Short Term Accommodation (STA) or Respite

Short Term Accommodation, including respite, is funding for support and accommodation for a short time away for your usual home. It covers the cost of your care in another place for up to 14 days at a time. You might have a short stay with other people, or by yourself. Its often funded when your usual carers are not available, or for you to try new things. Under the NDIS Operational Guidelines, STA includes: personal care accommodation food activities you and the provider agree to.

This also includes such things as: Food including groceries, meals: dine in or takeaway Taxi and/or bus fares Parking Day to day expenses relating to the STA Entry Fees to an Activity: e.g., Movie Tickets, to an event, exhibition / museum

BigDog organises and pays for in advance where possible such things as: Accommodation Food including groceries, meals: dine in or takeaway Airfares

What is NOT included as appropriate expenditure is: Alcohol Cigarettes Fuel for employee vehicles (for company vehicles, BP fuel card is to be utilised) Merchandise of any kind e.g., Football shirts, caps, stubbie coolers Personal care items, such as e.g., female hygiene products, contraceptive products Medical costs including medication or doctor’s appointments

An employee who is accompanying the participant on an STA, is solely responsible for the expenditure that us undertaken. If at any time there are expenses incurred, which are included as inappropriate expenditure, the employee will be invoiced for these costs and required to pay BigDog within a reasonable time frame. If, in the event that an employee needs to use their own personal funds, an employee must seek permission from management prior to utilised their own monies. The same procedure applies for recording the purchase / expense on the Payment Claim Form – Reimbursement. The employee will then have the funds reimbursed to the bank account that BigDog has on file, and an email response is required from the employee to acknowledge that monies have been received.