# 13 August 2026 Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/training-and-updates/changelog/august-2026/13-august-2026 > Astalty updates released on 13 August 2026: SMS reminders to nominated contacts; Regions; Polls in Chat; Commenting on Invoices; Commenting on Invoice... ## SMS reminders to nominated contacts Participants can now have their SMS reminders also sent to chosen contacts - for example a parent, carer, or support coordinator - without putting someone else's number on the Participant record. ![Reminder settings drawer with contacts nominated under Also send to these contacts for Support and Calendar appointment reminders.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/participant-reminder-settings-drawer.png) - Open **Reminder settings** from the Participant's **More** tab (or from the reminder status link on a support or calendar form) and, for each channel, tick **Also send to these contacts** - Support reminders and calendar appointment reminders are chosen separately - a contact can get one without the other - Participant only, contacts only, or both are all valid; contacts receive the Participant's message word-for-word - Each recipient is a separate billable SMS; numbers that share a handset are de-duplicated so only one message is sent - Available to any provider with SMS turned on - there is no extra switch to enable For more information, visit the [SMS Reminders](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/sms-reminders#nominating-contacts-to-receive-reminders) guide. ## Regions You can group Participants, staff and sites by area - for example *Brisbane North* or *Gold Coast* - then filter lists, the schedule, reports and exports by those areas. A Region is just a name you assign; it does not change what anyone can see or access. ![The Regions page in Settings, listing five Regions such as Brisbane North, Gold Coast and Logan with their Created dates, a Search box and a Create Region button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/cus-813/settings-regions-list.png) - Create and manage Regions under *Settings → Regions*, then assign them on Participant, staff and site records - Use Region filters wherever they appear once Regions is turned on for your account - Regions is currently in beta and is switched on by Astalty - contact support if you would like it enabled - This is separate from *Primary Region* in Business Settings, which only sets your NDIS price guide zone For more information, visit the [Regions](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/regions) guide. ## Polls in Chat You can run a quick poll inside a chat conversation and watch the answers update live, instead of chasing people one by one for a reply. ![The chat compose area with a question typed in the message box and a Poll panel below it containing Option 1 "Wednesday", Option 2 "Thursday" and Option 3 "Friday", an "Add another" button, and the "Allow multiple answers" toggle switched on.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/chat-polls-builder.png) - Create and close polls on the web app; voting works on both web and the Support Worker app - Polls work in direct messages and group channels, and are included with Chat - there is no extra switch to turn on For more information, visit the [Polls](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/chat/polls) guide. ## Commenting on Invoices You can leave internal comments on an invoice so the next person who opens it can see the context - a disputed charge, a bounced email, or why you are holding off chasing payment. ![An open invoice with an arrow pointing to the Add Comment button in the Comments section of the right-hand panel, which shows No comments yet.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/invoice-comments-add-comment.png) - Comments sit in a *Comments* section on the invoice panel and stay with the invoice wherever you open it from - They are internal only - they never appear on the PDF, in emails, or in Xero, and adding one does not notify anyone For more information, visit the [Commenting on Invoices](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/finance/invoicing/invoices/commenting-on-invoices) guide. ## Commenting on Invoice Batches You can also leave internal comments on an invoice batch, so notes about why a batch was held or who is looking after it travel with the batch itself. ![An invoice batch with its Actions menu open, offering Add Comment and View Audit Trail. A Comments card below the batch details lists three comments, each with the author's initials, name, how long ago it was posted and the comment text.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/invoice-batch-comments-overview.jpg) - Add a comment from *Actions → Add Comment* on a draft or finalised batch - Comments are internal only and are not shared with Participants, Plan Managers or Xero For more information, visit the [Commenting on Invoice Batches](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/finance/invoicing/invoice-batches/commenting-on-invoice-batches) guide. ## Archiving Participant Records When a Participant Record is no longer in force - for example an old Service Agreement - you can archive it instead of deleting it, so the history stays in Astalty for your audit trail. ![A Participant Record opened from the Records page, showing its Record Details and Documents, with an arrow pointing to the Edit button in the top right.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/participant-record-archive-1.png) - Open the Record, choose *Edit*, then *Archive* at the bottom of the screen - Archived Records keep their documents, drop out of day-to-day compliance tracking, and cannot be restored - create a new Record if you need one again - Use the *Status* filter on the Participant's Records page to show only active or only archived Records For more information, visit the [Participant Records](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/participants/participant-records#archiving-a-record) guide. ## QuickBooks Payroll You can connect Astalty to QuickBooks Payroll so approved timesheets and leave flow through without exporting and importing files by hand. ![The QuickBooks Payroll card on the Astalty Integrations page, marked Connected, listing what the integration can do and offering a Configure button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/quickbooks-payroll-integration-card.png) - Sync timesheet batches directly, or export a compatible CSV - Map pay groups and cost codes, including work either side of a sleepover - Sync approved leave into payroll automatically - This is QuickBooks Payroll (AU), not QuickBooks accounting - and you can set it up yourself from Integrations For more information, visit the [QuickBooks Payroll](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/integrations/quickbooks-payroll) guide. ## Overdue Note Notifications You can alert coordinators when a support or task still has no note after a set number of days, so gaps are followed up without manually checking reports. ![The Notifications page with overdue typed into Search notifications, showing the Overdue Note notification under the Participants group.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/overdue-note-notifications-search.png) - Set rules under *Notifications → Overdue Note*, including how many days to wait and who to notify - Alerts can go within Astalty, by email, or both - This is separate from the Missing Support Notes Reminder, which pushes Support Workers every Monday about missing support notes For more information, visit the [Overdue Note Notifications](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/notifications/overdue-note-notifications) guide. ## All Users and Team Member Groups Reserved user groups are clearer about who they include, so notifications and chat reach the people you intend. - *All Users* now covers everyone in your organisation - including Support Workers - except Auditors - *Team Member* now means users with the Team Member role only; Admins and Managers sit in their own groups - To reach office staff without Support Workers, select Admin, Manager and Team Member together; to reach everyone, select *All Users* For more information, visit the [User Groups](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/users-settings/user-groups) guide. ## Auditor Access on Professional Plans Auditor access is included on the Professional plan and above - you no longer need Astalty support to switch it on. Lite accounts still need to upgrade before inviting an Auditor. - Invite an NDIA auditor from *Users* for temporary, read-only access to specific Participants - Auditor accounts do not count toward your user limit and deactivate after 14 days For more information, visit the [Inviting NDIA Auditors](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/users/inviting-ndia-auditors-to-your-account) guide. ## Document Template Placeholders by Category The list of document template placeholders in the user guide is now grouped by category, so it is easier to find the field you need when building a template. - Placeholders are still listed by usage type (Participant, Service Agreement, or User) - Within each list, related placeholders sit under category headings - and you can still click any placeholder to copy it For more information, visit the [Available Document Template Placeholders](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/document-template-placeholders) guide. ## Award Pay Report and Pay Period Settings The Award Pay Report date selector follows the pay periods you configure in Scheduling Settings, rather than letting you pick any free date range. ![The Payroll & Awards section of Scheduling Settings with Platform set to Xero, and the Pay Period area highlighted, showing a Detect from timesheets button, Period Type set to Weekly and an empty Reference Date field.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/scheduling-settings-pay-period.png) - Set your pay period length and start day under *Settings → Scheduling* - On the Award Pay Report, move backwards and forwards a whole pay period at a time - Weekly and fortnightly providers each see a picker aligned to their configured period For more information, visit the [Award Pay Report](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/reports/schads-pay-report#pay-period-selection) and [Scheduling Settings](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/setup/scheduling-settings#pay-period) guides. ## Required Import Order When you bring data into Astalty yourself, imports need to run in a set order so later files can find the people and organisations they link to. - Run *Users*, then *Plan Managers*, then *Participants*, then related data such as contacts, documents, case notes and services - The Imports Overview page spells out the order and why each step depends on the one before it For more information, visit the [Imports Overview](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/imports/imports-overview#required-import-order) guide. ## Services Import with Funding Periods The Unscheduled Services import can bring across remaining balances and, for PACE plans, funding period schedules - so migrated services start with the right budget picture. - Use the *Funding Periods* sheet when a service has a funding schedule - Remaining amount and reconciled date work together when you are not using funding periods - This import is arranged with Astalty (it is not self-service) - contact ** to set it up ## Getting Help There is a clearer path to reach Astalty support from the user guide and from inside the product. - Email **, or use the *Support* button in Astalty to report a bug, request a feature, or ask a question - The Getting Help guide walks through each option and what you will be asked For more information, visit the [Getting Help](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/getting-help) guide. ## AI Privacy A new AI Privacy page explains how Astalty's AI features handle your data - including where requests are processed and that your data is not used to train models. - Covers AI in Astalty and the AI chat in this user guide - Production AI requests run on AWS Bedrock in Sydney, within Astalty's own infrastructure For more information, visit the [AI Privacy](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/ai-privacy) guide. ## Security Overview Updates The Security page now covers data residency, how incidents are handled, and the measures Astalty uses to keep your information safe - in one place you can share with auditors or your own compliance team. For more information, visit the [Security](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/security) guide. ## Integrations Overview Integrations has its own overview page in the guide, so you can see the available connections and jump into the one you need from a single starting point. For more information, visit the [Integrations Overview](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/integrations/overview) guide. ## Downloading the Support Worker App The Support Worker App overview now includes the Apple App Store and Google Play links, so you can send people straight to the right download when they install or reinstall the app. - Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, and Google Play for Android - Search for *Astalty* (publisher *Astalty Pty Ltd*) if you prefer not to use the links For more information, visit the [Support Worker App Overview](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/support-worker-app/support-worker-app-overview#downloading-the-app) guide.