NDIA Accountability Project

This project is in DRAFT

Our guideline - Short Term Accommodation or Respite

‹ PrevPage 1 of 7 · Source p. 1Next ›

Our guideline - Short Term Accommodation or Respite

Quick summary: Short Term Accommodation, including respite, is funding for support and accommodation for a short time away from your usual home. It covers the cost of your care in another place for up to 14 days at a time. You might have a short stay with other people, or by yourself. It’s often funded when your usual carers aren’t available, or for you to try new things.

On this page:

  • What is Short Term Accommodation, including respite?
  • How do we make decisions about Short Term Accommodation?
  • How do you get Short Term Accommodation in your plan?

We have separate pages for:

  • Medium Term Accommodation
  • Supported Independent Living1
  • Home and living

What is Short Term Accommodation, including respite?

Short Term Accommodation, including respite, is support for when you need to live out of home for a short period.

Short Term Accommodation funding can be used for respite to support you and your carers. This gives your carers a short break from their caring role.

Sometimes a short stay away from home:

  • gives you the chance to try new things
  • can be a place to make new friends or develop new skills
  • may help to maintain your current living situation by giving your informal supports a break.

Short Term Accommodation may suit your needs if your usual support network isn’t available for a short period.

Disclosure Log-FOI 24/25-0547

Short Term Accommodation includes:

  • personal care
  • accommodation
  • food
  • activities you and the provider agree to.

Usually, we fund up to 28 days of Short Term Accommodation 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. We fund standard rates for Short Term Accommodation. You can find the rates in the NDIS pricing arrangements and price limits.

Generally funding is for a group price, unless there is evidence you require individual support because of your disability. This means you may share supports with other people unless you need individual support because of your disability.

If you already have funding in your Core budget, you can use this for Short Term Accommodation. You can choose to use your Core budget on a range of supports like Short Term Accommodation to suit your needs. You should think about the best way to use your budget to pursue the goals in your plan. Learn more about using your plan.

If you need short term out of home care talk to your support coordinator, local area coordinator, early childhood partner or planner. We may fund other supports if you need longer term accommodation support. For example, we might fund Medium Term Accommodation (MTA) or other supports depending upon your support needs. Learn more here: Home and living and medium term accommodation.

Page 2 of 56

How do we make decisions about Short Term Accommodation?

All NDIS supports need to meet the NDIS funding criteria.

When we think about Short Term Accommodation we need to know:

  • the need for Short Term Accommodation is related to your disability
  • it helps you pursue your goals
  • it helps you to participate in the community
  • it’s value for money
  • how much support your family and other informal supports provide.

We can only fund Short Term Accommodation if it relates to your disability support needs.

We may fund Short Term Accommodation if: We wouldn’t fund Short Term Accommodation for:
- your family or informal supports can support you for longer2
  • you might not need as much support in the future3
  • it helps you maintain functional capacity
  • it helps you increase your independence4
  • it helps you do more activities5 | - longer term accommodation as this is a day to day living cost that anyone is expected to pay
  • accommodation for another reason, for example waiting for home modifications to be done. |

We consider other factors when funding Short Term Accommodation for children. Learn more about this in the section what about short term accommodation for children?.

Short Term Accommodation is not for holidays. We only fund Short Term Accommodation when the need for this is related to your disability, such as for respite or skill building. Talk to your support coordinator, local area coordinator, early childhood partner or planner if you’re going on holiday and need your disability support delivered in another location.

— Page 3 of 56 —

Does Short Term Accommodation help you pursue your goals?

Short Term Accommodation needs to support you to pursue your goals. This might be something like increasing your independence or building your skills, which may also result in carers having a break. Learn more about setting goals.

Does Short Term Accommodation help you to participate in the community?

We need to understand how Short Term Accommodation will help you participate in the community. For example, it might help you meet new people and develop your independence or social skills.

Is Short Term Accommodation value for money?

One of the things we look at is “value for money.” This means we think about the cost of Short Term Accommodation and how it will benefit you over time. We think about whether you can share supports with other people. And how many people you can safely share your supports with. This helps us decide what level of support for Short Term Accommodation we fund in your plan. Usually, we don’t fund individual supports in a Short Term Accommodation setting. You should think about this when exploring Short Term Accommodation options to decide what is most suitable for you.

Do we expect family and informal supports to provide care for you?

When deciding what supports we may fund we also think about your informal supports. Informal supports are your family, friends, and community networks who support you. We consider if they’re able to continue to support you in the long term. We’ll also think about if we might fund other things that can help support your carers. We may fund Short Term Accommodation with other supports that provide a respite effect, and help your carers keep supporting you in the long term. This may include:

  • support to access the community
  • in home care and support
  • capacity building supports. We’ll consider the risk to you and your family’s wellbeing if they continue to support you (without Short Term Accommodation). We also look at how the support provided by your

What about Short Term Accommodation for children?

We may fund Short Term Accommodation for children if it meets the NDIS funding criteria. It depends on the child’s needs and their family, or carers. We’ll consider the whole family situation. We’ll also talk to parents and children about other funded supports that may also be available to help.

We might fund Short Term Accommodation for children who need much more support than other children their age. For example, parents usually help young children with toileting, but we don’t expect this for a teenager or adult without a disability.

We can provide funding for other supports as well as Short Term Accommodation. This may help families to:

  • support a child in the long term
  • maintain your family situation.

Other supports might include:

  • support in your home
  • training to carry out a behaviour support plan or build capacity in other areas. For example, this might help parents support their child in creating a sleep routine
  • community access to help you socialise and interact with your community
  • help to supervise behaviours of concern or support positive behaviour strategies.

What about supports for children at risk of needing accommodation outside the family home?

We may fund more than 28 days per year if children are at risk of going to residential care. We won’t fund more than 30 days at a time or more than 60 days per year. But first we’ll look at what mix of supports might help a child and family to stay together. For example, this may include:

  • Short Term Accommodation including respite
  • personal care in your home
  • supports to access the community
  • supports to help manage behaviours of concern

How do you get Short Term Accommodation in your plan?

Remember, you may not need funding for Short Term Accommodation put into your plan. You can choose to use your Core budget on supports like Short Term Accommodation if it helps you pursue your goals. Learn more about using your plan.

Talk to your support coordinator, local area coordinator, early childhood partner or planner if you’d like to learn more about Short Term Accommodation.

You can ask for a change to your plan if your situation has changed. Or, if you think your current plan doesn’t have the Short Term Accommodation support you need.6 Learn more about changing your plan.

Can you use Short Term Accommodation in a crisis situation?

Short Term Accommodation is not for housing crisis situations. Short Term Accommodation can only be funded where the need relates directly to your disability. Learn more about disability related supports at is Short Term Accommodation related to your disability? If you’re homeless or need somewhere to live you can contact homeless services in your state or territory. You can learn about supports available through Homelessness Australia.

Sometimes a crisis can occur such as your carers suddenly can’t care for you. Or you’re at risk of harm in your current home. We can help you work out the best option to meet your disability support needs. Contact your support coordinator, local area coordinator, early childhood partner or planner for more information.

Page 6 of 56

Reference list

2 NDIS (Supports for Participants) Rules r 3.1(b)(ii)(A). 3 NDIS (Supports for Participants) Rules r 3.1(c). 4 NDIS Act s 34(1)(b). 5 NDIS Act s 34(1)(b).

6 NDIS Act ss47A(2); 48(2)

Page 7 of 56