Optional Features
Overview
On the Optional Features page, the Account Owner can enable or disable self-service optional features for the account. Which cards appear also depends on the features that Astalty has made available to the account.
Enabling Optional Features
- Go to Settings > Optional Features.
- Find the feature and select Enable. Scheduling, Scheduling Costs, Chat and Staff Payments open a details page with a more specific enable button. Participant Duplication opens its confirmation dialog directly.
- Review the confirmation, then enable the feature.
An enabled card shows Enabled and a Disable button. Review the effect on your workflows before disabling a feature that your team already uses.

Available Optional Features
Scheduling
Scheduling is available on Astalty Premium. See How to Enable Scheduling and Scheduling Settings.
Scheduling Costs
Scheduling Costs shows estimated wage costs for scheduled shifts using the award on each worker's employment contract. It appears only after Scheduling is enabled. See Scheduling Costs.
Chat
Chat provides secure messaging between team members. See Chat.
Staff Payments
Staff Payments Superannuation
Superannuation for Staff Payments lets you mark contractors as entitled to superannuation and surfaces the amount on their invoices. It is not shown on the Optional Features page because it is not self-service. Contact the Astalty Support team if your organisation needs it. See Superannuation.
Staff Payments GST Registration Status
GST Registration Status for Staff Payments lets you record whether each contractor is registered for GST, and adds 10% GST to the payments of those marked as registered. It is not shown on the Optional Features page because it is not self-service. Contact the Astalty Support team if your organisation needs it. See GST Registration Status.
Participant Duplication
The Participant Duplication feature allows organisations to create multiple Participant records with the same NDIS number, supporting scenarios where services such as Support Coordination and direct support are delivered separately. This enables clear separation of records, notes, and User assignments within the same organisation, while including safeguards such as a warning prompt to ensure the feature is used appropriately.
You will be prompted to confirm that you want to enable this feature via a warning pop-up.


Telling Duplicate Profiles Apart in Participant Pickers
When two Participant profiles share the same name, Participant pickers across Astalty - including creating a Task, adding Participants to a Group Support, choosing a Participant on the Support History report, and Participant Select fields on Forms - show each profile's External ID beneath the name so your team can choose the right one. This descriptor only appears for profiles marked as duplicates that have an External ID set; all other options in the picker remain unchanged.
For this to help, give each duplicate profile a different External ID:
- Open a duplicate Participant's profile and edit Participant Details.
- Enter a unique External ID under Reference Numbers.

- Save the profile, then repeat for the other duplicate profiles.