Short Term Respite — NDIS Respite Care and Short Term Accommodation (STA)

What is short term respite?

Short term respite is temporary support that gives a participant, and the people who usually support them, a break from their normal arrangements. It might be a single night, a weekend or a longer stay, depending on what is needed and what has been agreed. Some respite includes accommodation away from a person's usual home; other arrangements bring extra support into the home instead.

People use respite for different reasons. It can give a participant new experiences, time with different people and a change of routine. It can also give a family member or carer time to rest, travel, attend to their own health or simply catch up. Aged-care respite care services work in a similar way for people over 65. Both reasons are valid, and it helps to say which one is driving your enquiry.

Arrangements vary a great deal from person to person, so there is no single version of respite that suits everyone. This page is general information to help you describe what you are looking for. It is not advice about your NDIS plan, your funding or your eligibility — those are matters for you and the people involved in your plan. You can see the wider range of supports we help with on our NDIS support services page.

What can NDIS respite care include?

What an arrangement covers differs between providers and between individual bookings, so treat the list below as details to confirm rather than as inclusions you can count on. Going into a conversation with these points ready usually makes the discussion much faster:

• Accommodation — whether a stay away from home is part of the arrangement, and what the setting is like.
• Personal support — the day-to-day assistance provided during the stay, including overnight support if you need it.
• Meals and activities — what is provided, what you bring, and what happens during the day.
• Accessibility — the practical requirements of the building and the support, described in your own terms.
• Duration and timing — how long a stay can run, and the dates or notice periods a provider works to.
• Personal care — closely related support with self-care, which we cover separately under NDIS personal care supports.

How to find short term respite

The most useful thing you can give us is a clear picture of your situation. That means your location, the support the participant needs, any preferences about the setting or the people involved, and the timing you have in mind. Approximate dates are fine — knowing whether you are looking at next month or next year changes the conversation.

You can read how provider matching works for a step-by-step explanation of what happens after you enquire and how your details are handled. My Care Link Australia connects NDIS participants, families and plan nominees with disability-support services; we do not deliver respite ourselves and we do not hold live vacancy information. Where the support you describe is really ongoing rather than temporary, NDIS support workers may be the closer fit, and you can say so in your enquiry.

When you speak with a provider directly, it is worth asking about their registration status, exactly what a stay includes, whether the setting suits the participant's needs and what dates they can actually work with. Confirm those details before you commit to anything. If you would rather talk it through with a person first, enquire about short term respite and our team will get back to you.

What is NDIS respite care and Short Term Accommodation (STA)?

Short Term Accommodation, usually shortened to STA, is the term the NDIS uses for a stay away from home that includes the support a participant needs while they are there. Most people call the same thing respite care, and the two phrases are often used interchangeably in everyday conversation.

A stay can be a single night, a weekend or a longer block. Some people book it regularly through the year; others use it once, around a family event, a carer's illness or a change in circumstances. Respite delivered in the participant's own home, rather than away from it, is a different arrangement again and is worth naming clearly when you enquire.

This page is written for participants, families, carers and support coordinators who are trying to work out what to ask for. It is general information rather than advice about your plan, your funding or your eligibility — those remain matters for you and the people involved in your plan.

How to enquire about NDIS respite care

Use the enquiry form on this page and tell us the participant's location, the support they need day to day, whether overnight assistance is involved and roughly when you are hoping for a stay. Approximate dates are genuinely useful — knowing whether you mean next month or next summer changes which providers are worth approaching.

Once you send that through, our team reviews it and connects you with disability-support providers to consider. The conversation about what is actually available, what a stay includes and what it costs happens directly with them. We do not deliver respite ourselves and we do not hold live vacancy information, so nothing here should be read as a promise of a place.

If you would rather talk it through with a person first, contact My Care Link Australia. Where the need turns out to be ongoing rather than temporary, NDIS support workers or supported independent living may be the closer fit.