Where exploration and design fits
An Individualised Living Option is a package of home and living supports built around you, rather than a building or a place in a group home. The NDIS Pricing Arrangements say an ILO is not determined by whether you own or rent, or by eligibility for Specialist Disability Accommodation. It is the support, not the accommodation.
An ILO has two stages. First comes exploration and design. Then, if the NDIA funds it, the ILO support model pays for the ongoing package.
What happens during exploration and design
The provider spends time getting to know you and the people around you. Under the Pricing Arrangements, they will:
- Explore your vision for your future home and help everyone involved understand the full range of options
- Understand your strengths, what you can do, and how informal, formal and community supports can play a role
- Help you choose where to live, who to live with and how you are supported
- Find out what is possible, assess and manage risks, and look at other options that might suit better
- Design the package and make decisions with you and the people you choose
Living arrangements you might explore
- Living on your own with support provided when you need it
- Sharing a home with housemates you choose
- Co residency, where a person lives with you and gives agreed support in return for reduced rent or other agreed compensation that does not come from your plan
- A host arrangement, where you live with a host or host family who provide day to day support, paid an agreed amount from your plan
- Mixing these with supports from family, friends, neighbours and community groups
How long it takes and what it costs
The NDIS says exploration and design usually takes between 30 and 100 hours, depending on how much support you need. The 2026/27 price limit is $100.14 an hour in most of Australia, $140.19 in remote areas and $150.21 in very remote areas.
Ask the provider for a written plan of how they will use the hours, what you will have at the end, and how often you will meet. Choose a provider with ILO experience, and check whether they would also deliver the ongoing support, which can be a conflict of interest to discuss openly.
What you get at the end
The outcome is a detailed design of your ILO: where and how you will live, the primary and supplementary supports, who provides them, how risks are managed, and how the arrangement will be monitored and changed over time. This becomes the evidence, with a quote, for the NDIA to decide whether to fund the ILO support model. The support model is quoted and must be a stated item in your plan.
How to get it in your plan
Talk with your my NDIS contact or support coordinator about your home and living goals. Requests for home and living supports usually need the home and living supporting evidence form and reports from allied health professionals. ILO is not Supported Independent Living: if you choose and manage your own supports and housemates, an ILO may suit you better than SIL.
For providers
Keep exploration and design person led and genuinely open to options, including ones you do not deliver. Record the hours used against the agreed plan, and claim non face to face work and travel only as the Pricing Arrangements allow. Make the final design specific enough that the NDIA can see what each part of the support model pays for.