Understanding funding
Understanding Supported Independent Living Funding
SIL funds support workers to help people with higher support needs live as independently as possible at home.
Support, not housing
SIL funds support workers. It does not pay for the house, rent, groceries or household bills.
Higher support needs
Intended for people needing significant support or supervision through the day and night.
Individual arrangements
Shared support, individual support, or a combination, based on your approved needs.
Plain language guide
The detail, broken into useful sections.
Read the sections that matter to you. The content has not been shortened or changed, only organised so it is easier to scan.
What is SIL?
An NDIS home and living support for people with higher support needs. It funds support workers to provide help or supervision with daily activities in your home — living as independently as possible, completing daily activities, maintaining health and safety, building practical skills, developing routines, and taking part in decisions about your home.
SIL may be provided in a shared home with other participants, or in some circumstances while you live alone.
SIL is not a fifth budget
Plans have four support budgets. SIL is a type of home and living support connected with assistance with daily living. Your plan may separately identify the funding approved for your SIL arrangement, and that funding must be used for that arrangement — not treated as general flexible funding.
Who it may suit
Generally adults with higher support needs — significant support through the day, support with several daily living activities, overnight support or supervision, help managing disability related risks, personal care, meal preparation and household tasks, following routines, building independent living skills, and staying safe at home.
It may be appropriate where you need active disability support for more than eight hours a day, plus some support or supervision during the remaining hours. The NDIA considers each person individually.
If you only need support for a few hours a day or week, other options may suit better — Assistance with Daily Life, Individualised Living Options, personal care support, assistive technology, home modifications, or informal and community supports.
What SIL can fund
- Showering, dressing and personal care
- Preparing meals, eating and drinking
- Cleaning, household tasks and laundry
- Developing and following daily routines
- Taking medication in line with an approved plan
- Implementing an authorised Behaviour Support Plan
- Personal safety and supervision
- Building social and communication skills
- Support during the night
- Attending some appointments and agreed tasks outside the home
- Responding to disability related risks
SIL does not automatically provide one-to-one support at all times. What you receive depends on your plan, assessments and agreed arrangements.
What SIL does not fund
Ordinary living expenses remain yours — rent, board, groceries, electricity, gas, water, phone and internet, general furniture, personal items, entertainment, holidays, vehicle costs, and household budgeting.
It also does not fund the home itself, supports unrelated to your disability, medical treatment belonging to the health system, support already funded through another service at the same time, or separately funded community participation.
SIL and SDA are different things
SIL pays for support workers. Specialist Disability Accommodation relates to the physical dwelling, with specialised design features for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.
You may have SIL without SDA, SDA without SIL, both, or SIL in an ordinary rental property.
Your housing and your support are separate
Changing your SIL provider should not automatically mean leaving your home, unless another lawful housing arrangement applies. Treat the housing agreement and the support agreement as two things.
Shared and individual support
Many SIL arrangements involve participants sharing workers — general supervision, meal preparation, household routines, overnight support. Costs are divided according to each person’s approved arrangement.
Sharing a worker does not mean everyone must have the same needs, routines or goals. You should still receive support reflecting your individual needs.
Individual support means a worker is supporting you directly — personal care, complex health support, behaviour support, appointments, close supervision, or specific skill building. Most arrangements contain both.
Who decides who you live with
You have the right to be involved in decisions about where you live, who you live with, which provider you use, whether you share supports, how routines are organised, and who provides your support.
You should never be pressured into a household
A provider should not push you to live with a particular person just because it suits the provider. Compatibility should consider preferences, communication, routines, culture, age, interests, support needs, safety, behaviour related risks, and what everyone in the home wants.
The Roster of Care
Your provider may prepare a Roster of Care showing support needed through the day, when individual support is required, when it can be shared, overnight arrangements, worker numbers, support ratios, total expected hours, and how it responds to your risks and goals.
You should be involved in developing and reviewing it. The provider does not make the funding decision — the NDIA considers the schedule alongside your assessments and reports.
How SIL is priced and claimed
Standard pricing generally applies to regular daily living assistance. High intensity pricing may apply where workers need additional skills, qualifications or experience for complex health supports, high intensity personal activities, or complex behaviour support needs.
A provider cannot apply high intensity pricing simply because you have a lot of support hours. The support and worker requirements must meet the pricing rules.
Weekly or hourly — not both
Regular SIL may be claimed weekly (an agreed amount, generally the annual budget divided by 52) or hourly (based on support actually delivered). A provider cannot use both methods for the same regular support. Ask which applies to you.
Provider registration
Under current rules, providers delivering SIL must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Transitional arrangements apply to some providers delivering SIL before 1 July 2026, who must apply for registration by 1 October 2026 to continue under those arrangements.
Worth asking any proposed provider: are you registered for SIL, have you applied, what is your registration or application number, what happens if it is not approved, and how will you protect continuity of support?
Only one provider can claim the same time
If a separate provider is being paid to support you in the community, your SIL provider should not also claim SIL for that same period, unless a separate support was genuinely required and permitted.
SCL Support Services
What SCL can help with
Where SCL is your SIL provider, we can:
- Discuss your support needs and goals, and consider honestly whether we can safely meet them
- Explain our SIL service model, and shared versus individual support
- Work with you on a proposed support schedule
- Provide service and pricing information and a personalised Service Agreement
- Develop your Support Plan and explain staffing and overnight arrangements
- Coordinate with your Support Coordinator, Plan Manager and health professionals
- Monitor whether the arrangement remains suitable, and support skill development
- Plan for emergencies and interruptions, and assist a safe transition if you leave
SCL cannot approve SIL funding, decide what the NDIA includes in your plan, guarantee a proposed Roster of Care will be accepted, use SIL funding for rent or living expenses, or claim for support that was not delivered.
Official information
This page explains things in plain language. The NDIS is the authority on the rules, and they change. Check the official pages for the current position.
Last checked: August 2026
Need this in Easy Read, large print or another language? Ask us and we will arrange it.