# How to Claim for Respite?

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-faq/how-to-claim-for-respite

> How to bill respite (Short Term Accommodation) supports now that STA support items are charged per hour.

Scheduling add-on - This feature requires the Scheduling add-on, which is available on Astalty Premium. See How to enable Scheduling.

Respite is billed as **Short Term Accommodation (STA)**: hourly support charges generated from rostered shifts, plus daily accommodation charges raised separately.

> **Confirm current NDIS claiming rules**
>
> Astalty's STA presets and price guide items follow the July 2026 NDIS Pricing Arrangements. Whether they apply depends on the Participant's plan and service agreement, so confirm the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements and the Participant's funding before claiming.

## Overview

From the 1 July 2026 NDIS price guide, STA support line items are charged **per hour**. They replace the `STA And Assistance (Inc. Respite)` 1:1 to 1:4 items, which were charged per day and are claimable until 30 June 2027.

That splits a respite period into charges that come off the roster and charges that do not:

| What you are claiming                        | Line item                                                                           | Unit            | How to charge it                             |
| -------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| Support delivered during the period          | Short Term Accommodation - Standard, or - High Intensity, for each part of the week | hour            | Roster shifts against an STA Charge Item Set |
| An overnight where the worker sleeps on site | Short Term Accommodation - Sleepover                                                | each, per night | Included in both STA presets                 |
| The Participant's accommodation              | Short Term Accommodation - Participant Accommodation (`01_250_0115_1_1`)            | day             | Direct Charge                                |
| The Support Worker's accommodation           | Short Term Accommodation - Support Worker Accommodation (`01_251_0115_1_1`)         | day             | Direct Charge                                |

## Create the STA Charge Item Set

1. Go to **Settings → Charge Items** and click **Add Charge Item Set**.
2. Select **Preset**, then choose **01 - Short Term Accommodation Standard** or **01 - Short Term Accommodation High Intensity**.
3. Click **Create**.

![The Add Charge Item Set form with Preset selected and the Select Preset drop down open, with 01 - Short Term Accommodation Standard highlighted below 01 - Short Term Accommodation High Intensity.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/respite-sta-preset-charge-item-set-guide.png)

The preset fills in hourly Charge Items for weekday daytime, weekday evening, weekday night, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, plus the per-night sleepover Charge Item, priced for your organisation's Region. See [Creating & Updating Charge Item Sets](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/charge-items/managing-charge-item-sets/creating-updating-charge-item-sets).

> **The STA presets include no provider travel Charge Item**
>
> They are the only presets that include neither. If you charge provider travel on respite, add the items to the set yourself - see [Adding Travel Charge Items to a Set](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/charge-items/managing-charge-item-sets/creating-updating-charge-item-sets#adding-travel-charge-items-to-a-set).

## Create the Accommodation Charge Items

Create each accommodation line item as an individual Charge Item.

1. From **Settings → Charge Items**, click **Add Charge Item**.
2. Under **Search current NDIS Pricing Arrangements**, select **Short Term Accommodation - Participant Accommodation**.
3. Set a **Reference** - for example `STA - Participant Accomm`.
4. Click **Create**.
5. Repeat for **Short Term Accommodation - Support Worker Accommodation**.

Astalty fills the price from the NDIS price guide for your Region, sets the **Unit** to `day`, and defaults the claim type to **Direct Service**.

![The Add Charge Item drawer for Short Term Accommodation - Participant Accommodation, showing number 01\_250\_0115\_1\_1, a price of $162.85, a unit of day, the Direct Service claim type and the reference STA - Participant Accomm, with the Create button highlighted.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/respite-sta-accommodation-charge-item.png)

> **Keep the accommodation items out of the Charge Item Set**
>
> A Charge Item Set bills the shift it is attached to, so anything in the set is charged against every shift you roster across the respite period. Accommodation is claimed per night, so a respite period rostered as several shifts a day would be charged several times over. Raise it as a Direct Charge instead.

## Add Them to the Participant's Service

The Charge Item Set and both accommodation Charge Items go on the same Service, so every respite charge draws down the same budget.

1. Open the Participant's **NDIS Plan** and click **Add Service**.
2. Choose **Scheduled service**, name it, and enter the **Budget** and management type.
3. Set the **Support category** to the `01` Assistance with Daily Life category - a Service only accepts Charge Items from its own category, and every STA line item sits in that one.
4. Under **Charge Items**, tick the Participant and Support Worker accommodation items.
5. Under **Charge Item Sets**, tick your STA set.
6. Click **Create**.

![A Service form with the Charge Items list searched for Short Term and both Short Term Accommodation Charge Items ticked, and the 01 - Short Term Accommodation Standard Charge Item Set ticked and highlighted below Assistance with Self-Care and Supported Independent Living.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/respite-sta-service-charge-items.png)

A Charge Item can only belong to one Service at a time. See [Creating a Service](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/setup/services-and-charges/creating-a-service).

## Roster the Respite Shifts

Roster the whole period, then let the Charge Item Set price it.

1. In **Scheduling**, click **Add Shift**.
2. Set the **Support Type** to **Short-Term Accommodation**.
3. Select the Participant, then the STA Service and its Charge Item Set.
4. Set the shift times and assign the Support Workers.

Astalty charges each shift against the Charge Item in the set that matches when it runs - see [How Rates Are Selected](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/charge-items/how-rates-are-selected). A multi-day period is several shifts, each charged for its own hours, so there is no quantity to work out by hand.

For an overnight where the Support Worker sleeps on site, roster a sleepover window rather than a plain shift: the hours either side are charged hourly and the night itself picks up the sleepover Charge Item. See [Sleepover Window](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/sleepover-window).

## Raise the Accommodation Charges

One Direct Charge per accommodation line item, with the quantity in days.

1. Go to **Finance → Direct Charges** and click **Create Direct Charge**.
2. Select the Participant and set the **Date**.
3. Choose the **Charge item** - the Participant or Support Worker accommodation item.
4. Enter the **Quantity** in days: one per night of the respite period.
5. Set the **Claim type** to **Direct Service**, add a **Description**, then click **Create Direct Charge**.
6. Repeat for the other accommodation item.

![A completed Create Direct Charge form for STA - Participant Accomm, with a quantity of 1 day, a claim type of Direct Service, a description of Participant Accommodation and a total of $162.85.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/respite-sta-accommodation-direct-charge.png)

Where respite runs to a regular schedule, set these up as recurring Direct Charges instead of re-entering them each period. See [Direct Charges](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/finance/direct-charges).