Whether you’re a support provider or a participant, keep reading. We’ll explore everything you need to know about this NDIS support, from how it’s granted to managing SIL funds.

What Is Supported Independent Living? 

Supported independent living (SIL) is an NDIS fund for participants with high support needs. It pays for carers’ services for people who need support at home at all times because of their disability.

This fund enables participants to live in their own rented homes. That said, most people who receive SIL will live in a shared home with other SIL recipients. This allows one support worker to support multiple participants at the same time.

What SIL Funds Cover

There are strict limits placed on what supported independent living funds can be used for. 

Which Supports Are Included in Supported Independent Living?

The NDIS-supported independent living funds can be used for assistance with tasks so that participants can continue living independently. This includes support worker and carer visits for:

• Personal care, such as dressing and bathing

• Household tasks, such as cleaning and managing utilities

• Menu planning, shopping and cooking

• Basic budgeting and administrative tasks

• Transport to participate in social and community events, go to work or school, attend appointments and other daily tasks

• Training for essential life skills that will allow participants to live more autonomously

• Sleepover support (up to two hours of support per night) 

• Active overnight support (more than two hours of support)

What Does Supported Independent Living Not Include?

Supported independent living only pays for the support worker’s services. It does not pay for day-to-day living expenses, such as:

• Rent

• Bills

• Groceries

SILs are only designed for support at home and with public transport. They do not cover support at work or in school, although participants can receive these supports alongside SIL.

Nor do SILs pay for home modifications or specialist disability accommodation (SDA). However, NDIS participants and their plan managers can apply for SDA or home modifications in addition to their supported independent living funds.

What Are Irregular SIL Supports and What Do They Cover?

Even though there are clear rules around what supported independent living funds can be used for, SILs are also designed to be flexible. 

When the NDIA allocates an SIL fund for a participant, two new service bookings are created. One is for an annual SIL plan value based on the NDIS provider’s proposed roster of care. The other is for a set number of irregular support shifts. This means that if the participant unexpectedly needs more support coverage, the NDIS provider can supply it. 

Irregular supports are meant to be used when the participant spends more time at home than planned. This might be because they are ill and so unable to attend their usual weekly events, such as work or school.

But, remember that SILs — even irregular support SILs — only include assistance with the day-to-day tasks that participants need to live independently. In other words, they would not cover support related to the cause of this illness, even when it’s affected by their disability. 

For example, let’s say that among other conditions, a participant has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. They are unable to attend work due to a flare-up, and so they require irregular SIL support at home. They also need physiotherapy and pain management to help manage the flare-up. However, physiotherapy would come out of the participant’s capacity-building supports instead of their irregular SIL support.

The Benefits of Supported Independent Living

Supported independent living is one of the best ways to ensure that NDIS participants with higher support needs can live independently while receiving the care they need.

For participants, SIL is a chance to live in their own home instead of with family members. It allows them to develop more autonomy, increase their quality of life, and in many cases, boost their self-esteem. 

Since SILs are typically houseshares, supported independent living is also an opportunity to meet other people in similar situations. SIL residents can make friends, receive emotional support and increase their social circle.

At the same time, SIL recipients have the round-the-clock support they need from experts. They live in a safe environment with a schedule that’s custom-built for them. The schedule is designed to not just ensure their safety, but to also help them achieve their goals and be an active member of the community.

Alternative Home and Living Supports

Supported independent living is just one of several supports the NDIA provides to help people with disability live more independently and comfortably.

Other potential supports include:

• Individualised living options (ILOs)

• Housing modifications

• Specialist disability accommodation (SDA)

• Residential aged care

When choosing which support to fund, the NDIA will consider the participant’s support needs, goals, current independent living skills and alternative options. In some cases, the NDIA may allocate more than one of these funds.

However, group homes and residential aged care are increasingly less likely to be funded. The Disability Royal Commission has recommended phasing them out due to the serious issues found in group home care settings. In almost all cases, SILs and specialist disability accommodation are considered a significantly better option for participants.

What’s the Difference Between Supported Independent Living (SIL) and Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)?

We’ve already looked at how supported independent living only pays for visits by a support worker or carer team. It does not include the participant’s housing or housing modifications.

That’s where specialist disability accommodation (SDA) becomes relevant. SDA is housing designed for people with very high support needs. This goes beyond basic housing modifications, such as installing a wet room or chairlift.

Participants still have to pay rent for their specialist disability accommodation. Most participants will also live in a shared SDA with other participants. However, if their disability requires it, they can live alone. 

This means that NDIS participants can be entitled to both specialist disability accommodation and supported independent living funds. The SDA ensures they have a safe, comfortable and accessible home, while the SIL provides the support they need with daily activities.

What’s the Difference Between Supported Independent Living (SIL) and Individualised Living Options (ILO)?

Individualised living options (ILOs) are a home and living support for people with lower support needs compared to SILs. They’re a more flexible option that also makes use of a participant’s informal support networks.

In ILOs, a participant lives with a host or a housemate in accommodation of their choosing. They work with their support coordinator or NDIS provider to outline the supports they need and how those can be met. 

Similarly to SILs, this allows the participant to live outside of the family home. Their host or housemate will not be a relative.

Unlike SILs, however, the participant will not receive constant support from a carer while at home. Some of their support will be provided through scheduled support worker visits while other support will be met informally. 

This may include support from friends, family members, neighbours, volunteers and their host or housemate. There may also be times during the day when they do not receive any in-person support.

How Do Participants Find a Supported Independent Living Home?

Participants must find their supported independent living home before applying for the funding. This is because SIL support services are shared between housemates. The same NDIS provider manages the home and the services for all residents.

This doesn’t mean that a participant has to stay in the same home or with the same provider to keep receiving their SIL funds. They can of course move in the future. What they can’t do is switch providers without moving to a different home.

When applying for SIL funding, the participant’s NDIS support coordinator will help them find a suitable home. They will have the necessary local contacts to be able to suggest several options that could suit the participants’ needs, goals and preferences. From there, the participant can pick the one they prefer.

Participants and their friends and families can also look for potential SIL homes if they want to. Online databases like silaccommodation.com plus local SIL providers are good places to start.

How Does Supported Independent Living Funding Work?

Applying for supported independent living funding is a lengthy but straightforward process. The long application helps ensure that participants receive the right amount of SIL support and funding.

The Supported Independent Living Application Process

There are four steps to applying for SILs. At each stage, a different person or organisation will take the lead.

Step 1: The Participant Notifies the NDIS

Prior to receiving SIL, most participants live at home with family members. Supported independent living will only be considered once a participant has decided that they want to move out and achieve more independence. 

The participant can notify the NDIS of this either through their regular plan review or a change in circumstances form. This will initiate a plan reassessment.

If the participant doesn’t already have support coordination funding, the NDIA will typically allocate it at this point. That’s because SIL service provision has to be fully planned out before the NDIA will grant funds for it.

Step 2: The Support Coordinator Takes Charge of the Application

In the next phase of the application, the support coordinator or plan manager will meet with the participant. They will want to better understand the participant’s needs and goals. Some of the topics they will discuss include:

• The participant’s circumstances and housing preferences

• Their current independence and skill levels

• Their support needs

• Alternative supports that could be applied for instead of or in addition to SIL

• The types of housing that would meet the participants’ needs and goals while representing value for money

Once they’ve discussed that, the support coordinator will work with the participant to find potential SIL accommodation through an appropriate NDIS provider. They may also gather or arrange for medical reports to support the participant’s application.

Step 3: The NDIS Provider Creates a Roster of Care

Once SIL accommodation has been selected, the provider has to create a detailed roster of care. This will break down the support services that the participant would receive based on their support needs. 

The provider will work with the participant or support coordinator to create the roster. They must also use the SIL Roster of Care Tool, which can be downloaded here. The roster must then be emailed to enquiries@ndis.gov.au. 

Step 4: The NDIA Makes a Decision

The NDIA will decide whether to allocate SIL funding for the proposed roster of care. They will take into account:

• The participant’s situation and goals

• Where they are currently living 

• The supports they receive and may need in the future

• The other home and living supports they have looked at

• Their independent living skills and how those could be built on

• Any assessments from medical professionals, allied health professionals or behavioural support practitioners 

• If other home and living supports would better meet the participant’s needs

• If other home and living supports would represent better value for money 

How Are SIL Funding Levels Decided? 

When deciding how much funding to allocate, the NDIA weighs up:

• The roster of care

• The in-home support hours for the participant, i.e. how much time they would spend at home and how much they would spend at work, in school or at social events

• The participant’s required support ratio

• Their required support intensity

• Overnight support needs

• Irregular support needs

The NDIA calculates the amount of support worker hours that will need funding based on the roster of care and required support ratio. They then use this to set the supported independent living funding amount.

They also build in an average of 12 public holidays to their funding estimate, since the participant will probably need more in-home support hours those days.

And, the NDIA funds a number of irregular support days. For the first year of SIL, they generally fund up to 10 irregular support days per year, or 15 for participants with high-intensity support needs. In subsequent years, the number is based on past usage.

Sharing SIL Supports Between Multiple Participants 

When deciding funding levels, the NDIA will consider the participant’s support ratio needs. This is how many support workers they need and how many participants they can share them with. 

Support ratios are possible because most SIL recipients live in a shared house with other people requiring SIL supports. However, they also require careful planning. The participants’ housemates, along with their schedules and support needs, must be taken into account.

The NDIS provider will specify the client’s ratio of support in the proposed roster of care. Once the funding has been allocated, they are then responsible for claiming for the correct amount of shared support against each participant’s funds. 

Managing a Participant’s SIL Funds 

For an NDIS provider, SIL care management presents unique challenges. Although there’s already an approved roster of care in place, the provider still has to make sure their spending is on track throughout the year.  

Providers can manage — and bill for — regular SIL provision in two different ways: weekly or hourly. These methods cannot be combined. 

Weekly SIL Billing 

Weekly billing is simpler and offers more flexibility. But, greater flexibility can sometimes lead to challenging discussions.

With weekly billing, the participant and provider agree on a typical schedule that will be valid for the entire year. The provider then claims 1/52nd of the annual SIL fund each week. There are no claim adjustments for working on public holidays, since the public holiday allowance was already built into the annual fund.

The participant and provider can negotiate week-by-week variations to the schedule without breaching their service agreements. However, with the exception of irregular support provision, these negotiations will make no difference to the claim amount. Providers should decide on their policy for schedule changes in advance to make these negotiations easier.

Hourly SIL Billing

With hourly SIL billing, the NDIS provider claims for each hour of service provision. This means the rates will vary based on the time of day, whether it’s a weekend or public holiday, and more. 

The provider will also have to correctly divide claims between all the support recipients in the household. That makes accurate service schedules and support worker time-tracking essential. Without the right care management software, hourly SIL billing can represent a major increase in admin time.

That’s not the only reason that hourly billing can cause additional administrative work. In theory, most weeks the providers’ claim should be the same as if they were billing weekly. But, that’s not always the case. 

The provider cannot bill for support hours that they haven’t provided. If the participant has fewer in-home hours in any given week, they would use less of their fund.

On the other hand, the provider cannot bill for more than the participants’ allocated funds. If they were to overspend some weeks, this could cause funding gaps later on in the year. As such, it’s critical that the provider carefully tracks and forecasts hourly spending.

Submitting NDIS Payment Requests for SIL

SIL claims must be done through the NDIS provider portal. For weekly billing, providers should choose the line item “Assistance in Supported Independent Living - Weekly”. Alternatively, for hourly billing, use the standard claims method. Irregular support should always be claimed as the line item “Irregular SIL Support”.

For smoother payment claims, SIL providers can auto-generate their bulk invoices from their shift records using their care management software. Make sure the software’s NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits is up to date so that you’re claiming the correct amount.

How Software Helps Deliver Quality Support for Participants in SILs

Managing participants’ SIL support needs can be challenging. Not only do you need to ensure consistently high-quality support, but you need to create a schedule that meets multiple clients’ needs. And, you need to monitor funding usage and correctly invoice the NDIA.

ShiftCare’s NDIS software has all the tools you need to manage complex support schedules, SIL participant funds and NDIS claims. Features include team and recurring rosters, client spending tracked across different funds, a job board for filling irregular support and other empty shifts, real-time no-show alerts, and auto-generated NDIS bulk invoices. 

Plus, ShiftCare comes with a carer app and a portal for clients’ approved loved ones. The carer app allows staff to clock in, check participant details, add progress notes and track participants’ goals while on shift. Through the friends and family portal, clients’ loved ones can receive updates, giving them greater peace of mind.

Discover how the right tools can make SIL service delivery stress-free. Try ShiftCare for free.

What is an SIL assessment?

An SIL assessment is when the NDIA evaluates a participant’s support needs to decide whether they should be granted supported independent living funds.

What are the alternatives to SIL?

If the NDIA decides that an SIL isn’t the best option for a participant, the participant may be granted funding for specialist disability accommodation (SDA), individualised living options (ILO) or home modifications.

What is the difference between SIL and ILO NDIS?

The main differences between SIL and ILO are the support needs and frequency of support provided. SILs are for high-support participants who need round-the-clock support. ILOs are for lower-support participants who only need support worker visits