Last checked: 11 July 2026. This article provides general information about carer stress, NDIS Short Term Respite and Australian support services. It is not medical advice or a promise that a particular NDIS support will be funded.
Caring for a family member or friend with disability can be meaningful and demanding. Ongoing stress can build gradually, so recognising changes early and asking for support may reduce the risk of reaching a point where you feel unable to cope.
Recognise signs that you may need support
Carer stress and burnout can look different for each person. Healthdirect’s respite care guidance lists signs that you may need a break, including feeling tired all the time, difficulty concentrating, becoming easily annoyed, losing interest in activities and arguing more often than usual.
Other changes can include disrupted sleep, withdrawing from friends, feeling overwhelmed or noticing that your physical or mental health is getting worse. These signs do not mean you have failed as a carer. They are reasons to pause and consider what support you need.
Some of these symptoms can also be caused by a physical or mental health condition. Speak with your GP or another qualified health professional if symptoms persist, affect daily life or concern you. You do not need to wait for a crisis before asking for help.
Ask for help before pressure becomes a crisis
Some carers find it hard to ask for help. You may be used to handling everything yourself, worry that someone else will not understand the person’s needs, or feel unsure about what support is available.
A practical first step is to write down the tasks that are placing the most pressure on you. Then consider which tasks could safely be shared with family, friends or suitable services. Help might involve a meal, transport, shopping, a regular phone check-in or planned time away from caring.
It is also useful to make an emergency care plan. Record the person’s routines, communication preferences, medicines, important contacts and the support they need, then keep the plan somewhere a trusted person can find it.
What NDIS Short Term Respite means
The NDIS announced in October 2025 that Short Term Accommodation is now called Short Term Respite. You may still see Short Term Accommodation, or STA, in a plan or current NDIS material. The NDIS has said these names refer to the same support.
Short Term Respite gives an eligible participant time apart from their usual care arrangements for at least one night while the family members, friends or carers who normally support them take a short break. The focus is on the participant receiving the disability-related support they usually need during that time.
It can be used in individual or shared standard accommodation. Depending on the participant’s plan and usual support needs, the arrangement may also involve support in the participant’s own home or a suitable homestay. Participants pay for their own food and meals and for activity costs. NDIS funding may cover the disability-related support needed to prepare or eat a meal and to take part in an activity, but not the activity itself.
The current detailed NDIS guideline says that, for adults, a 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 must also apply. For participants under 18, separate criteria apply and funding is only provided in exceptional situations. These criteria do not create an automatic entitlement. The NDIA decides whether the support is included in a participant’s plan.
Who to ask about funding and providers
If a participant thinks they need Short Term Respite in their plan, the current NDIS guidance says to speak with their NDIS contact. If the participant already has Support Coordination in their plan, their Support Coordinator may help them understand options and connect with suitable providers as part of that role.
A plan manager has a different role. The NDIS guide for plan managers says plan managers manage funding, process invoices, pay providers and keep spending records. A plan manager is not responsible for finding and connecting a participant with providers or community services.
If a participant is asking for Short Term Respite to be added or changed, relevant information should focus on the participant’s disability-related support needs, the support they usually receive, what assistance they would need during respite, and how the arrangement may help sustain their informal supports. Carer stress can be important context, but carer need on its own does not guarantee NDIS funding.
Carer Gateway support is separate from NDIS funding
Carer Gateway is an Australian Government program offering free support for unpaid carers. Depending on eligibility, circumstances and local availability, support may include counselling, peer support, coaching, practical help, and planned or emergency respite.
Call Carer Gateway on 1800 422 737 to discuss available services. Its planned and emergency respite guidance says emergency respite can be requested at any time if a carer becomes sick or injured and cannot continue caring, subject to a suitable local service being available.
Your GP can also help if caring is affecting your physical or mental health. They can assess symptoms, discuss treatment or refer you to another health professional where appropriate.
Get urgent help when safety is at risk
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, needs urgent medical care, or may harm themselves or another person, call triple zero (000).
If you are in crisis and need support now, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Healthdirect maintains a current list of mental health helplines for carers and other people who need support.
If the immediate problem is that you have become sick or injured and cannot continue caring, call Carer Gateway on 1800 422 737 and ask about emergency respite.
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. Our Brisbane services are daily personal activities, independent living skills, social and community participation and Short Term Respite when they match the participant’s approved plan and service agreement.
We do not provide SIL, clinical services, Support Coordination, plan management, advocacy or legal advice. We cannot decide what the NDIA will fund, arrange changes to a participant’s plan or guarantee funding or respite outcomes.
We can discuss how support would be delivered, who would provide it, the participant’s routines and preferences, and whether our service appears to be a safe and suitable match. Funding questions should go to the participant’s NDIS contact.
Official sources
- NDIS: Short Term Accommodation is now called Short Term Respite
- NDIS: Current Short Term Respite funding guidance
- NDIS: Detailed short-term accommodation guideline
- NDIS: Guide to working as a plan manager
- Carer Gateway: What is Carer Gateway
- Carer Gateway: Planned and emergency respite
- Healthdirect: Respite care
- Healthdirect: Mental health helplines
