Supported independent living (SIL) is NDIS funding for help with daily living in your home. It pays for support workers to help with the tasks you can’t do on your own, so you can live as independently as possible. At Serene Disability Support, we’re a registered NDIS provider and our SIL service is led by a registered nurse, which means clinical needs never sit in a separate box from the everyday ones.
What is supported independent living?
SIL is one of the NDIS home and living supports. It’s designed for people with disabilities who need a fair bit of help each day, often with someone around overnight as well. Most people receiving SIL live in a shared home with a few other participants, and the support workers on shift are shared between them.
SIL is about the support, not the house. The home might be a private rental, a social housing property, or a home built under Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA). Whatever the bricks and mortar, SIL funds the people who help you get through the day.
What our SIL support covers
Every home has a roster of care, built around the needs of the people who live there. Depending on your plan, support workers can help with:
- Personal care, like showering, dressing and grooming, done with respect for your privacy and routines
- Meals, from planning and shopping to cooking together in the kitchen
- Household jobs, like cleaning, laundry and keeping the place tidy
- Medication, with prompts and administration overseen by our nurse
- Health and appointments, including getting you to the GP or allied health sessions
- Independent living skills, so you can take on more yourself over time
- Getting out, whether that’s the shops, a footy game or catching up with friends
Because our care is nurse-led, people with complex health needs, such as medication management or wound care, can be supported at home with the right training and oversight. Where you need more clinical input, we can add community nursing care to your support.
Who is eligible for SIL?
To be eligible for SIL, you need to be an NDIS participant with higher support needs. You’ll generally need help or supervision for most of the day, and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has to agree that SIL is reasonable and necessary for you.
Your NDIS planner will usually want evidence such as:
- An occupational therapy functional assessment
- Reports from your GP, specialists or other allied health professionals
- Information about your current living arrangements and what support you have now
A support coordinator can help you put the request together. If you don’t have one, we can talk you through the NDIS process and point you in the right direction.
How SIL funding works
SIL funding is included in your NDIS plan as part of the core supports budget. The amount depends on how much support you need and whether you share that support with housemates. Your SIL provider works out a roster of care that shows how many hours of shared and one-on-one support the home needs, and the NDIA uses that when setting your funding.
It’s worth knowing what SIL funding covers and what it doesn’t. It pays for support workers. It doesn’t pay for rent, food, bills or other living costs, which you cover yourself, usually from the Disability Support Pension or your own income.
SIL and SDA: what’s the difference?
People often mix up SIL and SDA, because the two so often go together. In short:
- SIL funds the daily support you get at home
- SDA funds the home itself, a property built or modified for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs
You can have SIL and SDA funding together, or SIL on its own in a regular home. If your current home just needs a few changes to be safe, home modifications may be a simpler answer.
Why choose Serene as your SIL provider?
Finding the right SIL provider is a big decision. It’s the team that’ll be in your home every day. Here’s what we bring:
- Nurse-led care. Our founder is an ICU-trained registered nurse, and clinical oversight is part of every SIL home
- Steady support workers. We keep teams small so you get to know the people helping you
- Registered and compliant. We work to the NDIS Practice Standards and the Quality and Safeguards Commission’s rules
- Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD). With multilingual staff and interpreters, we can support you and your family in any language
- Room to grow. We pair SIL with life skills coaching and community participation, so home isn’t the only place you’re supported
Starting your SIL journey
If you’re looking for SIL home vacancies, or you’d like to understand whether SIL is the right fit, the first step is a chat. Give us a call and we’ll talk about your support needs, your NDIS plan and what kind of home you’re after. Support coordinators are welcome to get in touch about current vacancies too. You can see all of our registered NDIS services if you’d like to explore other options.