Short-Term Accommodation is one of the more misunderstood NDIS supports. For example, many people are unsure where to find NDIS short term accommodation Werribee services or what they involve.
Participants and families may hear it described as respite, a short break, temporary accommodation—or sometimes even an NDIS-funded holiday.
That last description can create serious confusion.
Current National Disability Insurance Scheme guidance makes the purpose much clearer: Short-Term Accommodation (STA) provides a participant with time apart from their usual care arrangements while the family members, friends or carers who provide substantial informal disability-related support have a short break from their caring responsibilities.
There has also been a very recent terminology change worth knowing. The NDIA changed the name to “short-term respite” in October 2025, but following community feedback, the terminology was changed back to Short-Term Accommodation from 1 July 2026.
For participants, families and referral partners in Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Wyndham Vale, Manor Lakes, Tarneit, Truganina, Point Cook and surrounding communities, here’s what STA actually means under the current rules.
What Is NDIS Short-Term Accommodation?
STA provides temporary disability-related support when a participant has time apart from their usual informal support arrangements.
Current NDIA guidance says a participant may be able to receive STA funding where they live with their primary informal supports—or receive daily drop-in support—and receive more than six hours a day of disability-related support from their primary informal support.
“Primary informal supports” generally means people such as family members, friends or carers providing substantial unpaid disability-related assistance.
The central purpose of STA is therefore not simply accommodation.
It is helping sustain the participant’s normal informal support arrangement by giving the people providing substantial care a short break while ensuring the participant continues receiving appropriate support.
Is STA the Same as an NDIS-Funded Holiday?
No.
This distinction is particularly important in 2026.
The NDIA explicitly says STA funding cannot be used for:
- cruises or holiday packages;
- holiday accommodation;
- airfares;
- passports or visas;
- travel or vehicle insurance;
- family members’ holiday accommodation or travel;
- support-worker holiday travel or accommodation;
- theme parks;
- cinema, theatre, music or sporting-event costs;
- conference costs; or
- food and meals.
The current rules therefore focus funding on the disability support and legitimate accommodation components of STA, rather than financing a holiday.
That does not mean the participant cannot enjoy themselves while using STA.
It means the NDIS is funding an eligible disability support—not the ordinary costs of taking a holiday.
What Can STA Funding Pay For?
Current NDIA guidance identifies several legitimate uses.
Disability-related daily support
STA can fund supports that help a participant with everyday activities such as:
- showering;
- toileting;
- cooking; and
- other relevant everyday disability support.
The level of support funded is based on what the participant normally requires.
Standard accommodation
STA may include standard accommodation such as a:
- hotel;
- motel;
- short-stay rental;
- cabin;
- cottage;
- hostel; or
- respite accommodation setting.
The key word is standard.
STA is intended to meet the participant’s support and accommodation needs—not pay for luxury holiday inclusions.
Support in your own home
Interestingly, STA does not always require the participant to leave home.
Current guidance says it can potentially involve the participant remaining in their own home with a support worker where they ordinarily require overnight support. A homestay arrangement may also be possible in appropriate circumstances.
This reinforces the purpose of STA.
The objective is creating appropriate time apart from usual informal support arrangements—not simply booking accommodation elsewhere.
How Many Days of STA Can the NDIS Fund?
Current NDIA guidance says STA is usually funded for up to 28 days per year.
Participants can use that funding flexibly.
For example, it might be used as:
one weekend each month, or
a longer block of up to 14 days at one time.
The appropriate arrangement depends on the participant’s individual circumstances and plan.
Importantly, 28 days should not be interpreted as an automatic annual entitlement for every NDIS participant.
The NDIA considers whether STA is appropriate for the participant and their informal support arrangements.
Why Might a Family Use STA?
Imagine an adult participant in Werribee who lives with a parent providing substantial disability-related assistance every day.
The parent may assist with personal care, routines, meals, supervision and other everyday needs.
That arrangement may work well—but sustaining intensive unpaid care over a long period can be demanding.
Where STA is included in the participant’s plan, the participant can receive appropriate support from somebody else for a short period while their primary informal support has time away from their usual caring responsibilities.
The participant still receives the assistance they normally require.
The informal carer gets an opportunity to take a break and then continue their caring role.
That is much closer to STA’s actual purpose than thinking of it as a holiday budget.
Can Children Receive STA Funding?
Potentially, but different considerations apply.
Current NDIA guidance says STA may be funded for participants under 18 in some circumstances, including where:
the child’s disability-related support needs are greater than what would normally be expected for their age, and
STA would help the family continue providing care.
However, STA does not replace ordinary parenting responsibilities.
The NDIA specifically identifies normal parenting activities such as ordinary help with toileting, settling a child to sleep or babysitting as examples of responsibilities STA is not intended to replace.
The distinction is the additional disability-related support required beyond what would ordinarily be expected for a child of the same age.
Important July 2026 Changes to STA Pricing
There is another current change participants, plan managers and Support Coordinators should know about.
From 1 July 2026, the updated NDIS pricing schedule separates STA into different components.
The NDIA has explained that the accommodation component now contains separate items for participant and support-worker accommodation. The support-worker component also enables claims to reflect the actual hours, timing and intensity of support delivered.
This supports an important principle:
participants should only pay for supports they actually receive.
Current NDIA guidance specifically says participants should only pay for the supports they use.
Participants, families and plan managers should therefore look carefully at STA invoices rather than assuming a single bundled amount is automatically correct.
Can You Choose Where You Receive STA?
Current guidance provides flexibility.
STA can potentially occur in:
your own home;
an individual accommodation setting; or
a shared accommodation setting.
The setting should make sense for the participant’s needs.
A participant who requires a quiet environment may have different requirements from someone who enjoys shared settings.
Accessibility, communication needs, personal care, routines, overnight support and participant preferences should all be considered before arranging STA.
Should You Travel Interstate for STA?
Generally, the NDIA says participants should use STA funding within their home state or territory.
There can be an exception where a participant lives in a remote area and suitable arrangements require travel elsewhere.
For participants in metropolitan Melbourne, STA should therefore generally be organised within Victoria.
This is another reason to be cautious about advertising that presents STA as an opportunity for NDIS-funded interstate holidays.
STA Is Different From Medium-Term Accommodation
Short-Term Accommodation and Medium-Term Accommodation (MTA) solve very different problems.
STA is primarily about giving a participant and their primary informal supports appropriate time apart.
Medium-Term Accommodation is temporary housing for an eligible participant who has somewhere appropriate to move into but cannot move there yet.
Current NDIA guidance also makes clear that MTA only covers accommodation. It does not include food, electricity, internet or personal-care support, although separately funded NDIS supports may continue while the participant is staying there.
Someone waiting for home modifications or another longer-term living arrangement should therefore not automatically assume STA is the correct support.
STA Is Also Different From Crisis Accommodation
STA is not an emergency housing program.
Current NDIA guidance specifically says STA does not replace mainstream and community services such as crisis accommodation.
If someone is experiencing homelessness, family violence or another housing crisis, different mainstream services may be responsible.
An NDIS plan should not be used to substitute for systems that have responsibility for emergency accommodation.
Questions to Ask Before Arranging STA
Participants and families can reduce misunderstandings by asking providers what is included before agreeing to a stay.
Useful questions include:
What disability supports will actually be provided?
How many support hours are included?
What accommodation is being provided?
Will I share the accommodation with other participants?
Are there ordinary expenses I need to pay myself?
How will overnight support work?
How will my routines, communication and personal-care needs be understood?
How will the provider invoice my plan?
What happens if I cancel?
Understanding these details before the stay begins is much easier than disputing an invoice afterwards.
For Support Coordinators, Plan Managers and Referral Partners
When helping someone explore STA, start with the participant’s informal support arrangement, not with an accommodation vacancy.
Consider:
How much disability-related assistance do informal supports provide?
Why is time apart needed?
What support does the participant require while apart from their usual carers?
What environment would appropriately meet their needs?
What STA funding is actually available?
Does the proposed service comply with current NDIS funding and pricing arrangements?
That creates a much more participant-centred referral than simply searching for “an STA house”.
Talk to BHA Disability Services
If you are an NDIS participant, family member, carer, Support Coordinator, plan manager or referral partner seeking relevant disability support in Werribee or Melbourne’s western suburbs, BHA Disability Services welcomes enquiries.
Tell us about the participant’s goals, disability-related support requirements and relevant funding in their NDIS plan.
BHA Disability Services can discuss the services it actually provides and whether they may be appropriate for the participant’s circumstances.
Where Short-Term Accommodation is specifically required, confirm that the provider you approach offers the relevant support and that the proposed arrangement is consistent with the participant’s plan and current NDIS requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is NDIS STA still called Short-Term Respite in 2026?
No. The NDIA changed the terminology from Short-Term Accommodation to Short-Term Respite in October 2025, but following community feedback it changed the terminology back to Short-Term Accommodation from 1 July 2026.
How many days of STA can I use?
Current NDIA guidance says STA is usually funded for up to 28 days per year, with flexibility to use it in shorter periods or blocks of up to 14 days at a time. Your actual funding depends on your plan and circumstances.
Does NDIS STA pay for meals?
No. Current NDIA guidance specifically lists food and meals among the expenses STA funding cannot pay for.
Can STA pay for a holiday?
STA is not holiday funding. Holiday packages, holiday accommodation, airfares, entertainment and various travel expenses are specifically excluded.
Do I have to stay in a disability-specific respite house?
Not necessarily. Current guidance says eligible STA can involve standard accommodation, individual or shared settings, and in some circumstances support in the participant’s own home.
Can I get STA if it isn’t currently in my plan?
The NDIA says participants can speak with their my NDIS contact if they believe they need STA. If the existing plan does not contain the support required or circumstances have changed, the participant can ask about changing the plan. This does not guarantee that STA will be funded.
For current official information, see the NDIS Short-Term Accommodation guide and the NDIS July 2026 update explaining recent STA changes.
