NDIS Short Term Accommodation
What NDIS short term accommodation (respite) covers, the current price limits, and how stays are claimed.
Short term accommodation - STA, and in everyday language respite - is a supported stay away from your usual arrangements. The NDIA frames it around the people who support you: time apart lets family and informal carers take a break and keep caring afterwards. A stay bundles accommodation with everyday-activity support - showering, cooking, personal care - delivered where you are staying.
The published guidance describes STA funding as a yearly allowance of days used flexibly - a single block or regular short stays - with the day pattern and exclusions listed in the claiming notes below. Holiday costs are the sharp edge: a stay bundles standard accommodation with support, but cruises, airfares, event tickets, meals, and companions' travel are expressly outside it. The catalogue prices STA support by the hour across day, evening, night, weekend, and public holiday items, tabled below.
Does the NDIS fund short term accommodation?
The NDIS funds supports it decides are reasonable and necessary for your goals. The same item can be approved for one participant and not another, so no list or website can tell you what your plan will include.
Short Term Accommodation appears under Assistance with Daily Life (Core) in the current NDIS Support Catalogue. Whether short term accommodation supports can be claimed depends on your individual plan, your goals, and how your funding is managed. Your plan manager or support coordinator can confirm what applies to you.
If you intend to claim, check with your plan manager or support coordinator before purchasing.
NDIS short term accommodation rates: current price limits
Each price limit below is the most a provider can charge for that item under managed arrangements. The agreed price in your service agreement can sit anywhere up to it.
| Item code | Support item | Unit | National limit | Remote (MMM 6) | Very remote (MMM 7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
01_200_0115_1_1 | Short Term Accommodation - Standard - Weekday Daytime | per hour | $73.58 | $103.01 | $110.37 |
01_201_0115_1_1 | Short Term Accommodation - Standard - Weekday Evening | per hour | $81.07 | $113.50 | $121.61 |
01_205_0115_1_1 | Short Term Accommodation - Standard - Weekday Night | per hour | $82.57 | $115.60 | $123.86 |
01_202_0115_1_1 | Short Term Accommodation - Standard - Saturday | per hour | $103.54 | $144.96 | $155.31 |
01_203_0115_1_1 | Short Term Accommodation - Standard - Sunday | per hour | $133.50 | $186.90 | $200.25 |
01_204_0115_1_1 | Short Term Accommodation - Standard - Public Holiday | per hour | $163.46 | $228.84 | $245.19 |
Source: NDIS Support Catalogue, effective . Price limits are GST-exclusive per the Pricing Arrangements.
How short term accommodation is claimed
Supports are billed against the item codes above, at or below the price limit, under a service agreement that records the agreed price, how provider travel is charged, and the cancellation terms. Invoices quote the item code, the date, the quantity, and the rate - which is what plan managers check before paying.
How your plan is managed - self-managed, plan-managed, or agency-managed - changes who you can buy from and how invoices are paid. Your plan documents state which applies to you. Agency-managed participants generally need to purchase through registered NDIS providers. Self-managed and plan-managed participants can buy from any suitable supplier.
| Claiming rule | What the Pricing Arrangements say |
|---|---|
| Provider travel time | Up to 30 minutes each way per worker in MMM 1-3 areas; up to 60 minutes in MMM 4-5; no time limit in Remote (MMM 6) and Very Remote (MMM 7) areas. |
| Travel price limit | Travel time is claimable at up to 50% of the item's hourly price limit, plus non-labour costs (e.g. per-kilometre vehicle costs) per the PAPL worked examples. |
| Short-notice cancellation | Notice window: 7 days for disability support worker supports; 2 clear business days for other supports. A late cancellation or no-show can be billed at up to 100% of the agreed fee if the provider could not find other billable work (and pays the worker); providers may waive the fee. Terms must be documented in the service agreement. |
| Remote loadings | National price limits carry a 40% loading in Remote (MMM 6) areas and a 50% loading in Very Remote (MMM 7) areas, as the loaded columns in the rates table show. |
| Days per year | NDIA guidance describes STA as usually funded for up to 28 days per year, used flexibly - e.g. one block of up to 14 days, or a weekend each month. Funding must still last the whole plan period. |
| What a stay can include | Everyday-activity support during the stay; standard accommodation (hotel, motel, short-stay rental, cabin, hostel, or respite accommodation); or a supported homestay arrangement. Stays are generally within your home state or territory (remote-area exceptions apply). |
| Excluded costs | Cruises, holiday packages and holiday accommodation, airfares, passports and insurance, family or support worker travel costs, event and theme park tickets, conferences, and food/meals. |
Source: NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (claiming rules narrative, published ), via ndis.gov.au pricing arrangements. Read .
Provider registration
The item codes above carry registration group 0115 in their item numbers - the group a provider registers for with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to deliver this service. The Commission's public register records who holds it.
Invoices and agreements for short term accommodation
Two documents carry the admin: the service agreement sets the price, travel billing, and cancellation terms before supports start, and the invoice quotes the item code and rate so the claim goes through first time.
Find short term accommodation providers
Our short term accommodation directory breaks the market down by state and local area, with NDIA participant data for each location. Whoever you shortlist, verify their registration status on the NDIS Commission's public register before signing an agreement.
NDIS short term accommodation FAQs
What are the NDIS respite rates?
STA support is priced hourly in the Support Catalogue, with separate items for weekday daytime, evening, night, Saturday, Sunday, and public holiday hours - all tabled above. A quoted per-stay price should reconcile to those items and to the supports actually delivered during the stay.
How many days of STA can be used in a year?
NDIA guidance describes a yearly allowance of days used flexibly - one longer block or a pattern of short stays such as a weekend each month - with the specific day figures set out in the claiming notes above and in the STA operational guideline on the NDIS website.
Does the NDIS fund respite stays?
The NDIS funds supports it decides are reasonable and necessary for your goals. The same item can be approved for one participant and not another, so no list or website can tell you what your plan will include. If you intend to claim, check with your plan manager or support coordinator before purchasing.
Can STA pay for a holiday?
No - the exclusion list is explicit. Cruises, holiday packages, airfares, event tickets, meals, and travel costs for family or accompanying support workers all sit outside STA. What a stay covers is the accommodation and the disability-related support delivered during it, billed on the items above.
How do I find STA providers near me?
Our short term accommodation directory breaks the market down by state and local area with NDIA participant data for each location. Wherever you shortlist, verify registration status on the NDIS Commission's public register and get the stay's inclusions in writing before you book.