The steps to SDA

The process for getting Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) funding can seem really complex. The key is to take it one step at a time. The steps are outlined in this video. You can read more about each step below.

Before you start

Build a team

Who can help you work out where you want to live, who you want to live with, and how you want to be supported? Who can help you with the evidence you need to give to the NDIS?A good team will include:
  • Someone to talk to about your ideas, get their opinions, and speak up with you if you are not being listened to – this could be a family member, a friend, a support worker you trust, or an advocate
  • A good Support Coordinator/Specialist Housing Support Coordinator 
  • An Occupational Therapist (OT) who understands housing and the SDA process
Depending on your needs, your team may also include a positive behaviour support practitioner, psychologist/psychiatrist and other allied health staff.The Housing Hub can be part of your team too. If you have any questions about applying for SDA, SDA funding or how it works, you can call our NDIS Housing Advice Line on 1300 61 64 63 or email housingoptions@housinghub.org.au. Our Home & Living Specialists can support you to work out what your housing goals are, and work with you and your team to achieve those goals.

Work out what sort of home is right for you

Before you start, it really helps to know what sort of home you want to live in. Because a good home isn’t just a place you live in, it allows you to live the way you want, achieve the things that are important to you and reduce the amount of support you need.It can be hard to work out what your next home should be like. Take the time you need to understand your options and talk to people you trust.

Helpful Resources

Video 7: Where can I live? Living More Independently - Resource Series Housing Hub Home & Living Specialists

Step 1 – Housing Goal

Tell the NDIS that you need to move house. You can do this even if you don’t want to move straight away. The NDIS cannot think about what kind of new funding you need if it doesn’t know that you are going to make a change.You need a goal about housing in your NDIS Plan. A housing goal says what you want to happen with your housing. In your housing goal, you need to use the right words for the NDIS. Your housing goal should talk about: 
  • Moving out of where you live now and say where you want to move to
  • How many people  you want to live with
  • The way you want to be supported
  • Having choice
You can ask to change your goals at any time. To do this call the NDIS on 1800 800 110 or email enquiries@ndis.gov.auThe NDIS can fund a range of supports to help you find the right house for you. This funding is called Investigating Housing Solutions and can include: 
  • Funding for Allied Health assessments 
  • Short Term Accommodation 
  • Capacity Building Programs
  • Support Coordination

Helpful Resources

Video: NDIS Housing Goal Writing

Step 2 – Get evidence about your need for SDA

The NDIS needs to be sure that SDA is right for you before it will pay for you to live in SDA. So you need to put together evidence for the NDIS. The NDIS can provide you with extra support coordination and allied health funding to help with this. This funding is called Investigating Housing Solutions. You should request this in your planning meeting.It is very important that your evidence talks about why you need SDA according to the SDA Rules.  Your paperwork needs to include: 
  • A housing goal in your NDIS plan 
  • A Participant Housing Statement
  • A functional capacity assessment by a suitable allied health professional
  • Additional assessments to support the application if needed
  • Home and living supporting evidence form (previously called 'home and living supports requests form')
  • If your functional capacity assessment has gaps or is not thorough enough for SDA, you may choose to also complete a Housing Plan.

Helpful resources

SDA Operational Guidelines SDA Rules 2020SDA Participant Housing StatementSDA Eligibility Flowchart How to write a Housing Plan (guide and template)

Step 3 – SDA Decision

Submit your evidence

When your reports and assessments are done you can submit them to the NDIS at any time. Submit all your evidence together via email to enquiries@ndis.gov.au – remember to cc in your NDIS Planner and Local Area Coordinator. Make sure you ask for a reference number, so you can keep track of where your decision is up to. You should upload your evidence to the NDIS portal too.

Your SDA decision

A panel of people at the NDIS will decide if you are eligible for SDA.If you are eligible, the NDIS will put this information in your NDIS plan: 
  • SDA building type
  • SDA design category
  • Number of bedrooms in your SDA property
  • Number of residents – how many NDIS participants you will live with or if you will live on your own 
  • Location – where you can live 
  • Whether you have onsite overnight assistance (OOA) 
  • The amount of SDA funding you will get per year. This will be based on all the things above using the SDA Price Guide (see below)
This information about your SDA funding will be in the Capital section of your NDIS plan.If any information is missing from the SDA funding in your plan you can use the SDA Price Guide to help you find out what has been funded.
What the NDIS decides about your SDA is called a ‘reviewable decision’. This means that if what has been decided isn’t right for you, you can ask the NDIS to look at it again. You should make sure that the information about your SDA funding is given to you in writing. 

How long will it take for the NDIS to decide?

If you have asked for SDA as a Change in Circumstances, the NDIS need to decide within 21 days if they will do a review of your plan. Then they need to decide about your SDA in 28 days after that. This means that you should have a decision in 49 days. You should put this date in your diary.Once the NDIS has made a decision about your SDA eligibility, it needs to put the details of your SDA funding in your plan in 7 days.

Helpful Resources

Video: Types of SDASDA Price GuideNDIS Change in CircumstancesNDIS Participant Service GuaranteeMythbusters - Myth 9 - I will have to wait a long time for my SDA determination

Step 4 – Search for your new home

You can create a profile on the Housing Hub to help you search for the right home. This is where you tell us: 
  • Where you want to live
  • Who you want to live with 
  • What design features you need
Any listings on the website that we think you might like will be sent to you.Click here to sign up now

Helpful Resources

Setting up your Housing Seeker ProfileFactsheet: Rent in SDA

Step 5 – Choose your home

You can choose a home that matches the details of the SDA funding in your NDIS Plan: 
  • SDA building type 
  • SDA design category 
  • Number of SDA residents you are living with 
  • Number of bedrooms 
  • Location
This is a good time to request an SDA quote from the provider to get your funding started.You can apply for an SDA property that costs less than the amount the NDIS has allocated in your NDIS Plan. You can also choose to live in an SDA property that is a different design category, building type or number of residents, but the cost must be the same or less than what is in your plan. 
Before you apply for an SDA home that is different to what you have been funded for, it is good to think about why these things were approved for you and make sure the home you apply for is going to meet your needs. You should also check with the NDIS first if you plan to do this.

NDIS pays your SDA provider

This is where the NDIS will pay the SDA provider the payment they have allocated you when they approved SDA in your plan. If you have chosen a property that costs less, they will pay the provider the amount that the property costs. The amount shown in your NDIS Plan is a yearly amount. 

You pay the SDA provider a ‘reasonable rent contribution’

This is where you pay the SDA provider your share of the costs of renting the home.The most an SDA provider can charge you is an amount equal to:
  • 25% of the Disability Support Pension (including Pension Supplement)
  • The full amount of Commonwealth Rent Assistance
You can find out more on the NDIS website here.If you choose to live in your SDA home with family or friends, the SDA provider can ask them to pay a reasonable amount of rent too.

Helpful Resources

SDA Price Guide (see page 9 for info about how much rent you can be asked to pay)

Step 7 – Moving

Some things are best organised before you move, like a bed and any equipment you need.If there will need to be changes to your support team, it's best to get to know those people make sure they are right before you move.There might also be some skills you need or want to learn before you move.

Helpful Resources

Living More Independently - Resource Series

Appeals

If the NDIS decides not to fund SDA for you, or not to fund the type of SDA you believe you need, you can ask the NDIS to review their decision.It's really important that you understand why the decision was made, so ask for it in writing. You might need to give the NDIS additional evidence about your need for the type of SDA you are seeking. You may also decide that a different type of housing may be right for you.If the review decision from the NDIS still isn't favourable, you can appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

Helpful Resources

Freedom of information request Participant information request
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Questions about NDIS Housing?

Call the Housing Hub Advice Line1300 61 64 63For NDIS participants, their families, and supporters. Monday – Friday 10.00am – 4.00pm AEST. You can also email us anytime at housingoptions@housinghub.org.au.

Browse Resources

Housing Seeker Profile

Creating a Housing Seeker Profile is a simple process which involves telling us what you are looking for and what is important to you.

Housing Roadmap

The Housing Hub has worked alongside people with disability to map out the stages of a housing journey and the information you need to know about when moving through each step.

Living More Independently

The Housing Hub has teamed up with Mable to create a three-part series about living more independently.