Who Is Eligible for Supported Independent Living (SIL)?
The NDIA may fund SIL for an NDIS participant aged 18 or over who needs active disability support for more than 8 hours a day and some level of support at all other times, including overnight. SIL also has to meet the NDIS funding criteria, including value for money compared with other home and living supports. It's decided on evidence, usually from an occupational therapist.
What Support Needs Does the NDIA Look For?
Help or supervision around the clock, with a significant amount of hands-on help during the day.
| Test | What it means |
|---|---|
| Active support for more than 8 hours a day | A support worker helping with daily activities like personal care, cooking, eating, cleaning and chores, or supervising while the person does them |
| Some support the rest of the time | Someone available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including overnight |
| Aged 18 or over | Parents are usually expected to support children at home. At 17 you can ask for help exploring home and living options |
| Meets the NDIS funding criteria | Including value for money compared with other supports, and that it's an NDIS support rather than housing |
Active support doesn't count time a worker spends on things unrelated to you, like paperwork. Overnight needs are assessed separately.
Who Isn't SIL For?
People who only need a few hours of help a day or week, and people who direct and roster their own support workers.
If you don't need some level of support all the time at home, the NDIA will usually look at personal care supports in your assistance with daily life budget instead. If you choose and manage your own workers, that's a self-directed arrangement funded through daily life supports, not SIL.
Looking for SIL Support?
We'll connect you with a registered SIL provider who may have support or a vacancy that suits.
What Evidence Does the NDIA Use?
Recent reports that explain your daily support and housing needs, and what other options you've tried.
- Your current situation, where you live now and your home and living goals
- What support you get now and what you might need in future
- Your independent living skills and how you could build on them
- Assessments or reports from an allied health professional, such as an occupational therapist, or a behaviour support practitioner
- What other home and living options you've looked at, and why they don't meet your needs
If you're new to SIL or there isn't enough information, the NDIA may fund an assessment of your home and living needs. If you're asking to change existing supports, the evidence has to be dated after your last plan was approved.
Can You Get SIL If You Live Alone or With Family?
It's possible, but SIL is usually funded where participants share a home and their support.
The guideline says you can get SIL living with other participants, with people who aren't participants, or on your own. But it also says other options may suit you better if you live alone and SIL doesn't meet your needs, if you live with people who aren't participants, or if you want to manage your own supports. Individualised living options (ILO) are often suggested as a place to start.
What If the NDIA Says No?
You get written reasons, and you can ask for an internal review within 3 months of getting your plan.
The NDIA may include other home and living supports instead, such as personal care or ILO. If your needs change later, you can ask for a plan change with new evidence. Our guide on how to get SIL funding goes through the steps.
Questions People Ask
How many hours of support do you need to get SIL?
The NDIA's guideline says active disability support for more than 8 hours a day, and some level of support for the remaining hours, including overnight.
Can a 17 year old get SIL?
SIL is generally only funded from 18. At 17, if your goal is to move out of home, the NDIA may fund support to explore your home and living options.
Do you need SDA to be eligible for SIL?
No. SIL eligibility is about support needs, not the type of home. Most people with SIL don't live in specialist disability accommodation.
Who decides if I get SIL?
The NDIA, using the funding criteria and evidence about your support needs. A provider can't decide it for you, though their information can help.
Keep Reading
- What is SIL?Supported independent living (SIL) under the NDIS explained: who it's for, what support workers help with, what it doesn't pay for, and how shared SIL works.
- How to get SIL fundingHow to ask for supported independent living (SIL) in an NDIS plan: the three steps, the evidence that helps, where to send it, and what to do if it's a no.
- How SIL funding worksHow SIL funding works: hours of support, ratios, standard or high intensity, overnight support, irregular support days and how the pricing schedule sets limits.
- SIL vs SDA vs ILOSIL, SDA and ILO compared from the support side: what each one funds, who it's for, how they combine, and which to ask about when you need help to live at home.
- The SIL roster of careWhat a SIL roster of care is, what goes in it, who writes it, whether the NDIA needs it, and how it relates to SIL funding and so-called SIL quotes.
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