What’s Needed, Not What’s Listed: Impacts of Recent ART Decision on Future of SDA

Alecia & Vince explain the latest decision by the ART, why the future of SDA is not limited to the SDA Price Guide, and why that’s good news for all.

There’s no two ways about it: SDA has revolutionised housing for people who need a lot of support. While significant issues remain for participants and providers alike, many people with SDA funding in their NDIS plans are now living with newfound independence, in homes that support each person’s individual needs and lifestyle.

But for some people who need SDA to live well, their vision for a home that suits their situation had been compromised by a rigid list of options – if it wasn’t in the SDA Price Guide, it wasn’t possible. But a decision by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) in November has turned that thinking on its head, and provided important clarity for participants, families and supporters, as well as housing providers who recognise the need for bespoke, person-centred housing solutions.

The ART’s key clarification: Supports are defined by legislation – not by omission

A kitchen in an SDA home.

In the decision above, the ART found that the absence of a 1-resident House category in the SDA Price Guide does not amount to a legislative exclusion. This is an important correction to a common misunderstanding within the sector.

The ART decision is clear:

  • The NDIS Act and the SDA Rules determine what supports can be funded.
  • The SDA Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (usually referred to as the SDA Price Guide) is not the source of truth about what is possible – it simply sets maximum prices for what is allowed under the law.
  • A missing category in the SDA Price Guide does not extinguish a participant’s right to the support they need.

While this decision arose from a particular set of personal circumstances – including a need for a Robust dwelling in a remote area – the message is broader and highly relevant to the sector’s ongoing evolution.

This is a welcome clarification that removes some of the uncertainty that has persisted around bespoke SDA responses and reinforces a principle that the Housing Hub and others in the sector have long championed: the model should fit the person, not the other way around.

Why this matters: The SDA market must be built around people, not menus

One of the strongest signals coming out of this decision is the need for all of us – participants, families, supporters, providers and enablers – to remain focused on individualised housing solutions, not a checklist of pre-defined categories.

For years, we have heard from people and organisations who have felt confined by the SDA Price Guide’s examples or dwelling types. But this decision reminds us that:

  • The SDA Price Guide does not represent the limits of what is possible, or what may be funded.
  • “Not listed” does not mean “not allowed.”
  • Participants do not lose the right to reasonable and necessary housing supports simply because the SDA Price Guide (or SDA Design Standard) doesn’t include it.

This creates confidence for anyone thinking about:

  • Bespoke home designs.
  • Innovative 1-participant housing solutions.
  • Housing solutions that include both SDA-funded participants and non-SDA tenants.
  • Participant-owned SDA.
  • Culturally specific or geographically unique homes.

Most importantly, it reinforces what we already know from experience: The best outcomes happen when we start with a person’s needs, preferences and lifestyle, not the SDA Price Guide.

Evidence matters

It’s important to say that this ART decision doesn’t open the door to unfettered creativity. But it does reinforce the message that good evidence underpins great outcomes.

The case shows the importance of:

  • Clear evidence around an individual’s functional capacity and need for support.
  • A well-articulated link between the person’s needs and the proposed home being a reasonable and necessary response to those needs.
  • A  clear narrative that accurately describes a person’s lifestyle, culture, safety, connection to community, and long-term outcomes.

In other words: Build a strong case around what the person needs.

This is particularly important in areas where the SDA Price Guide, the SDA Design Standard and other NDIS information is silent or unclear, or where out-of-the-box housing models may be needed – such as in regional or remote communities, situations where culturally sensitive design is required, or situations where safety is a key concern.

Implications for innovation in the sector

ART decisions are not precedents in the strict legal sense, but they are influential. They create expectation, consistency and clarity – all of which are essential in a maturing SDA market.

For the sector, this decision reinforces that:

  • Innovation is not only allowed – it is sometimes necessary.
  • Bespoke solutions should not be dismissed simply because they don’t neatly fit into an established box.
  • Providers and investors can continue exploring participant-driven design, knowing that the legislative framework supports flexibility where needed.
  • Participants and supporters are right to pursue homes that genuinely meet individual needs, even when those needs fall outside typical examples.

This clarity benefits everyone: Participants who need better housing, providers eager to innovate, and a market that thrives on aligning supply with real demand.

The Housing Hub’s response

The Housing Hub has been at the coalface of SDA since the very beginning.

Our work has always been grounded in:

  • Building participant and family understanding of what is possible.
  • Growing the capacity of professional supporters.
  • Supporting providers and investors to navigate the SDA market and effectively. connect with tenants.
  • Strengthening the market through high-quality information, connection and collaboration.

The Housing Hub welcomes this ART decision, because it reflects what we know and we see every day: People’s lives don’t come in rigid categories.

We celebrate the clarity it brings and the opportunity it creates. Our team will continue advocating for – and supporting – innovative, bespoke housing solutions that honour the diversity and individuality of people with disability.

It’s important to also state that we don’t see this as swinging the door open for rolled-gold responses. For the NDIS to continue to effectively support people it needs to be sustainable. But it shouldn’t be assumed that appropriate, unique responses to individual circumstances are always more expensive. Where homes provide effective family and community connection, they are often cheaper in the long run than cookie-cutter responses.

The SDA market is strongest when it is flexible, person-centred and grounded in evidence. This decision reinforces that direction.

A call to the sector

Now is the time for participants, families, professionals and providers to keep pushing for housing that truly meets people’s needs – not the limits of a table in a document.

If you are supporting a participant through their SDA journey:

  • Start with the person.
  • Build strong, individualised evidence.
  • And don’t be afraid to design for what the individual actually needs, even if it’s not “on the menu”.

Housing Hub will continue to be here with information about SDA, guidance, market data, insights and expertise, as well as connection for providers who are ready to innovate. And for people with disability, families and supporters, the Housing Hub remains the best source of information, advice and home and living support around.

Together, we can keep building a future where people with disability have access to the life-enhancing homes they choose – not the ones they feel boxed into.

Article published: December 2025

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