A coordinator on the ward
Attends discharge meetings, works with the NDIA health liaison officer and gets the plan variation or home and living request moving.
Accommodation · Hospital discharge support
From hospital to home: NDIS discharge support in Melbourne's south-east.
Leaving hospital with a disability means the home, the support and the funding all have to be ready on the same day. We work with discharge teams at Casey, Dandenong and Frankston hospitals to make sure they are.
NDIS support item: Not a single NDIS support item. Funded through Support Coordination (0132), Assistance with Daily Life including STA, MTA and SIL, and Community Nursing Care (0114)
Why discharge goes wrong, and how we stop it
The medical team says you are ready to go home. Then the questions start: is the home accessible, who helps with showering on the first morning, who changes the dressing, is there a bed at all? The NDIA has committed to contacting a participant within four days of being told they are in hospital and approving a discharge plan within 30 days, and has placed health liaison officers in hospitals to speed this up. The gap that remains is a provider who can actually deliver on the day.
That is what we do. One call from a ward social worker, discharge planner or family member brings in a support coordinator who works the plan, accommodation if the home is not ready, support workers for the first mornings and nights, and community nurses who take the clinical handover. We tell the hospital the same day what we can do and by when.
Newdawn has supported discharges since 2019 from acute wards, rehabilitation units, mental health units and forensic settings, and complex mental health is a specialty. We do not promise what we do not have: if we have no suitable room, we say so and help find one elsewhere rather than let the discharge slip.
What is included
What we put in place before you leave the ward
Each item is funded from a different part of your plan. We map which, and tell the hospital what still needs the NDIA.
Somewhere to go
Your own home made ready, or a step-down: STA for a short gap, MTA for up to about 90 days, or a SIL room for the long term.
Support workers from day one
Personal care, meals, medication and household help in the first days and weeks, rostered before discharge, not after.
Community nursing handover
Wound care, catheters, PEG, medication changes and observations, with the discharge summary read before the first visit.
High-intensity and overnight support
Trained workers for complex care and overnight presence where the plan funds it, so the first night home is safe.
Equipment and follow-up
Hospital bed, hoist and consumables ordered and in place, follow-up appointments booked, GP and pharmacy told.
Funding, in plain English
How discharge support is funded
There is no single NDIS line for hospital discharge; it is a set of supports from different parts of your plan. Support coordination comes from Capacity Building, and the NDIA often increases it for a discharge. Support workers, high-intensity support, short term accommodation (STA), medium term accommodation (MTA) and Supported Independent Living (SIL) come from Core. Community nursing is funded where your disability creates the clinical need.
If your plan does not have what the discharge needs, your coordinator asks the NDIA for a plan variation, with the hospital's discharge summary and allied health reports as evidence. The NDIA's own commitment is to approve a discharge plan within 30 days of being notified of the admission, and health liaison officers in the hospital help push it through. We prepare the evidence so the request is right first time.
Where the plan is not yet in place and the hospital wants you out, we are honest about what we can start under existing funding and what has to wait. Interim options such as STA or MTA are often available sooner than a new SIL arrangement. See our funding guide for how the budgets fit together.
Price limits for each support are set in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits and change each July. The NDIA discharge commitments quoted are from its published hospital discharge policy and may be updated.
Read more: what each NDIS budget pays for and how plan management affects your choices.
How it works
From referral to the first week home
- 01
Referral from the ward or family
Call 03 5998 0717 or send a referral with the expected discharge date, support needs and equipment. We reply within minutes in business hours.
- 02
Discharge meeting
A coordinator joins the ward meeting, in person at Casey, Dandenong or Frankston or on video, and agrees who does what by when.
- 03
Everything in place before the day
Room or home ready, roster set, nursing handover done, equipment delivered, medication plan confirmed.
- 04
The first week, watched closely
Daily contact, a nurse visit as needed, and a review at the end of the week with you, your family and the coordinator.
Close to home
Working with the south-east hospitals
Our Cranbourne head office is a short drive from Casey Hospital in Berwick, and our coordinators and nurses are regularly on the wards there, at Dandenong Hospital and at Frankston Hospital. We also work with Latrobe Regional Hospital in Traralgon for people in Gippsland, where our Traralgon SIL home has a room available. People go home to Clyde North, Pakenham, Officer, Narre Warren, Dandenong, Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula with our workers in place.
In Queensland our Caboolture office works with the hospitals north of Brisbane, including on discharges to our Robust SDA home in Morayfield, and our West Perth office runs the same model in Western Australia. One number, 03 5998 0717, reaches all three, 24/7. Current rooms are on the accommodation page.
Head office
Cranbourne, Victoria 3977
Offices in Caboolture QLD and West Perth WA
03 5998 0717, 24/7
Support in 17 languages and Auslan
All our locations Questions we get asked
Straight answers.
If yours is not here, call and ask. It is what we are for.
How quickly can you get someone out of hospital?
It depends on what is already in the plan. If funding for support workers or SIL exists and we have a suitable room or your home is ready, support can start within days. If a plan variation or home and living request is needed, the NDIA decision sets the pace; its commitment is a discharge plan within 30 days of notification. We tell the hospital the realistic timeline on the first call, not an optimistic one.
What is the difference between STA, MTA and SIL step-down?
Short term accommodation (STA) is a stay of up to 14 days at a time with support included, good for a short gap. Medium term accommodation (MTA) is a room for up to about 90 days while a confirmed long-term home is made ready; support is funded separately. Supported Independent Living (SIL) is ongoing daily support in a long-term home. We choose the one that matches how long the gap is and what the plan already funds.
Can you provide nursing at home after discharge?
Yes. Our community nurses take the clinical handover from the ward, read the discharge summary before the first visit, and manage wound care, catheters, PEG feeds, medication changes and observations in the first days home. They escalate to the GP or hospital early rather than late. Nursing is funded where your disability creates the clinical need; we check that with your coordinator before discharge.
Who should make the referral?
Anyone involved: the ward social worker, discharge planner, NDIA health liaison officer, an existing support coordinator, or the participant or family. Send the expected discharge date, support needs, equipment and any behaviour support plan. The more we know, the faster we answer. Our intake team replies within minutes in business hours and the phone is answered 24/7.
What if the participant does not have an NDIS plan yet?
The hospital can help with an access request, and we help gather the evidence. Until the plan is in place the NDIS cannot fund our supports, so we are honest that we cannot start on NDIS funding before approval. We can still join discharge planning, advise on housing and support options, and be ready to start the day the plan is approved. See our eligibility guide.
Do you support discharges from mental health and forensic units?
Yes, and it is a specialty. Our founder worked in the forensic sector and complex mental health, and our team has supported discharges from inpatient mental health units and forensic settings into our SIL homes and Robust SDA. We understand supervision orders, reporting obligations and the need for supports that do not fall over in the first fortnight. See complex mental health SIL.
What happens if the home is not ready on the discharge date?
We arrange a step-down. For a gap of a couple of weeks, STA with support included. For a longer gap while modifications finish or a SIL or SDA place becomes available, MTA for up to about 90 days. If we have no suitable room ourselves, we say so and help find one elsewhere rather than let the discharge slip. Either way, support workers and nursing are in place wherever you land.
How do you stop readmission?
Most readmissions happen because something small was missed in the first week: a medication change not understood, a wound not checked, a worker not turning up. We roster before discharge, have a nurse visit early, keep daily contact and review at the end of week one. Your coordinator stays involved so if something changes the plan changes too. It is not foolproof, but it closes the usual gaps.
Ready to start
Make a referral On a ward and need a plan for home? Call us today.
Call 03 5998 0717, answered 24/7, or send a referral. Discharge planners, coordinators and families get a same-day answer on what we can do and by when.
Get in touch
Tell us what you need. We'll take it from there.
Whether you're exploring NDIS for the first time, looking for a support worker, or asking about one of our homes, we'll reply within a few minutes.
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Prefer to call? 03 5998 0717