NDIS respite and Short-Term Accommodation, explained
What Short-Term Accommodation covers, how respite is funded, how many days you can usually access, and how STA differs from Medium-Term Accommodation.
In short
- Short-Term Accommodation is what the NDIS calls respite.
- The funded rate bundles accommodation, food, activities and support into one daily cost.
- Plans commonly fund up to around 28 days a year — check yours rather than assuming.
- It is a break for everyone, and often a first safe try at living away from home.
- STA is not Medium-Term Accommodation; MTA is the longer bridge to a confirmed home.
Respite has an image problem. For a lot of families the word still carries a faint suggestion of giving up, or of somebody being sent away. The NDIS calls it Short-Term Accommodation, and what it actually funds is a stay somewhere else for a few days — with support, food and things to do included. Used well it is one of the most practical supports in the scheme, and one of the most underused.
What Short-Term Accommodation covers
STA is funded as a bundled daily rate, which is the part people find surprising. One cost covers all of it:
- Somewhere to stay — a dedicated respite house, a host arrangement, or a supported holiday-style setting
- Support during the stay, including overnight support where it is needed
- Meals and everyday living costs for the duration
- Activities and community access while you are there
You are not paying separately for accommodation and then again for support. That bundling is why STA looks expensive per day compared with an hourly support and why comparing the two figures directly is misleading — they are not measuring the same thing.
How much you can usually access
Plans commonly fund up to around 28 days of STA a year, often taken in shorter blocks rather than all at once. Treat that as the usual shape rather than an entitlement: the amount in your plan depends on your assessed need and your circumstances, and the figures the NDIA works to are adjusted over time. Your plan is the authority, and your planner can confirm what yours allows.
It is a break for everyone, and that is allowed
STA is explicitly funded on the basis that sustainable informal support matters. If a parent, partner or sibling is providing a great deal of unpaid care, the arrangement holding together depends on them getting genuine rest — not rest in the same house while remaining on call.
Saying that out loud is not a confession of failure. Carer exhaustion is one of the most common reasons long-standing home arrangements break down suddenly, and a planned break is considerably cheaper, kinder and less disruptive than a crisis. Providers who make families feel awkward about asking are getting this backwards.
The other thing respite quietly does
For a lot of younger participants, a few nights in STA is the first time they have slept anywhere other than the family home with someone other than family. That is a rehearsal for something bigger, and it tells everyone a great deal: what support is genuinely needed overnight, what somebody can do for themselves, what they enjoy when the usual routine is not running.
Families weighing up whether independent living could work often learn more from two respite stays than from months of discussion. If that is the direction you are thinking in, it is worth understanding what SIL involves before the conversation gets formal.
STA is not MTA, and the difference matters
These two get confused constantly, and the consequences are practical. STA is a short break — days at a time, taken as needed, funded from Core supports. Medium-Term Accommodation is a longer bridge, for when you have a confirmed longer-term home to move into but cannot move in yet, typically because a build, a modification or an approval is still in progress.
Asking for the wrong one wastes time you may not have. If the need is "we cannot keep going without a break", that is STA. If it is "we have somewhere to go and nowhere to be until it is ready", that is MTA.
Emergency respite is harder, so plan early
Respite houses book out, particularly over school holidays and at Christmas. Support has to be rostered and matched to the person staying, and that cannot be arranged well at short notice.
Genuine emergencies do happen and providers do respond to them, but the honest position is that an emergency booking gets you whatever is available rather than what suits best. Booking the school holidays months ahead is unglamorous advice and it is the advice that works. A support coordinator can hold that calendar for you if keeping track of it is one thing too many.
What good respite looks like
A good STA stay feels like going somewhere, not being placed somewhere. The person staying knows who will be there and what the plan is before they arrive. Support workers have read enough to know how they take their tea and what upsets them. There are actual activities rather than a television. Everyone comes home a bit better than they left.
Done badly it is a holding arrangement with staff who have never met the person, and one bad stay can put a family off respite for years — which is a real cost, because it usually means going without the break entirely.
The bottom line
Short-Term Accommodation is a small support that protects a much larger arrangement. If the people around you are running on empty, that is a reason to use it, not a reason to feel guilty. And if you are quietly wondering whether living somewhere else could work one day, a few nights away is a gentler way to find out than a move.
If you are not sure what your plan allows or what a stay would actually look like, a free Meet & Greet will get you a straight answer — including if the honest answer is that something else fits better.
Explore the related Gencare supports
Common questions
Short-Term Accommodation is what the NDIS funds instead of what most people call respite. It covers a stay away from home for a few days, and the funded daily rate bundles the accommodation, the support during the stay, meals and everyday living costs, and activities. It is funded from your Core supports.
Plans commonly include up to around 28 days a year, frequently used in shorter blocks rather than in one stretch. Treat that as the usual pattern rather than a guarantee — the amount depends on your assessed need, and the figures the NDIA works to change over time. Your plan is the authority on what you actually have.
Both, and the NDIS funds it on that basis. Sustainable informal support is part of what keeps a home arrangement working, so a genuine break for the people providing unpaid care is a legitimate purpose. For the person staying it is also often a first experience of being supported by someone other than family, which is valuable in its own right.
Short-Term Accommodation is a break of a few days, used as needed. Medium-Term Accommodation is a longer stay for people who have a confirmed longer-term home but cannot move in yet — usually because a build, modification or approval is still in progress. Asking for the wrong one costs time, so it is worth being clear which situation you are in.
Sometimes, but honestly it is difficult. Respite houses book out, especially in school holidays and around Christmas, and support has to be rostered and matched to the person staying. Providers do respond to real emergencies, but an urgent booking gets you what is available rather than what fits best. Booking ahead is the thing that actually works.
STA is funded from your Core supports, so it draws on the same flexible budget as your everyday assistance. That means it is worth planning across the year rather than spending it early, and worth raising at a plan review if the amount is not matching what you genuinely need.
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