What is Supported Independent Living (SIL)?

Moving out of the family home is a big step. When the person moving has a disability, the questions arrive all at once. Who helps in the morning? Who is there overnight? How will we stay close?

Supported Independent Living, or SIL, is often part of the answer. This guide explains what SIL is, what the NDIS funds, and how SIL gets into a plan. It ends with questions you can ask any provider. By the end, you should feel ready to make the next call.

What is Supported Independent Living?

Supported Independent Living (SIL) is NDIS funding for a support worker to help or supervise a person with daily tasks, around the clock. It covers help with things like personal care and cooking meals. The NDIS says SIL helps a person live as independently as possible while they build their skills. It is usually shared with housemates.

The NDIS describes SIL as support for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That includes overnight support. You can read the NDIA’s own explanation on the NDIS supported independent living page.

SIL is about the help in the home. It is a type of support. The house itself is funded or paid for in other ways, which we explain below.

Who is SIL for?

SIL is for NDIS participants with higher support needs who need help or supervision for most of the day, every day. The NDIS says SIL may suit you if you need active support for more than 8 hours a day, plus some support for the other hours, including overnight. It is usually funded when you live with other participants.

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission defines SIL for its registration rules, which apply from 1 July 2026. It says a person who only receives a few hours of support a day or week is not receiving SIL. The same applies to a person who chooses and manages their own support workers. You can read this on the NDIS Commission’s SIL registration page.

In everyday terms, SIL can suit an adult who:

wants to move out of the family home and live with housemates
needs help with daily tasks through the day and support overnight
wants to build skills and do more for themselves over time

It might be a young adult ready for a home of their own. It might be someone whose current home is no longer working. It might be a family who has supported someone at home for years and now wants a plan that works for everyone.

What does SIL cover?

SIL covers the paid support a person needs to live in their home. That means help or supervision with daily tasks, such as showering, dressing, cooking and cleaning. It also covers help to build skills, like making a meal or managing money. Support is shared with housemates where that suits each person.

Support in a SIL home is usually shared. The NDIS gives an example: one support worker might support two participants, or two support workers might support four. How the support is shared depends on the people who live there and what each person needs.

Good SIL support works toward the person’s own goals. A goal might be to cook a simple dinner each week. It might be to catch the bus to a day program, or to choose and buy groceries. Small wins like these add up. They are a good thing to ask any provider about.

What does SIL not cover?

SIL does not cover rent, board, groceries, utilities, phone or internet bills, holidays or the cost of the house itself. These are everyday living costs. The person pays them, the same as anyone sharing a rental home. SIL funds the support in the home only.

This is where Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) comes in. The NDIS says SDA is the only NDIS funding that pays for the housing itself. SDA is for people with very high support needs who need a specially designed home. SDA does not pay for the support inside the home, and it does not pay rent.

So some people have SDA and SIL in their plan. Many people have SIL only and live in a standard home with housemates.

How do you get SIL in your NDIS plan?

The NDIA decides whether to fund SIL, based on evidence of the person’s home and living goals and support needs. Start by telling the NDIA, your planner or your support coordinator that you want to explore SIL. Then gather recent reports from a treating professional, such as an occupational therapist, that show the support needed.

The steps usually look like this:

Tell the NDIA about your home and living goals. Say where and how you would like to live. The NDIS explains this on its how to ask for home and living supports page.
Gather evidence. The NDIS asks for recent evidence from a relevant treating health professional. This is often an occupational therapist’s report or assessment.
Talk to SIL providers. Ask about homes, housemates and how support would work day to day.
Plan the support with the provider. The provider works out the support needed with you. This is shared with the NDIA as part of the process.

A support coordinator can help with each step. If you do not have one, a SIL provider can walk you through what comes next.

Do SIL providers have to be registered?

Yes. From 1 July 2026, providers of Supported Independent Living must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Some providers already delivering SIL can keep going while their application is assessed. Registered providers go through independent audits and worker screening. They must also manage incidents and meet other conditions of registration. Delivering SIL without registration can lead to penalties.

The Commission added a new registration class for SIL, called “0138 Assistance with supported independent living”. You can check any provider on the NDIS Provider Register. The register shows which supports each provider is registered to deliver.

Checking takes a few minutes. It is a simple first step before you visit a home.

How do the October 2026 NDIS changes affect SIL?

From 1 October 2026, the NDIS began reducing two budget types as plans are made or reassessed: community participation by 50 per cent and daily living skills by 10 per cent. Essential daily supports, such as help with eating, dressing and toileting, are not affected. A new pathway protects people who need 24 hour support.

The NDIA calls this pathway a plan variation for participants with high support needs who need 24 hour disability support. It is there so these participants keep enough funding to meet their needs safely. The details are on the NDIS news page, changes to support budgets from 1 October.

If you are unsure how this affects a plan, ask your support coordinator or the NDIA. These changes roll out as plans are created, reassessed or renewed. Renewals from 1 February 2027 are included.

What should you ask a SIL provider?

Ask whether the provider is registered for SIL, whether you can see the home, who else lives there, how goals are set and checked, and who to call when something is wrong. Clear, specific answers help you compare. You are choosing the people who will support someone you love every day.

Here are questions you can take to any provider:

Are you registered for Supported Independent Living? Then check the answer on the NDIS Provider Register.
Can we visit the home before deciding? Ask to see the room, the kitchen and the shared spaces.
Who else lives there? Ask how the provider thinks about housemates, and how new housemates are introduced.
How are goals set and checked? Ask who writes the goals down, and how often they are reviewed.
When can family visit? For an adult, the person living in the home decides who visits and when. Ask how the provider supports that choice.
How will we hear how things are going? Ask how updates work, and how often they happen.
Who do I call if something is wrong? Ask for a name and a number.
How do complaints work? Every registered provider must have a complaints process. You can also call the NDIS Commission on 1800 035 544.

Write the answers down as you go. Clear answers are easier to compare side by side.

How SIL works at Altura Care

Altura Care is a registered NDIS provider. Our office is on Macquarie Street in Parramatta. We support people in Parramatta, Westmead, Northmead, Rouse Hill, Riverstone and Castle Hill.

Each person’s support is planned around goals they choose. We check those goals with them along the way. In our Supported Independent Living homes, family are welcome. The person who lives there chooses who visits and who stays involved.

You can call us to talk about your support, or to tell us what is not working. We also offer Support Coordination and therapy through Altura Therapy, if you want them.

Talk to us about a home

You know the person moving better than anyone. Tell us about them. Tell us what they need and what they hope for. We will talk you through our homes and the next steps, so you can decide what is right.

Read more about Supported Independent Living at Altura Care. Then Enquire now, or call us on 1300 192 611.