Last checked: 27 August 2026. This page explains in-home NDIS respite in general terms. It is not a promise that funding will be included in a participant's plan.

If you are a Brisbane carer, a genuine break often looks like this: a named support worker comes to the house, the usual routine stays put, and you can rest or step out without packing overnight bags. This page explains what in-home NDIS respite is, how it differs from overnight short-term respite, how it is usually funded, and where Horizons Support Network can help self-managed and plan-managed families. If caring is already taking a heavy toll, also read our guide to carer burnout, warning signs and respite.

The NDIS decides what is funded. A provider delivers support that already sits in the plan.

What in-home respite actually means

In-home respite is disability-related support in the participant's own home so primary informal supports (family, friends or a carer) can take a real break. The participant stays in familiar rooms, with familiar objects and, where possible, a consistent worker.

A daytime visit is usually hourly support: personal care, meals, household help and companionship that match the funded plan. That kind of help often sits in Core Supports under Assistance with Daily Life. See our daily personal activities page and what NDIS funds for assistance with daily life.

If the need is disability-related help with cleaning, laundry or keeping the home safe, read Help with the house.

Overnight support at home is different. Current NDIS participant guidance describes overnight time apart from usual care arrangements as short-term accommodation. An October 2025 NDIS update also introduced the name Short Term Respite. Families may still see the older acronym STA in a plan. These names refer to the same overnight support, not to three different products.

Official NDIS guidance says that support can be used in standard accommodation, in the participant's own home, or in a homestay arrangement where overnight support is usually needed. It is generally funded for up to 28 days a year, used flexibly in blocks of up to 14 days. That is a general rule, not a promise that any one plan will include it.

In-home support, overnight respite, and related options

In-home, usually daytime. A worker comes to the house so the carer can rest or leave. Funding is typically Core, billed by the hour, and shaped around the participant's usual disability-related needs.

Overnight in the same home. This can sit under short-term accommodation / Short Term Respite when the NDIA funds time apart from primary informal supports for at least one night. The participant does not have to leave home for that support to count.

A short stay somewhere else. Same overnight respite support, in a hotel, motel, short-stay rental, cabin, cottage, hostel or respite house, if that is what the plan allows.

Time in the community. A worker may take the participant out so the carer has the house. That can be useful, but it is usually social and community participation, not overnight respite. See our services.

Emergency or crisis cover. Planned in-home support is not crisis accommodation, and it is not an on-call emergency service. Official NDIS guidance is clear that short-term accommodation does not replace mainstream crisis supports. Horizons does not provide emergency care.

If you are weighing a planned overnight stay, read our Short Term Respite page. For questions to ask any provider before you book, see choosing NDIS respite care.

What a worker might do at home

Support should match the participant's usual disability-related needs and the service agreement. In an in-home visit that can include personal care (showering, dressing, grooming, toileting), help with meals the participant already pays for, household tasks that keep the day running, companionship, and overnight support in the home where that is funded and agreed.

The NDIS funds the disability-related support. It does not fund holidays, cruises, airfares, entertainment tickets, or food and meals. The worker's time to help prepare or eat a meal is the support, not the groceries. Short-term accommodation also does not replace ordinary time apart through school, work or community activities, and it does not replace ordinary parenting or babysitting for children.

How families usually get this into a plan

Raise the need with the participant's NDIS contact at planning or a plan reassessment. Useful evidence is practical: how many hours of disability-related support primary informal supports already give, what happens if they cannot, and why a break at home (or overnight) would sustain that caring arrangement.

You do not have to engage a Support Coordinator to ask. If Support Coordination is already funded, that person can help implement the arrangement once the funded scope is clear. A plan manager can help with budget, invoices and payment administration. The NDIA still decides eligibility and funding.

Current NDIS guidance for overnight short-term accommodation, for adults, generally looks for someone who lives with or gets daily drop-in support from primary informal supports, and who receives more than six hours a day of disability-related support from those people. Extra guideline factors can apply. For participants under 18, funding is only considered in some situations and does not replace normal parenting. Read the current short-term accommodation page rather than assuming one circumstance is enough.

Self-managed and plan-managed participants can usually choose a non-registered provider when the support fits the plan. Registration is not a requirement for this kind of everyday support-worker help. Horizons cannot support NDIA-managed funding.

What official price limits look like in 2026-27

The NDIA publishes national price limits. They are not a quote from Horizons, and the agreed rate is always confirmed in the service agreement before support starts. Limits also change with the support item, time of day and whether the area is remote.

From the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 (effective 1 July 2026), national limits for standard one-to-one Assistance With Self-Care Activities are:

Weekday daytime: $73.58 an hour
Saturday: $103.54 an hour
Sunday: $133.50 an hour
Public holiday: $163.46 an hour

Evening and night limits are different, and overnight short-term accommodation uses its own line items in the same schedule. Check the current Pricing Arrangements page, because the figures update. For the 2026-27 schedule name, plan-managed vs self-managed rules, and why 1 October is not a price change, read What the NDIS pricing schedule is in 2026.

Who Horizons is, and who we are not

Horizons Support Network is a family-run, Brisbane-based team. We keep the same named workers where we can, we listen first, and we shape support around the life someone actually lives. We are a non-registered NDIS provider for self-managed and plan-managed participants only.

We do provide daily personal activities, independent living skills, social and community participation, and planned Short Term Respite when it matches the funded plan and service agreement.

We do not provide Support Coordination, plan management, Supported Independent Living (SIL), assisted living as SIL, clinical or nursing care, palliative care, 24/7 medical cover, high-intensity clinical supports, or support for NDIA-managed participants. We do not provide emergency respite. We cannot decide or guarantee what the NDIA will fund.

If we are not the right fit, we will say so in the first conversation. Check current availability for Brisbane and nearby suburbs.

Talk it through

If in-home support would give your household a real break, make an enquiry or call 0450 780 086. A real person replies within one business day. There is no pressure and no obligation, just a clear conversation about the plan, the routine and whether we have the right worker near you.

Make an enquiry

Official NDIS sources

Further reading (not an HSN recommendation): Opulent Private Care, home supports overview.

A break that stays at home