New Roster View and Planning Tool

SupportAbility Web App v9.0 brings the first iteration of the new Roster in SupportAbility, which includes the ability to view Shifts and Activities in either a Month, Week or Day layout. 

This functionality will be built upon in subsequent releases. 

The new Roster in SupportAbility serves two key purposes: 

1. View the shifts you have been rostered into

2. It will soon become a roster planning tool for Rostering Teams, Team Leaders and Managers

This article provides an overview of the available functionality from the perspective of Support Staff viewing the Roster for the shifts they're rostered into, as well as Team Leaders and Rostering teams viewing the Roster for scheduling purposes. It also discusses the features and functionality to expect next.

The SupportAbility v9.0 changes video provides a short overview of the new roster. You can view or share it from this link. 

Audience: Authorised Customer Representatives, Team Leaders, Rostering Teams, Support Staff

Summary

The following list summarises the content within this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:

New Roster View - Support Staff

With the release of version 9.0, the new roster is available for all users in the SupportAbility Web App and is the default view upon accessing the Roster following this upgrade:  
The new Roster displays the shifts you have been rostered into, which are shown in a 'Month' period layout by default.  However, you can change the period you are viewing the Roster to 'Week' or 'Day' at any time, depending on your preference.  
The calendar in the top left allows you to navigate to different dates, and a grey dot is displayed against any of the dates where you have a rostered shift. 
Shifts for the current month are loaded upon opening the Roster. The arrows on either side of the word 'Today' allow you to navigate forward and back based on the period selected, i.e. Month, Week or Day. Selecting 'Today' will navigate you back to the current date. 

Filters

The filters can be used to display the shifts you are rostered into for particular Sites, Services or by Program (if your organisation is utilising Programs in Activities). You can also filter the roster by the Client/s scheduled into the Activities you have rostered shifts in: 

Hover for more information

You can hover over any of the blue shift cards to see more information, such as the Site and Service of the Activity and the participating Clients: 
To open the Activity the shift belongs to in a new tab, select the Activity Name link in the shift card, e.g., 10AM—Music Appreciation, noting that the Roster remains open in the previous tab. This method replaces the original version's 'Return to Roster' feature. 
When 'Week' or 'Day' is selected, more information is displayed in the blue shift cards, along with a blue line indicating the current time across the week/day:
In the Week or Day period layout, the length of the shift determines how much information is displayed on the shift card. More information is available when hovering over this in cases of a really short shift, e.g. 10 minutes:

Go to Old/New Roster

If you prefer to use the previous version of the roster, you can select ‘Go to Old Roster’: 

SupportAbility will remember this preference and apply it the next time you access the Roster in the Web App. You can toggle between versions as needed to monitor the changes:  

You will also notice a blue banner positioned at the top of the screen in both the new and old roster views. This banner highlights that the New Roster is available and includes a link to this article, which outlines the available functionality and upcoming changes.

New Roster View - Team Leaders

If you have the Team Leader privilege for a specific Site and Service, or all Sites and Services, your options will differ from those outlined above

The new Roster displays the shifts you have been rostered into, by having your name selected in the 'Staff Members' filter by default, displayed in a 'Month' period layout: 

Return to Summary

Filters

However, depending on your preference, you can change this to display the data you wish to view by using the filters in combination with the 'Data' (Shift/Activity) and 'Period' (Day/Week/Month) options:   

The calendar in the top left allows you to navigate to different dates. The blue arrows on either side of the word 'Today' also allow you to navigate forward and back based on the period selected, i.e., Month, Week, or Day. Selecting 'Today' will return you to the current date. 

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Viewing Activities

To view Activities, select 'Activity' from the Data option, along with the relevant filters:

In the above example, we're reviewing Activities in the Roster for the Day Service and Community Access Service at the Melbourne Site, in the Week layout. 

When 'Week' or 'Day' is selected, more information is displayed in the green Activity cards, along with a blue line indicating the current time across the week/day.
Activity cards in the new Roster are currently displayed in green (Shifts are currently blue). We are reviewing options in future releases to give Team Leaders the choice of how they wish to view this data, e.g. different colours for Site/Service and for other priorities, based on what is important to you. 
To open an Activity, select the Activity Name link in the card, e.g., Music Appreciation, noting that the Roster remains open in the previous tab. This method replaces the original version's 'Return to Roster' feature. 
You can hover over any of the green Activity cards to see more information, such as the Site and Service of the Activity and the rostered Staff and participating Clients: 

Viewing Additional Activities or Shifts

When there are additional Activities or Shifts to view, that cannot be displayed on screen, e.g. Tuesday the 20th of May, the total number of Activities or Shifts is displayed in a grey bar:

Select this to see more details: 

Or, switch to the Day view: 

To Be Filled

When an Activity includes To Be Filled shifts, these are displayed in both data views with a red stripe on the left-hand side of the card. 

Example of this in the Activity view: 

Example of this in the Shift view: 

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Overnight

When Shifts/Activities occur overnight, these are displayed in the 'Overnight' row at the top of the Roster: 

 Hovering over the card provides more information about the Shift/Activity.

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Newer Data Available - Click here to Refresh

When a change is detected, a refresh indicator appears, prompting you to refresh the data by clicking on it:  


Utilising this new feature loads the updated data much more efficiently than a browser refresh and has the added benefit of keeping you on the selected date. 

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Team Leaders - How to add Activities

SupportAbility v9.1 (July 2025) introduces the ability for Staff with Team Leader privileges to create Activities in the New Roster. 

Activities can be added from the 'Activity' view. Your filters pre-populate key details such as Site, Service, Staff Member/s and/or Client/s, designed to save you time.

For example, suppose we are creating an Activity for the Community Participation Service at the Melbourne Site. This Site and Service are pre-populated in the 'Add a New Activity' set-up wizard when selected in the filters. If we'd selected any Staff Members, a Program or Clients in the filters, these details would also pre-populate.

To add an Activity, you can either single-click on the relevant date and time for a one-hour Activity, e.g. 10 am on Friday the 25th:

It is worth noting that if you clicked on 10:30 am, this will populate 10 am - 11 am, as it rounds to the hour.

Alternatively, you can click and drag to select the required duration e.g. 10:30am - 11:30am. 

Here is an example of this in the Week Period view:

Or the Month Period view (useful for 24-hour or multi-day Activities): 

Once selected, the 'Add a New Activity' set-up wizard opens, allowing you to create an Activity:

Following the Activity Details being added, the next step is to add the relevant Client/s as needed: 

Followed by adding the relevant Staff, or 'To Be Filled' Shifts. 

If you don't know who will be rostered into this Activity as yet, or if there are multiple Staff Shifts that are required, the number of needed 'To Be Filled' Shifts can be added here: 

If the Shift times differ from the Activity time, they can be edited in the Activity record once created. 

If you know the Staff Member you wish to add, they can be selected here, or you can search by Name or Employment Type: 

When the Pay Period has been configured for your organisation, the Staff Member’s total ‘Agreed Hours’ and ‘Potential Overtime’ risk for their Agreed Period, i.e. Week or Fortnight, inclusive of the Activity Duration, is displayed.

This will mostly be useful if you are creating an Activity and the Staff Shift times align with this, and you are looking for the best match. 

However, if you are creating an Activity with multiple Shifts with times that differ from the Activity time e.g. camps or SIL, this information is more useful in relation to Staff Shifts, which are edited from within the Activity record. Please see the How to fill ‘To Be Filled’ Shifts and change a Staff Member in a Shift article linked below for reference. 

It is important to note that data will only be displayed in these new columns once the Pay Period has been configured. Please see the   Configuring the Pay Period for your organisation article linked below for more information. 

Once the required 'To Be Filled' Shifts have been added and/or the relevant Staff Member/s have been selected, select 'Next: Confirm':

After reviewing the summary and ensuring everything is correct, select 'Add Activity' and you will be able to navigate to this as needed by selecting the link, or you can 'Create Another' as needed, or select Close to navigate back to the roster: 

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What's next?

Greater Roster planning functionality is being developed for Rostering teams, Team Leaders, and Managers, which will be introduced in future updates. 

This includes the following: 

  • A ‘Timeline’ of Staff Members in the Shift view 
  • Drag and Drop Shifts and To Be Filled from the Timeline view (mentioned above)
  • The ability to print the new Roster
  • Availability and Leave Enhancements
  • The ability to synchronise the Roster with your calendar

We’ll continue to keep you informed as new features become available.

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