Short Respite Care

Short term respite gives you time apart from your usual care arrangements. It also gives your primary informal supports, a chance for a short break so they can continue in their caring role.

When we say primary informal supports, we mean your family, friends or carers.

Short term respite focuses on the support being provided, whether at home or in shared settings, rather than the accommodation itself.

Short term respite is not for building new skills. Its main purpose is to give you and your informal supports a break from your usual care arrangements.

If you want to learn new skills or become more independent, other supports in your plan can help with that.

Who can use short term respite

Short term respite is for:

• participants who live with their primary informal supports, or receive daily drop-in support from them
• participants who get disability-related support from their primary informal supports for more than 6 hours a day.

For children, short term respite is only funded in limited circumstances when:

• the child’s disability support needs are beyond what is typical for their age
• the support helps the family continue in their caring role.

Short term respite is not for you if you don’t live with family or other informal supports. This includes if you already have a lot of paid support, like supported independent living or individualised living options.

If you have paid support workers who share responsibilities and provide consistent care, you usually won’t need short term respite.

What short term respite does not replace

Short term respite does not replace:

• natural time apart, like going to school, work, or doing activities in the community
• mainstream services available to all participants like crisis accommodation services, child protection and family support.

These services must be accessible and suitable for people and families with disability.

What short term respite may include

Short term respite may include:

• support to help with everyday activities
• standard accommodation for you
• standard accommodation for a support worker if overnight support is needed.

By standard accommodation, we mean a clean, comfortable place with basic amenities like a bed, bathroom, and any accessibility features the participant requires. This could include a hotel, motel, short stay rental, cabin, cottage, hostel, or respite accommodation

Where and how short term respite can be used

Short term respite:

• should be planned together with you and your provider, including how often, where, and what level of support is needed
• can be taken in group or individual settings
• we generally expect short term respite to be within your home state or territory in Australia
• can be used in a range of accommodation types, including hotel, motel, short stay rental, cabin, cottage, hostel or respite accommodation
• can also be used at home if it helps you have a break from your primary informal supports.  

It cannot be used to pay for items that are not NDIS supports, such as:

• holiday accommodation
• tickets or entry fees to entertainment events
• accommodation to attend an event.

If your plan uses the term short term accommodation, it has the same meaning as short term respite.

Funding and flexibility

You have choice and control over how you use short term respite.

Short term respite is a flexible support, but it must:

• be paid from your core budget
• be used in line with your plan and our guidelines
• be similar to the support you usually receive at home
• not be used to double up on other funded supports in your plan.

It can be used in shared or individual settings, depending on your needs.

Most participants who are eligible will receive funding for up to 28 days per year, with a maximum of 14 days at a time.

You should only pay for the supports you actually use. If you don’t use the full amount (for example, less than a full day), your provider should adjust the cost so you only pay for what you received.