Myth:

You must have supported independent living (SIL) funding to live in SDA.

Fact:

SDA funding is separate from the funding you receive for supports.

Exploring the fact

Funding you receive for supports can be called SIL or ILO (independent living options) or can be simply core funding.

If you are eligible for SDA funding, you will also need support funding to live in your home. This funding might be SIL, or it might be ILO, or you might have an informal supporter (partner) living with you, but you also use core support funding. 

Eligibility for SDA funding is determined by using the SDA Rules, which is a part of legislation. The NDIA will also make an assessment about how much support funding you require, which will be based on what your needs are. 

Case study

Maryanne is 25 years old and moving out of home for the first time. She has been found eligible for SDA funding and will be moving into an apartment in her local area in 6 months. The apartment she will move into is near another 5 apartments where 5 other SDA eligible tenants will be living and all 6 people will be sharing ‘some’ of their supports.

Maryanne and the 5 other people living in co-located apartments will still have their own planned 1:1 or 2:1 supports to help them with their daily routine tasks at home. They will also have access to unplanned support which is shared. 

The way in which sharing of supports will happen for Maryanne and the other 5 co-located tenants is that there will be an onsite support provider who is on-call 24/7. This means Maryanne and the other participants living in the apartments can access support at times when their planned supports are not available. This can be for tasks like unplanned transfers, popping a meal into the microwave or even picking up an item that has been dropped. The cost of this support is shared between Maryanne and the other 5 participants without them physically sharing their homes with one another. 

Any questions?

Contact our NDIS Housing Advice Line on 1300 61 64 63 from Monday-Friday, 10am-3pm (AEDT).

Learn more about SDA

• The Housing Hub has great resources to help people understand SDA!  You can learn more about different types of housing and places to live here. 
• The Housing Hub also provides free information sessions about SDA and you can find more out here.
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