Before you move into specialist disability accommodation, you’ll need to create a written service agreement with the provider you choose. The service agreement should include the roles and responsibilities for you and your provider.
Do you have to pay rent to your specialist disability accommodation provider?
Paying rent is an ordinary cost of living. Once you move into specialist disability accommodation, you’ll need to make reasonable rent contributions toward your housing. You will pay this to your specialist disability accommodation provider. You should discuss this with them and agree on how much you’ll need to pay to live in specialist disability accommodation.
The maximum reasonable rent contribution is 25% of the Commonwealth Disability Support Pension , as well as any Commonwealth Rent Assistance you get.
The amount of the reasonable rent contribution should be included in the service agreement between you and the provider or in a separate rental agreement.
What if you want to live full time with a partner, friend or family member?
You can choose who you live with. They may or may not be an NDIS participant. Your specialist disability accommodation provider will need to agree to your choice and we’ll need to be sure it isn’t a risk to your health or safety.
When we say live with, we mean someone who you live with full time.
People you may want to live with include:
- family members, including children
- partners
- friends
- another participant who is eligible for specialist disability accommodation
- another person who isn’t eligible for specialist disability accommodation.
We can only provide funding to people who are NDIS participants. The decision we make about your specialist disability accommodation supports is independent and separate from your choice of who you live with. If you share your home or bedroom with someone else, that person will need to cover their own costs, including rent. We’ll take this into account when we work out your specialist disability accommodation funding needs.
What if you want to share a bedroom with someone else?
If you want to share your specialist disability accommodation bedroom with another person, we’ll make sure you’re not being asked to share your bedroom if you don’t want to. We also check that having more than one person in your bedroom won’t mean your needs may not be met.
When we look at whether sharing your bedroom is a risk to you, we think about your situation and the situation of other people you share with. We need to consider the impact on others in the house and make sure the house can accommodate an extra person.
Example
John lives in two-bedroom specialist disability accommodation with Karen who is also an NDIS participant. John would like his girlfriend Sophie to move in and share his bedroom.
After talking with John and Karen we confirm that they both are happy with this change to the living arrangement. We also confirm that there will be no impact to both of them receiving the disability related supports they need. The specialist disability accommodation provider will also need to agree to this new arrangement.
Sophie is not an NDIS participant so the 3 housemates will need to discuss with the provider and agree on the amount of rent to be paid by Sophie.
How does sharing a bedroom affect your rent and the specialist disability accommodation amount in your plan?
The rent you have to pay, and specialist disability accommodation amount we’ll fund in your plan, depends on the situation of the other person who you want to share your bedroom.
Learn more about how much rent you have to pay to your specialist disability accommodation provider.
For more information about how much rent you and the other person will pay, and how much we’ll fund for specialist disability accommodation, check out the specialist disability accommodation Pricing Arrangements .
Do you need to have the same provider for your other supports?
No. You can choose the provider you want for each of your supports within the budget in your plan. The specialist disability accommodation provider provides your home, not the support you receive living there.
Generally you’ll choose a different specialist disability accommodation provider to your other supports. That way, you pick the supports and providers that suit you best. The other supports you might need include:
- supported independent living
- individualised living options
- personal care supports
- support coordination .
Your specialist disability accommodation provider must let you change your providers for other supports at any time.
What if you have in-kind specialist disability accommodation?
Before the NDIS, state and territory governments often provided specialist disability accommodation. In some locations, this continued after the NDIS started. We call this in-kind specialist disability accommodation or in-kind accommodation.
You can choose your specialist disability accommodation provider. If you get in-kind specialist disability accommodation and you want to explore other options like moving to another home, we can help. Contact your planner or local area coordinator to get started.
Learn more about in-kind supports .