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The new SIL Practice Standards: what supported independent living providers need to know

Practitioner Plus team

Until this year, some providers delivered supported independent living (SIL) without registering with the NDIS Commission. That changed on 1 July 2026. SIL providers now need to be registered, pass certification audits and meet a new set of Practice Standards written specifically for support in people's homes.

What changed

From 1 July 2026, providers delivering SIL must register with the NDIS Commission under a new class of support, 0138 Assistance with supported independent living. Registered SIL providers need certification audits and must meet the Core Module of the NDIS Practice Standards plus a new supplementary module for SIL (NDIS Commission, 2026). Providers who were already delivering SIL had transition arrangements, and the Commission's transition pathways page explains what applies in each situation.

The Commission describes SIL as a package of home and living support for people who need support at all times of the day, or for most of the day. It does not cover someone who receives only a few hours of support, or a person who chooses and manages their own support workers.

The change follows the Commission's Own Motion Inquiry into aspects of supported accommodation, which examined group homes run by large providers, and other reviews that highlighted risks for people living in supported accommodation (NDIS Commission, 2023).

The four standards in plain language

  • Supported decision-making: people are supported to make genuine decisions about their home, routines, relationships and community, and workers are trained in supported decision-making.
  • Safeguarding: people live in a safe, respectful home, with safeguards against harm, bullying and conflict between housemates, and workers are trained in de-escalation, trauma-informed practice and positive behaviour support.
  • Practice governance: workers are trained and assessed as competent in evidence-based practice, including active support, residents are consulted about their home (including before a new housemate moves in), and emergency plans are practised and tailored to each person.
  • Agreements about tenancy, housing and support: where one provider delivers both SIL and housing, the service and tenancy agreements are separate, people understand that one does not depend on the other, and they can change their SIL provider and keep their home.

The home comes first

One idea runs through all four standards: the workplace is first and foremost a participant's home. The standards talk about keys, private spaces, visitors and who decides how shared spaces are used. Any limit on a person's access or possessions must come from a behaviour support plan and be applied in the least restrictive way possible.

What good evidence looks like

The Commission's evidence guide points providers to policies, procedures and training, but also to how practice shows up in the home: observation and supervision of workers, how conflict between housemates is noticed and addressed, how emergency plans are explained to residents, and how agreements are made understandable. Because the standards are about everyday life at home, the strongest evidence is practice that residents and workers can describe, backed by records, not a policy sitting in a folder.

Research in Australian group homes supports this focus on everyday practice. Services where frontline leaders regularly observe, model and give feedback on support tend to deliver better active support and quality of life for residents (Bigby & Beadle-Brown, 2018; Bigby et al., 2020).

Common gaps worth fixing early

  • A supported decision-making policy, but no record of how a real decision was supported.
  • Agreements that mix tenancy and support terms, or that do not explain visitors, vacancies and conflict between housemates.
  • No record of how current residents were consulted before a new housemate moved in.
  • Emergency plans that have never been practised with the people who live in the house.
  • Training records that show induction, but not supported decision-making, de-escalation, trauma-informed practice or positive behaviour support.

Getting ready

Start with an honest self-assessment against each standard, done with the house leaders who know daily practice. Then choose a few actions and build them into ordinary routines: house meetings, supervision, decision records and evacuation drills. Small, regular habits produce better evidence than a rush of paperwork before an audit.

Our free SIL Practice Standards Self-Assessment turns the quality indicators into plain-language checks, and our Easy Read guide helps residents understand their rights at home. Plus members also have registers, records and house tools for each standard, all with editable Word versions.

The Commission has published its own evidence guide, reflective questions for participants and Easy Read material. Use them alongside any tool, and keep an eye on the Commission's website, because a wider review of the NDIS Practice Standards is also under way.

Related resources

References

This article is general information for providers and practitioners. It is not legal advice: check the NDIS Commission's current Practice Standards and guidance, and get advice for your own organisation.

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