and healthy — not spotless, but safe.
3. Informal supports and shared responsibility. If you live with a partner or adult family, the NDIA expects household tasks to be shared the way they would be in any household. It funds the gap your disability creates, not the whole load.
4. Evidence. A functional assessment from an occupational therapist, a GP letter describing functional impact, or a record of what has and has not been managed in the current plan.

There is no published hours-per-week table. Two people with the same diagnosis can be funded very differently because their homes, households and capacity differ.

What does a domestic assistance hour cost in 2026–27?

Support-worker time is priced by the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits. From 1 July 2026:

Time of support	2026–27 price limit (per hour)
Weekday daytime (6am–8pm)	$73.58
Weekday evening (after 8pm)	Higher — see the price guide
Saturday	Higher
Sunday	Higher again
Public holiday	Highest

The weekday figure is the one that drives most domestic assistance budgets, because cleaning and laundry are usually rostered in daytime hours. Our 2026–27 price guide explains the 4.8% rise that took effect in July. Some providers also offer a cleaning service under a separate house and yard maintenance line, which is priced lower than support-worker time; ask what you are being charged.

These are price limits — the most a registered provider can charge — not a bill. The money is claimed from your plan.

A worked example

Maria lives alone in a two-bedroom unit. Her disability means she cannot vacuum, mop, change bed linen or carry washing, and cooking is unsafe on bad days. She can wipe benches, load the dishwasher and make simple meals most days.

Task	Time	Frequency	Hours per week
Vacuum and mop	1 hour	Weekly	1.0
Bathroom and kitchen clean	1 hour	Weekly	1.0
Laundry and bed change	1 hour	Weekly	1.0
Meal preparation (batch cook)	1 hour	Weekly	1.0
Total			4.0

Four hours a week, rostered as two two-hour visits on weekdays:

4 hours × $73.58 × 52 weeks = $15,304.64 per year from Core – Assistance with Daily Life.

If Maria also needed a support worker for the weekly shop, she would add the shopping hours plus any transport component. If she lived with an adult son who could reasonably do the vacuuming, the NDIA would expect that task to come off the list.

How should the hours be rostered?

The number of hours matters less than the shape of them:

• Fewer, longer visits (two hours) suit cleaning and laundry — a worker can finish a whole task set in one go.
• Short, frequent visits suit people whose fatigue means tasks must be broken up, or where meal support is needed most days.
• Keep weekday daytime wherever possible; weekend rates can use the same budget 1.5 to 2 times faster.
• Use Core flexibility. Core funding can move between domestic assistance, personal care and community access. A quiet fortnight at home can free hours for a community outing, and vice versa.

Newer plans release funding in funding periods, often three-monthly, so plan the roster against the period, not the annual total.

Can I get more hours if my plan is not enough?

Yes. You can ask the NDIA for a plan variation (a change to the current plan) or a plan reassessment (a new plan). The request is stronger when it includes:

• A task list like Maria’s, showing time and frequency.
• What has gone undone in the current plan, and the consequence — a fall on a wet floor, a health issue from a dirty kitchen, a family member who can no longer sustain the load.
• An occupational therapy functional assessment, if you can get one.
• A GP letter describing functional impact, not just the diagnosis.

The 2026 NDIS changes that start on 1 October 2026 tighten some budgets, but the Government has said supports for critical care and everyday living are not the target. A well-evidenced domestic assistance request remains a routine one. A support coordinator can prepare it with you; SESI’s Support Coordination works by phone and video Australia-wide.

Can capacity building reduce the hours I need?

Often, yes — and it is worth raising with your planner because it is exactly what the NDIA likes to fund. An OT can recommend a lightweight vacuum, a perching stool, a trolley, or a different way of doing a task that brings it back within your reach. Over a plan or two, that can turn a four-hour week into a two-hour week, with the difference available for things you would rather do. The OT assessment comes from Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living; any equipment comes from Capital.

Frequently asked questions

Talk to SESI

If the housework is getting on top of you — or on top of the person you care for — tell us what is going on and we will help you work out the hours and who should deliver them.

Tell us what’s going on: sesi.com.au/referral · Call: 1800 017 374

This guide is general information based on the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2026–27, the NDIS Support Lists and NDIA guidance current at August 2026. The worked example is illustrative. It is not advice about your individual plan; contact the NDIA on 1800 800 110 for decisions about your plan.