Almost more than any other component of the NDIS, the difference between SIL and SDA trips confuses more NDIS participants and their families. Both are funded under Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme, and both concern where and how a person with disability lives. They also cost different things, however, and if someone mistakenly uses them interchangeably during the planning process, there may be a significant shortfall in what they actually get. This article explains this support simply and outlines how it works with other support, along with the most common questions.

What is SDA Housing?

SDA (or Specialist Disability Accommodation) is housing funded by the NDIS for Australians with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs at home. Not every person with a disability is eligible for SDA funding under the scheme. There were about 650,000 NDIS participants nationally, of whom around 26,600 received SDA funding for their plans during 2023-24, according to the NDIS Quarterly Report for 2023-24.

The dwelling corresponds to the definition of SDA housing. Homes specifically built or substantially modified to provide features such as ceiling hoist systems, automated doors, reinforced construction, emergency power and layouts of the bathroom and kitchen that are fully accessible. The current framework has four design categories: Improved Liveability, Fully Accessible, Robust, and High Physical Support. Each has a different funding rate in the NDIS and caters to a different profile of need.

It is useful to be clear about what SDA Housing Providers do, to understand the whole difference between SIL and SDA. They are responsible for the ownership or management of the building. The maintenance, NDIS design standard compliance and tenancy agreement is held by the SDA provider. They are not accountable for the support that goes on at home. That's another story.

What Is SIL?

The people who help you live at home are funded in the NDIS as SIL (Supported Independent Living). Personal care, cooking, medication and daily living assistance. SIL is not a housing product. Does not include the bricks, the hoist rail or the accessible bathroom layout.

The amount of funding for SIL is decided on a person's assessed need for daily or overnight support. They may require a few hours of support daily or continuous support. This is assessed separately to the SDA housing assessment and will be managed through another line item in the plan.

SIL providers are also separately registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. In the majority of living arrangements, the SDA provider is not the same organisation as the SIL provider. The participant has to cope with both, usually with the help of a Support Coordinator.

The Core Difference between SIL and SDA

Let's get straight to the point. SDA funds the home. The help within it is funded by SIL.

For any individual who occupies a High Physical Support (HPS) SDA property, the funds you receive is to pay the rent on that property. The support workers who help you within it are paid for by your SIL funding. Take one out, and the setup is unstable. However, in most cases, they are funded, approved, and delivered separately by a different provider.

The confusion is likely to occur because both support systems are concerned with where someone lives. SDA Housing Providers is assumed to provide daily support, and/or access to a specialised building at SIL. Neither is correct. Property managed by an SDA provider. A SIL provider is not the provider of the adapted home, but provides support.

Can both SDA and SIL be used at the same time?

Yes. A number of NDIS participants have both SDA and SIL funding within the one plan. For some with very high support needs, this is the only viable option.

Combining both will result in managing two providers and two funding streams. This is possible for some participants with a Support Coordinator. Others find it more difficult, especially when there is conflict between the SDA provider and the SIL provider on issues of responsibility. Having the building on one side and the support on the other makes those conversations a lot cleaner.

How SDA Providers and SIL Providers Are Registered

To be eligible for legal access to NDIS funding, both SDA and SIL providers need to be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The registration procedures and compliance inspections, however, are different.

They are evaluated against housing standards, such as the NDIS SDA Design Standard (2021 edition), which outlines the technical standards for each design category. They also have to comply with the residential tenancy laws in their operating jurisdiction.

The NDIS Practice Standards for support delivery are used to assess SIL providers. Their audits cover workforce management, incident reporting, and participant rights in service settings.

Providers registered with the NDIS are available on the NDIS website in the NDIS SDA Register, organised by location and design category. The provider search tool is split into two sections for SIL and other support services. What two different searches are these, and what do they search for?

Common questions regarding SIL and SDA

What's the simplest explanation of what SIL and SDA are? 

SDA will finance the special home. SIL financially supports the support workers who live with you. Both are funded by the NDIS, but are assessed differently, covered under different lines of the plan and provided by different providers registered to the NDIS. This is a lot of clarification up front at the plan review.

Would I have to pass the SDA and SIL exams for both?

 Yes. Most of the time, a report from an OT is required to support your extreme functional impairment and to verify that mainstream housing is not suitable for your needs to be eligible for SDA. Eligibility for SIL is determined by the daily/overnight support required. These are not linked; one does not automatically follow the other.

Do I have a choice of my own SDA Housing Provider? 

Yes. NDIS participants can select their registered SDA providers. The NDIS SDA Register enables you to search by location, design by category and dwelling type. Your Support Coordinator will also be able to direct you to any providers that currently have an opportunity for someone in your area, which the register doesn't always include.

If my SDA/SIL providers disagree about what they should do, what then? 

This can happen more frequently than it should. The principle is that the SDA provider covers all aspects of the building, and the SIL provider covers all aspects of day-to-day support. This should be clearly outlined in your tenancy agreement and your SIL service agreement. When there is a dispute, a Support Coordinator can intervene and explain the boundary.

Are there SDA Housing properties throughout Australia? 

SDA housing is available in each state and territory, but the availability of SDA housing by design category will differ. Homes in the High Physical Support and Robust categories are more limited in availability away from large urban areas. The SDA Alliance (sdaalliance.org.au) releases quarterly market reports that present vacancy and pipeline data by state and category, providing a more accurate picture than the SDA Register.

Final Word

Once the boundary is understood, the difference between SIL and SDA is not complicated. The building is SDA. It is supported by SIL. Both are funded by the NDIS, both have to be done separately, both are to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and both are to be done by providers who have different assessment requirements, different jobs to do, and different registration requirements. A Support Coordinator with firsthand experience in SDA housing is invaluable if you are doing this for the first time, and is a good person to look for in your plan review. It's easier to get the paperwork right the first time than to fix it later.