What is Short-Term Accommodation (STA)?

Short Term Accommodation (including respite care) is support for participants who need to live out of their home for a short period. It can be used as a respite for participants or to give carers a short break from their caring role. Short Term Accommodation includes the support you receive during your stay. This may include capacity-building activities or recreational activities like group therapy, group activities, and recreational activities including food.

How is Short Term Accommodation (STA) funded?

• The NDIS funds STA under the Core Support category ‘Assistance with Daily Living’.
• Usually, Short Term Accommodation is funded up to 28 days of per year. You can use your Short-Term Accommodation funding flexibly, for example, you might want to use it in a block of up to 14 days at a time or for one weekend a month.
• Depending on your needs, you may share a support worker with other guests to maximise value for money. Generally funding is for a shared support, unless you are explicitly funded for individual support because of your functional capacity.
• STA funding covers the cost of support, accommodation, food, and activities. It's designed to be flexible, allowing participants to choose when, where, and how they receive this support, ensuring their needs and preferences are met while maintaining their independence and well-being.

How can I get STA included in my plan?

• You can request the NDIS planner to include STA funding in your plan if you need it during your planning meeting.
• In this meeting, you should explain how much support you need and how having this support will have beneficial effect on you and your informal carers.
• For STA funding providing support information, evidence or quotes significant helps in justifying the STA funding. Report from an Occupational Therapist or a Psychologist can be a strong supporting document to justify STA funding. A letter from one of your informal supports, explaining their role and why respite care would help give them a break to avoid burn-out, can also be very useful and to justify the support as reasonable and necessary.

How do I find a respite care facility?

• There are many specialised respite care providers located throughout the country. These range from small homes to larger, hotel-style facilities. Each offers different services and support to their guests. Take your time to research what’s available and which STA providers meet your specific support needs. There are several websites and online communities that can help you with your search, so take a look around. A support coordinator can also be useful, both for helping you get the right level of funding in your plan and finding and connecting you with a suitable STA provider..