Supported Independent Living, known as SIL, is an NDIS funded support that provides paid personal assistance and supervision to help people with disability live as independently as possible. SIL includes support with everyday activities such as personal care, meal preparation, household tasks and development of daily living skills within the person’s home environment. The focus of SIL is to build independence, safety and functional capacity while ensuring consistent support for essential routines.

SIL is most suitable for people who have higher support needs and who require a significant level of assistance across the day, seven days a week, including overnight support. SIL funding covers the cost of support workers who provide this assistance but does not include rent, groceries, transport or general household expenses. People using SIL may live in a privately rented home, a home they own, a shared home with others or in Specialist Disability Accommodation where this is included in their NDIS plan.

Individualised Living Options, known as ILO, are NDIS funded home and living supports that help a person with disability live in a home environment that best suits their needs, preferences and goals. ILO does not provide the home itself and instead funds the disability related supports around the person in their chosen living arrangement, which may include living alone, sharing with housemates or living with a host. ILO is generally suited to people who do not require continuous 24 hour support across seven days a week and who can live safely with flexible disability related supports, which may include a mix of funded and informal supports where appropriate.

ILO funding is usually delivered in two stages. The first stage focuses on exploration and design of the preferred living arrangement, including where the person will live, who they will live with, what supports are required and who will provide those supports, leading to development of a formal service proposal. The second stage provides funding to implement, monitor and adjust the agreed supports over time to ensure the living arrangement remains safe, stable and sustainable.

Specialist Disability Accommodation, known as SDA, is housing designed for NDIS participants who have extreme functional impairment or very high support needs and who require a specially built home rather than standard housing and SDA is only available to a small proportion of participants who meet strict eligibility criteria. SDA homes include accessible design features that support safer daily living, increase independence and allow disability related supports to be delivered more effectively.

People living in SDA often share with a small number of other residents, although living alone may also be appropriate where this best meets disability related needs and circumstances. SDA funding pays for the physical home or building while participants continue to pay rent and everyday living costs and disability related care or support services provided within the home are funded separately through other NDIS supports.