Last checked: 11 July 2026. This article gives general information about NDIS Short Term Respite and choosing a provider. It is not a promise that funding will be included in a participant's plan.
Choosing Short Term Respite is not about finding the busiest program or the longest list of activities. It is about matching the participant's usual disability-related support needs, the funded plan and a setting where they can feel safe and understood while their primary informal supports take a short break.
Start with what NDIS Short Term Respite actually means
The NDIS introduced the name Short Term Respite in October 2025. Current NDIS participant guidance and the detailed guideline still use the term short-term accommodation. Families may also encounter the common acronym STA in plans and provider information.
Under the current detailed NDIS guideline, short-term accommodation gives a participant time apart from their primary informal supports for at least one night. It allows someone else to provide the disability-related support the participant usually needs while their family, friends or carers have a short break.
Daytime support at home, an ordinary community outing and a social group may still be useful supports, but they are not automatically NDIS short-term accommodation. The funding purpose and the support in the participant's plan matter.
Check the current funding criteria before comparing providers
For adults, the detailed guideline says the participant must live with or get daily drop-in support from their primary informal supports, and receive more than six hours of disability-related support from those primary informal supports each day on a long-term basis. At least one additional factor from the detailed guideline must also apply. Read the current guideline for the complete list rather than assuming one general circumstance is enough.
For participants under 18, separate criteria apply and funding is only provided in exceptional situations. Short-term accommodation does not replace ordinary parenting responsibilities, school, work, normal community time or crisis accommodation.
These criteria do not guarantee funding. The NDIA decides whether the support is included in a participant's plan. The best place to ask about eligibility or a plan change is the participant's NDIS contact.
Know what the funding can and cannot pay for
The current NDIS short-term accommodation page says funding may cover standard accommodation and disability-related support for everyday activities, based on the level of support the participant usually needs. It may also cover support in the participant's own home or a suitable homestay arrangement in some circumstances.
Participants pay for their own food and meals. They also pay activity costs such as tickets, entry fees, equipment and memberships. NDIS funding may cover separately funded support to prepare or eat a meal and the disability-related support needed to take part in an activity, but not the activity itself.
The NDIA generally funds up to 28 days per year, used flexibly in blocks of up to 14 days at a time. The participant still needs to use the funding in line with their plan and make it last for the plan period.
Compare the setting with the participant's real needs
Short-term accommodation can take place in individual or shared standard accommodation. Depending on the plan and usual support needs, it may also involve support in the participant's own home or a suitable homestay arrangement.
Before choosing a setting, ask:
- Does it have the accessibility features the participant needs?
- Can the provider deliver the participant's usual level of personal care and overnight disability support where that is funded?
- How will routines, communication preferences, sensory needs and medication prompts be followed?
- Will support be individual or shared, and is that clear in the service agreement?
- Which costs are covered by the funded arrangement, and which costs will the participant pay personally?
Ask practical questions about the provider
A good provider should explain the proposed support plainly before anything is booked. Useful questions include:
- Who will provide the support, and can the participant meet them first?
- What experience does the worker have with the participant's disability-related support needs?
- How are incidents, health changes and after-hours concerns handled?
- How will the provider keep the participant and their chosen supporters informed?
- What are the cancellation, travel, accommodation and payment terms?
- How does the provider check that the support stays within the participant's plan and service agreement?
The right answer is not the same for every participant. What matters is a clear match between the funded support, the participant's preferences and a provider that is honest about its capability and boundaries.
Know who is responsible for each decision
The NDIA decides whether Short Term Respite is funded. A Support Coordinator may help a participant understand options and connect with providers if Support Coordination is funded in the plan. A plan manager processes invoices and helps the participant understand spending and payment administration. The respite provider is responsible for explaining and safely delivering the agreed service.
Keep those roles separate. A provider should not guarantee funding, and a plan manager does not decide eligibility.
Where HORIZONS Support Network fits
HORIZONS Support Network is a non-registered support-worker provider for self-managed and plan-managed participants only. We do not support NDIA-managed participants. We provide three ongoing support-worker services across Brisbane: Daily Personal Activities, Independent Living Skills, and Social and Community Participation. We also provide Short Term Respite as separate, planned support when it matches the participant's funded plan and service agreement.
We do not provide Support Coordination, Supported Independent Living (SIL), plan management, clinical services, advocacy or legal advice. We cannot decide or guarantee what the NDIA will fund.
We can discuss the participant's routines and preferences, the funded support they usually need, who would provide the support and whether HSN appears to be a safe and suitable match.
