What SDA pays for
SDA funds the bricks and mortar: a home with specialist design features, such as wider doorways, ceiling hoist structures, robust construction or emergency power. The funding goes to the SDA provider who owns or manages the home.
It does not fund your support. If you need help with daily living, that is funded separately, often as Supported Independent Living (SIL), and SIL providers must be registered with the NDIS Commission since 1 July 2026. Keeping your housing and your support separate means you can change one without losing the other.
Who is eligible
Only a small share of participants are eligible for SDA. To include it in your plan, the NDIA must be satisfied that:
- You have an extreme functional impairment, meaning very low functional capacity in mobility, self care or self management, or you have very high support needs
- SDA is the right housing for you compared with other options, such as living in your own home with modifications or an Individualised Living Option
- It meets the NDIS funding criteria, including being reasonable and necessary
Design categories and building types
Your plan names the kind of SDA you are funded for. New SDA is built to one of four design categories: Improved Liveability, Fully Accessible, Robust and High Physical Support. Older homes may be enrolled as Basic.
Homes are also one of four building types: an apartment; a villa, duplex or townhouse; a house; or a group home for 4 or 5 residents. The design category, building type and location together decide how much SDA funding the home attracts.
What you pay
If you live in SDA you pay the provider a reasonable rent contribution. It is capped at 25% of the basic Disability Support Pension, plus 25% of any Pension Supplement and Youth Disability Supplement you receive, plus all of your Commonwealth Rent Assistance. Food, bills and personal costs are extra and paid from your own income.
How to get SDA in your plan
- Make a housing goal part of your plan, such as moving out of the family home or out of residential aged care
- Get an SDA assessment from an occupational therapist with home and living experience
- Complete the Home and Living Supporting Evidence Form
- Include other evidence that matters, such as a behaviour support plan if you need a Robust home
- If SDA is approved, your plan will name the design category, building type and location
Finding a home
Once SDA is in your plan, you look for a vacancy in an enrolled SDA home that matches it. Vacancy listing sites, providers and support coordinators are the usual routes, and many vacancies are filled through networks before they are advertised.
Your SDA provider must be recorded as a my provider for your plan, and you will sign a tenancy or residency agreement. If your home is confirmed but not ready yet, Medium Term Accommodation can help in the meantime.
SDA and the 2026 changes
SDA funding is protected from the October 2026 funding reset, which only applies to community participation and daily living skills budgets. SDA providers must be registered, and SDA providers are audited against an SDA supplementary module of the NDIS Practice Standards.
SDA prices are set in their own 2026/27 SDA pricing schedule, separate from the main NDIS pricing schedule.