How to get SIL funding: what the NDIA looks for

Families often start by finding a vacancy and then asking how to "get SIL" to pay for it. The process runs the other way. The NDIA decides whether Supported Independent Living meets its funding criteria for you, and how much, before any house is chosen. Providers cannot ask for it on your behalf, and the NDIA does not approve or endorse a provider's quote. This guide reflects the rules as at October 2026.

The home and living request process

The NDIS sets out three steps. First, think about what you need: write down your daily support needs, your housing goals (where you want to live and with whom) and the informal and community supports you already have. Second, talk to your my NDIS contact. For most adults that is a Local Area Coordinator; for people with higher support needs it may be an NDIA planner. They will walk through the options, including state housing and what is already in your plan.

Third, provide your evidence. You can upload it through the NDIS service hub (myndisportal.ndis.gov.au), post it to NDIA, GPO Box 700, Canberra ACT 2601, or hand it to your my NDIS contact or local office. Say clearly that you are asking for home and living supports and why.

If you already have a plan and your needs have changed significantly since it was approved, the request goes in as a plan reassessment. Since the 2026 law changes, only you, your plan nominee or a child representative can lodge the plan reassessment request form; the NDIA will not accept it from a provider.

The evidence the NDIA wants to see

The SIL guideline lists what the NDIA needs: your current situation and goals, where you live now and where you want to live, what supports you get now, what home and living options you have already looked at, your independent living skills, and reports from a qualified allied health professional or behaviour support practitioner describing what you can and cannot do because of your disability.

In practice the central document is a functional capacity assessment from an occupational therapist. It should describe how often and when you need help across a typical day and night, not just list diagnoses, and explain which other options you have explored and why they do not meet your needs. For high intensity supports, reports must be no more than two years old and from an independent provider.

Recency matters. For a plan reassessment the NDIA says evidence should usually be dated within 4 months of your request and after your current plan was approved. If the NDIA does not have enough information, the guideline says it may fund an assessment of your home and living needs rather than simply refuse.

• Occupational therapy functional capacity assessment covering a full 24-hour cycle, including overnight needs.
• Reports from other treating professionals where relevant (psychologist, physiotherapist, speech pathologist, GP or specialist).
• A current behaviour support plan if behaviours of concern affect your support needs.
• A short statement of your housing goals and the options you have tried or considered.

The test the NDIA applies

Every NDIS support must meet the funding criteria in section 34 of the NDIS Act, still known as reasonable and necessary. For SIL, the guideline spells this out. SIL is generally only considered from age 18, because parents are expected to support a child in the family home. You need active disability support for more than 8 hours a day, and some level of support for the remaining hours, every day, including overnight.

The NDIA must also be satisfied that SIL is value for money compared with other supports, which is why it asks what else you have explored. If personal care hours from your Core budget, an ILO arrangement, assistive technology or home modifications would meet your needs, SIL will not be funded. It also checks that the request is for an NDIS support and not something another system is responsible for. Housing is the key example: other than SDA, the NDIS does not fund the building.

It also weighs whether the supports help you pursue your goals, do more with less support, reduce your need for person-to-person help, and build connections with family, community, health, education and work. From February 2027, new reasonable and necessary criteria from the 2026 amendments apply to new participants, then progressively to existing ones.

How long it takes, honestly

The NDIS does not publish a service standard for home and living decisions. The SIL provider page says the NDIA "continually seeks to improve the accuracy and timelines" of SIL decisions, which is as close as the official pages get to admitting they can be slow.

Under the 2026 law changes, once the NDIA receives a plan reassessment request it has 90 days to decide whether to reassess. If it reassesses, you receive the new plan within 7 days of approval. If you disagree with a decision, you must ask for an internal review within 3 months, the NDIA aims to complete internal reviews within 60 days, and you then have 28 days to go to the Administrative Review Tribunal.

Before any of that, allow time for evidence: OT assessments take time to book and write, especially in regional areas, and reports older than four months may need refreshing. From first conversation to funded plan, think in months rather than weeks. You can keep using your current plan while a request is considered.

What happens after approval

The NDIA tells you the decision in writing and explains the hours and ratios the funding is based on. For a first SIL plan or a change of circumstances, it also emails the provider named in your roster and your support coordinator the annual regular and irregular amounts, the total, and an estimated weekly figure. The approved amount may not match what the provider proposed, and the NDIA says it will explain any variation.

SIL funding is not tied to a provider, a house or a provider-designed support model. You choose a registered provider; from 1 October 2026 SIL can only be delivered by providers that are registered or have applied to register. A roster of care is only required for your first plan with SIL, or a change in circumstances that cannot be met within existing funding.

Before supports start you need a service agreement covering ratio, amount and intensity of support, prices, responsibilities, holidays, disputes and vacancies, plus a tenancy agreement setting out the rules of the home.

Common reasons SIL requests are declined

The NDIA does not publish decline statistics, but the guideline is explicit about who SIL is not for. If a request is refused in full or in part, the NDIA must give written reasons, and you can ask it to explain them before seeking a review.

• The evidence shows fewer than 8 hours of active support a day, or no need across the full 24 hours; the NDIA usually offers personal care hours instead.
• The person is under 18; a 17-year-old can be funded to explore options, but SIL itself generally starts at 18.
• The evidence is old, generic, or lists diagnoses without describing when and how often help is needed.
• Other options were not addressed: the NDIA expects to see why ILO, personal care hours, assistive technology or home modifications would not work.
• The real problem is housing. A request driven by homelessness risk or unaffordable rent is directed to state housing programs, because SIL cannot pay for a home.
• The request came from a provider or was built around a particular vacancy rather than the person's assessed needs.
• The person wants to direct and roster their own workers, which the NDIA treats as personal care funding, not SIL.

What to do next in South Australia

Find your partner first. As at August 2026, Local Area Coordination in SA is delivered by Feros Care (Barossa, Northern Adelaide), Baptcare (Western and Eastern Adelaide) and Mission Australia (Adelaide Hills, Southern Adelaide, Fleurieu Peninsula, Limestone Coast, Murray and Mallee, Whyalla, Port Augusta, Flinders Ranges). Areas without a partner are handled directly by the NDIA on 1800 800 110.

Regional distance affects the evidence stage more than the decision. If you live in Kadina, Loxton, Whyalla or Port Augusta, OT availability is tighter than in Adelaide. Book early, and ask the OT to address overnight needs and the alternatives you have considered, because the guideline asks for both. ResicareSA can complete a roster of care with you once the NDIA asks for one, but no provider can lodge the request or influence the decision.

• Add a home and living goal to your plan at your next check-in or by contacting your my NDIS contact now.
• Book an OT functional capacity assessment and ask for a 24-hour support profile, overnight needs and alternatives considered.
• Gather supporting reports, a behaviour support plan if you have one, and a one-page statement of your housing goals.
• Submit through the service hub, by mail or in person; if your needs changed after your plan was approved, use the plan reassessment request form signed by you or your nominee.
• Only once funding is approved, compare providers and vacancies, and have your support coordinator review the service agreement before you sign.

Questions people ask