Is supported independent living suitable for you?

Supported independent living is usually funded when you live with other participants and share NDIS supports with them.

If you aren't sharing your NDIS supports with other participants, supported independent living is only one of many support options that may suit you. There may be other home and living options that better suit your needs and preferences.

If you aren't sure what home and living support is best for you, individualised living options can be a good place to start.

If you need support because of your disability to live in your home, you can contact us . We'll help you explore and work out the options that suit your needs.

You may also want to explore

Supported independent living may be the best option for you if you need significant person-to-person support provided by a disability support worker, including overnight support.

To work out if we can fund supported independent living we’ll need to get information from you about your current and future home and living goals, as well as your support needs.

This will help us decide what home and living support we can fund.

When deciding if we can fund supported independent living, we think about:

if it meets the NDIS funding criteria, including if it’s an NDIS support for you
how old you are
how much support you need in your home every day

We’ll also look at whether you can share this support or need support to live alone.

Like all NDIS supports we fund, supported independent living must meet all the NDIS funding criteria. We also think about what other NDIS supports you need in your home, and how these supports will all work together.

For example, we need to know supported independent living is value for money compared to the cost and benefits of other supports. There might be other home and living supports that help you live the way you want to, and offer better value for money than supported independent living.

We also need to know your home and living supports are NDIS supports. We can’t fund supports that are more appropriately funded by another government or community service.

For example, we can’t fund housing, except for specialist disability accommodation. When we say housing, we mean the building itself, like a house or apartment. Many people buy or rent their own housing. State and territory governments are responsible for helping people with housing. This includes making sure all Australians, including people with disability, have access to accessible, affordable and appropriate housing.

Supported independent living, or other types of home and living support, might be suitable for you once you find housing that suits you. Learn more about mainstream and community supports.

Some of the things we consider when deciding if we can fund supported independent living include:

your current situation and goals
where you live now and your future home and living goals
your independent living skills and potential to build on these
supports you need to achieve your home and living goals
information about your day-to-day support needs
reports or occupational therapy assessments
other helpful information about your support needs
any alternative home and living options.

We'll use the information you, family members, or carers give us to understand your needs. We’ll also look at any relevant information you gave us when you applied to the NDIS, including medical or allied health reports.

If you have any other information or reports you think will help us understand your needs, let us know.

We might also ask you for more information to help us make a decision.

Supported independent living is generally only considered to meet the NDIS funding criteria for people aged 18 or older.

This is because we would usually expect parents to provide the support a child needs to live in the family home. Where a child needs much more support because of their disability than children of the same age, we may be able to fund personal care or other supports.

Learn more about reasonable and necessary supports.

State and territory governments are responsible for children who can’t live in their family home.

If you’re 17 and your goal is to move out of home, we may be able to fund support to explore your home and living options. It’s never too early to start thinking about what this might look like for you in the future.

If so, talk to us about the home and living goals you want to pursue. We can start helping you work out the best option for you, and we may fund support to help you explore your options. Talk to your support coordinator or my NDIS contact if you'd like more information.

Supported independent living may be suitable for you if you need both:

active disability support for more than 8 hours per day to complete daily activities
some level of support for the other hours – that is, you need support for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, including overnight support.

When we say active disability support, we mean support in your home to help you do daily activities. For example, you may need help with personal care, getting ready, cooking, eating and drinking, cleaning and doing chores.

Active disability support includes direct support, where a support worker helps you do something or does something for you. It might also include monitoring support, where a support worker supervises you doing things yourself and can help you if you need it.

Active disability support refers to support provided during the day. We work out overnight support separately, depending on whether you need someone to be awake at night to support you. For more information, see roster of care section in this guideline.

Active disability support doesn’t include support workers doing other work that isn’t related to supporting you, such as record keeping or filing.

In most situations supported independent living covers support for the time you are in your home. You may be able to choose to use some of your supported independent living funding to help you go to activities or complete some personal tasks outside your home.

This includes things like going to and from the shops or your activities in the community. You should talk to your provider about how you want to use your supported independent living funding and make sure this is included in your service agreement with them.

You may spend time outside your home doing other activities. This might include work, study, going to a group activity or spending time with friends and family. Support for activities outside your home can be funded separately in your plan. For example, you might also get funding for day activities, employment or social and recreation supports separately to your supported independent living funding.

We'll work with you and your providers to make sure all your funding works together as a package of NDIS supports that work for you, both in your home and the community.