Supported Independent Living

Achieving your goal to live independently.

Leap in! has created this free guide to help explain how Supported Independent Living works and to answer some frequently asked questions.

Is one of your goals to move out of the family home? Would you like to be more independent in your own home? Supported Independent Living (SIL) can help you get there.

Supported Independent Living is designed to give people with a disability a place they can call home while getting the supports they need to live a full life.

Download the Supported Independent Living ebook by clicking the button or use the links in the sections below to read more about each topic.

Young woman smiling with her arms crossed in a library
Young woman smiling with her arms crossed in a library

What is Supported Independent Living?

Supported Independent Living is a package of NDIS supports designed to help a person with a disability live as independently as possible in a shared living arrangement.

The NDIS indicates that SIL is “best suited for participants who have high support needs and require a significant amount of assistance throughout the day.” Read on to find out more.

Mother smelling a bunch of yellow flowers held by her daughter
Mother smelling a bunch of yellow flowers held by her daughter

Supports covered by SIL funding.

SIL pays for support workers to provide all the assistance you need to live independently and access the community. If you think of all the supports you require to complete everyday activities in a 24-hour period, they’re the things likely to be covered by SIL.

Items covered by other NDIS budgets such as transport, consumables and assistive technology cannot be purchased with SIL funding. In this section, we explore some of the things that SIL does and does not cover.

Group of young co-workers laughing
Group of young co-workers laughing

SIL and the NDIS.

Supported Independent Living is referred to as Assistance with Daily Living in the NDIS Core Supports budget. SIL is a stated support which means the funds have been set aside for a specific purpose and cannot be used for any other purpose.

Once an SIL package is approved, the NDIS participant is unable to use any other NDIS budgets to pay for items covered by SIL. For this reason, it’s really important that your SIL application includes all the supports you need. Read on to find out the facts.

Man and a woman sitting on a park bench laughing
Man and a woman sitting on a park bench laughing

Getting SIL in your NDIS Plan.

The NDIS will only approve an SIL funding package for you if SIL supports are considered reasonable and necessary for your individual needs. You must also be aged 18 or over to be eligible.

Before starting the process, it can be helpful to create a list of all the supports you need – from when you wake up to when you go to sleep. Do this for your worst days and be sure not to miss anything out. In this section, we’ll review the process for getting SIL in your NDIS Plan.

Young man sitting on the lounge smiling at the camera
Young man sitting on the lounge smiling at the camera

Finding a house.

Finding the right place to live can be one of the trickiest aspects of obtaining SIL funding. Your support coordinator or a shared accommodation provider may be able to help find the right home for you.

Some shared accommodation providers offer a variety of home types including houses, units and villas. They can also help match you with housemates who have similar interests. Read on to find out more.

Young woman at a coffee shop with three friends
Young woman at a coffee shop with three friends

Service Agreements with SIL providers.

A Service Agreement is a simple, written document that explains your responsibilities and the responsibilities of a service provider. Service providers are people or businesses that provide services to you such as a company that offers Supported Independent Living services.

A Service Agreement is a simple, written document that explains your responsibilities and the responsibilities of a service provider. As you work through the information in this section, consider why a Service Agreement is important.

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