The main home and living supports
- Supported Independent Living (SIL): help or supervision with daily tasks at home for people who need support at all times or most of the day, often in a shared home
- Individualised Living Options (ILO): a package of supports designed around how and where you want to live, combining paid and unpaid support, such as living with a host or with support nearby
- Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA): specially designed housing for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. SDA funds the home, not the support
- Medium Term Accommodation (MTA): somewhere to stay while you wait for your long term home, such as after hospital discharge or while modifications are finished. Typically up to 90 days
- Short Term Accommodation (STA): short stays away from home with support, often used for respite. Typically up to 14 days at a time
What the NDIS pays for, and what you pay
The NDIS funds the disability supports, and in the case of SDA the specialist housing. It does not pay your everyday living costs. In SIL and ILO you pay rent, food, utilities and personal costs from your own income. In SDA you pay a reasonable rent contribution to the SDA provider. In MTA you cover your own food and everyday costs. STA is different: its price covers support, accommodation, food and agreed activities over each 24 hour period.
Where they sit in your plan
In plans made in the NDIA's PACE system, many home and living supports sit in a Core category called Home and Living, category 16. SDA is in Capital. STA and some other supports may appear under Assistance with Daily Life. You also usually need to record your SIL, SDA or home and living provider as a my provider in the NDIS system, or their claims are rejected.
How to ask for home and living supports
Because these supports are large and long term, the NDIA asks for detailed information first, usually through the Home and Living Supporting Evidence Form. You or someone acting for you completes it, and it goes in with a plan reassessment, an unscheduled reassessment or variation request, or a review request. Attach evidence from allied health professionals, such as an occupational therapist's home and living assessment, covering:
- Your daily and overnight support needs, and how often you need help
- Your functional capacity and how it affects daily life and housing
- Other options you have considered, and why they do not meet your disability related needs
What changed in 2026
- Since 1 July 2026, SIL providers must be registered with the NDIS Commission for group 0138. Existing unregistered SIL providers had to apply by 1 October 2026 to keep delivering SIL
- Since 27 August 2026, only you, your nominee or guardian can ask for an unscheduled reassessment, and only for a significant and ongoing change. The NDIA has up to 90 days to decide
- From 1 October 2026, supports in the home and SDA are protected from the funding reset, but community participation budgets that some people in SIL rely on for daytime support are cut by 50% at reassessment or renewal
- If you receive 24 hour support and had $215,030 or more across daily life, home and living and community participation before the reset, you can ask for a high support needs plan variation within 90 days of the reset being applied
Choosing a home and living provider
- Check registration on the NDIS Commission's Find a registered provider search, especially for SIL
- Visit the home and meet housemates before you commit
- Ask how rosters, ratios and overnight support will work for you
- Read the service agreement and any tenancy agreement separately, including how to leave
- Ask how the provider will support your goals, not only your care