SIL vs SDA in Australia – Understanding the Differences, Eligibility and Accommodation Options

If you have spent any time around NDIS housing conversations, you will have heard SIL and SDA mentioned together — sometimes as if they were the same thing. They are not. One is about the support a person receives at home; the other is about the home itself. Mixing them up can mean asking for the wrong thing, waiting for the wrong kind of home, or assuming funding is in place when it is not.

This guide puts the two side by side: what each one is, who may be eligible, what you still pay, how they work together, and how to explore accommodation once you know what your plan includes. If you would prefer a shorter starting point, our quick explainer on SIL vs SDA covers the basics in a few minutes.

What is Supported Independent Living (SIL)?

Supported Independent Living, usually shortened to SIL, is NDIS funding for help and supervision with everyday tasks at home, so a person can live as independently as possible. It pays for paid support: help with personal care, preparing meals, managing routines and medication, building everyday skills, and getting out into the community. The NDIS explanation of supported independent living (opens in a new tab) sets out the official definition.

SIL is usually for people who need a lot of help each day, including overnight. It is often delivered in a shared home where a few people live together and share some of their support, and it can also be delivered in a home a person already rents or owns. What support happens, and when, is set out in an agreed roster of care.

SIL is about the people, not the property. It does not pay for the house, the rent, groceries or bills. Our page on supported independent living with Gencare explains how we provide it.

What is Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)?

Specialist Disability Accommodation, or SDA, is NDIS funding for the home itself. It pays for housing that has been specially designed or built for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs — for example, homes with more circulation space, provision for ceiling hoists or backup power, or more resilient construction.

SDA funding is paid to a registered SDA provider for a dwelling that has been enrolled with the NDIA. It does not pay for the support delivered inside the home; that is funded separately. The NDIS is also clear that most NDIS participants do not need SDA, and that other home and living supports are often a better fit.

There are four design categories a participant can be funded for: Improved Liveability, Fully Accessible, Robust and High Physical Support. Your plan names the category, and that category decides which homes are a real option. Our page on specialist disability accommodation describes each one.

SIL vs SDA: the key differences

Side by side, the differences are easier to see:

The other differences that matter:

• Who SIL is usually for: people who need a lot of help each day, including overnight
• Who SDA is for: a narrower group with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs who meet the SDA needs requirement
• Who provides them: a registered SIL provider for SIL, and a registered SDA provider, in an enrolled dwelling, for SDA
• Who decides: the NDIA, for both — separately

Can someone receive SIL and SDA together?

Yes. Many people who live in SDA also receive SIL, because a home designed for very high needs often goes hand in hand with a high level of daily support. When both are funded, they work alongside each other: SDA pays for the home, and SIL pays for the help inside it.

They are still two separate supports. SIL is arranged under its own agreement, separate from the SDA arrangement, which means a person can change their support provider without having to move house. And neither comes bundled with the other: SDA funding does not include SIL, and having SIL does not mean someone is eligible for SDA.

So some people have SIL without SDA, some have SDA without SIL, and some have both. What matters is what the NDIA has funded in your own plan.

SIL eligibility: what the NDIA considers

There is no single checklist for SIL. The NDIA looks at a person’s disability-related support needs — how much help they need through the day and night — and whether SIL is the right way to meet them compared with other options. SIL is generally not designed for people who need only a few hours of support a day or a week.

Requests are usually supported by evidence such as a functional capacity assessment and reports from treating professionals, often an occupational therapist, describing what support is needed and when.

SDA eligibility: what the NDIA considers

SDA eligibility is narrower, and the rules are set out in the NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation Rules 2020 (opens in a new tab). In broad terms, the NDIA must be satisfied that a participant has an extreme functional impairment or very high support needs, and that they meet the SDA needs requirement — meaning SDA together with other supports would serve them better than other supports alone, including being better value for money. The usual NDIS funding criteria apply as well.

A diagnosis, a mobility difficulty or a need for daily support does not, on its own, establish SDA eligibility. Evidence from allied health professionals — especially an occupational therapist — is usually central. Our guide to SDA eligibility and how to apply walks through that evidence in detail.

Asking the NDIA for home and living supports

SIL and SDA are both home and living supports, and both are requested through the NDIA. In broad terms:

1. 1

   Talk about your housing goals

   Raise them with your planner, local area coordinator or support coordinator, so they can be reflected in your plan goals.

2. 2

   Gather evidence

   Reports from treating professionals — often an occupational therapist — describing your daily support needs, your functional capacity, and the options you have already considered.

3. 3

   Make the request

   The current process, including the supporting evidence form, is explained on the NDIS page about asking for home and living supports (opens in a new tab).

4. 4

   The NDIA decides

   The NDIA considers the evidence and decides what to fund. A provider can explain options, but cannot decide your eligibility.

How SIL and SDA funding arrangements work

It helps to separate three things that often get bundled together:

• The home — if SDA is funded, SDA funding is paid to the registered SDA provider for the dwelling
• The support — SIL, or other daily living supports, paid to the support provider for the help you receive
• Your own costs — rent or a rent contribution, groceries, utilities, phone, internet and other everyday expenses, which neither SIL nor SDA covers

In SDA, the rent a provider can charge is capped as a reasonable rent contribution, worked out from a participant’s income rather than the market value of the home. The NDIS sets and reviews those figures, so check the current amounts with the NDIA or your support coordinator rather than relying on a number you read elsewhere.

What accommodation options should participants consider?

SIL and SDA are not the only paths. Depending on what you need, it may be worth asking about:

• Supported independent living in a shared home with other people
• Supported independent living in a home you already rent or own
• SDA, if you are eligible, in the design category your plan names
• Individualised Living Options (ILO), a more flexible way of arranging support around how you want to live
• Medium-term accommodation, a temporary place to stay while a longer-term home is being arranged
• Home modifications or assistive technology that may make your current home work better

A support coordinator, planner or local area coordinator can help you weigh these up against your goals and your plan.

Questions to ask when exploring a home or provider

• Which supports does this home suit — SIL, SDA, or both?
• If it is SDA, which design category is it enrolled in, and does that match my plan?
• Who else lives here, and how are new housemates matched?
• How is support arranged during the day and overnight, and how will that be set out before I agree?
• What will I pay each week for rent or my rent contribution, food and bills?
• Can I visit, meet the people who live there, and take time to decide?
• If things are not working, how can I change my support provider or move?
• Is the provider registered for the supports it is offering?

Where Gencare’s homes fit in

Gencare provides supported independent living in homes across Melbourne’s western suburbs. One of them, in Cobblebank, is also an SDA-registered home in the High Physical Support design category: it is a single house where Gencare is the registered SDA provider and also provides SIL. Its documented features are on the Cobblebank SDA home page.

We are one option among many, and our homes will not suit everyone. If one of them might fit, our page on SIL and SDA accommodation in Melbourne’s west shows each home and what we have confirmed about it.

How to ask about accommodation and current availability

Availability changes, so the most reliable way to find out what is open is to ask the provider directly. It helps to know what your plan currently includes, the areas that matter to you and roughly when you hope to move — but you do not need everything worked out first.

Asking about a home is not a guarantee of a place, and a good provider will tell you plainly if a home is not the right fit.

The bottom line

SIL and SDA answer different questions. SIL is about the help you need to live well at home; SDA is about whether you need a specially designed home to do it. Some people need one, some need both, and many need neither — the right answer comes from your own circumstances, not from a label.

This article provides general information only. It is not NDIS funding advice, and it does not guarantee eligibility, funding or a place in any home. Eligibility and funding decisions are made by the NDIA based on individual circumstances and current NDIS rules.