Supported Independent Living
What is Supported Independent Living (SIL)?
SIL is NDIS funding for the support you receive at home. It pays for support workers to help with daily tasks and personal care, and to build the skills to live more independently. It does not pay for the home itself.
- Funding for support, not for the home
- Help with daily tasks, personal care and skills
- Rostered to your own NDIS plan
- Registered NDIS provider, registration 4050149586
In plain language
SIL in plain language
SIL stands for Supported Independent Living. It is one of the supports that can sit in an NDIS plan.
SIL funds people, not property. It pays for support workers to be there to help you with the everyday things, and to help you learn to do more of them yourself.
You can have SIL without SDA. Many members have SIL support in a home they rent or own like anyone else.
What is funded depends on each person's own NDIS plan. We cannot decide or promise funding, and we will not tell you it is sorted when it is not. Call us and we will talk it through with you.
The funding
How SIL funding works
SIL is usually funded from the core supports in your plan. The amount of support is based on what you need day to day and overnight, and it is written up as a roster of care.
Help with daily tasks
Cooking, laundry, cleaning up, shopping and keeping on top of the week.
Personal care
Showering, dressing, grooming, continence support and medication support.
Building skills
Practical support to cook, budget, catch transport and manage appointments, so you do more on your own over time.
Support with other people around
Being there when you need a hand, prompting, and helping you sort things out when plans change.
Overnight support where your plan includes it
Active overnight or sleepover support, set out in your roster of care.
Getting on with others
Support to get along with neighbours, join in and be part of where you live.
What it does not cover. SIL does not pay your rent, your board or your day to day living costs, and it does not pay for the building. It also does not cover therapy, nursing or clinical treatment.
Our model
How SIL works in a Vertical Village
In a Vertical Village you have your own apartment with your own front door. SIL support is delivered on site in the village, rostered to your own plan, by workers who know you.
Your own apartment
Your own front door, your own kitchen and your own space. You choose who comes in and when.
Support on site in the village
Support workers are based in the village, so help is close by rather than a drive away.
Rostered to your own plan
Your hours come from your own NDIS plan and your own roster of care, not from a fixed house routine.
A village community
Neighbours, shared spaces and things to join in with, at the level you want. Nobody is made to take part.
Workers who know you
A small, consistent team, so you are not explaining yourself to a new face every week.
Room to change
As your skills grow, your support can step back. You do not have to move to change how much help you get.
What it looks like
Apartments, shared spaces and neighbours
Photography from our villages, showing the apartments and the everyday life around them.
The difference
How this differs from a group home
In a group home you usually share a house, a kitchen and a roster with a few other people. In a Vertical Village the home is yours and the support comes to you.
| A Vertical Village apartment | A traditional group home | |
|---|---|---|
| Your home | Your own self contained apartment with your own front door. | A bedroom in a shared house. |
| Who you live with | You live on your own or with who you choose. Neighbours, not housemates. | Housemates chosen by whichever room came up. |
| How support runs | Your own roster of care from your own plan, with support on site. | One roster shared across the house. |
| Everyday life | You decide when you eat, who visits and how your day runs. | Shared meal times and house rules. |
| Community | A village of neighbours, with shared spaces you can use when you want to. | Limited to the household. |
SIL and SDA
How SIL and SDA fit together
They are two separate parts of an NDIS plan. SIL pays for the support you receive. SDA pays for the home you live in. A person can have SIL without SDA.
In our model
In selected villages the two come together. The apartment is the SDA, and SIL support is delivered on site in the village, rostered to each member's own plan. Not every village offers SDA.
Read next
What is Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)?
SDA is the other half of the picture. It is NDIS funding for the home itself, for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.
Read about SDAWhat is funded depends on each person's own NDIS plan. We cannot decide or promise funding, and we will not tell you it is sorted when it is not. Call us and we will talk it through with you.
In your plan
How to get SIL into a plan
SIL is decided by the NDIA at a planning meeting or a plan review, based on evidence about the support you need day to day and overnight.
Step 1
Get the evidence together
Occupational therapy and other allied health reports that describe what you can do on your own and where you need a hand, day and night.
Step 2
Be clear about your goals
Say what you want your life to look like, including living in your own home. Funding follows goals, so the goal has to be in the plan.
Step 3
Ask for a roster of care
A roster of care sets out the hours and the type of support across a typical week. It is what SIL funding is built from.
Step 4
Take it to your planning meeting
A support coordinator, allied health professional or family member can attend with you. If SIL is declined you can ask for a review of that decision.
Choosing a provider
What to ask any provider
Useful whoever you end up with. If a provider will not answer these plainly, that is worth knowing early.
- Who will actually support me, and how consistent is that team?
- How is my roster of care built, and what happens if my needs change?
- Do I have my own home, or a bedroom in a shared house?
- What happens if I do not get on with a support worker or a housemate?
- What does the provider do that my funding does not pay for?
- How do you handle complaints, and can I see how a recent one was resolved?
- Can I meet the team and see the place before I decide anything?
- What would make you tell me you are not the right provider for me?
Questions
SIL questions, answered
Your next step
Have a look at the villages, or just ask us a question
We will read your plan with you, explain what SIL means for you and tell you honestly what is available. Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm Sydney time.