About this resource
How your SIL homes balance dignity of risk with safety, and manage harm between people who share a home. It is an editable template with a purpose, commitments, who does what, step-by-step procedures, the records that prove it happens, and the standards it relates to.
Purpose
To make sure each participant lives in a safe, respectful and supportive home, with safeguards at home and in the community.
Who it is for
Primary profession: NDIS providers and support coordinators. Also relevant for disability support workers, positive behaviour support practitioners.
Client or participant group: Registered NDIS providers: directors, quality and compliance staff, house and team leaders.
Practice setting: Registered NDIS providers, including supported independent living homes.
Suggested uses
- Building your policy manual before a certification or verification audit
- Replacing a policy that is out of date
- Worker induction and refresher training
- Yearly policy review with management and participants
Instructions for practitioners
- Replace everything in square brackets and delete what does not apply.
- Check every step against what your workers really do, and change the step or the practice.
- Have your governing body or owner approve and date it, and list it in your Policy and Document Control Register.
- Train workers in it, keep the training record, and give participants an accessible version where it affects them.
Accessibility considerations
Clear headings and numbered steps. The Word version is fully editable so you can add your logo and details.
Scope and limitations
An editable template and practical record. It is not legal advice and does not by itself show that a provider meets the NDIS Practice Standards. Check it against the current Practice Standards, NDIS rules, your registration groups and your state or territory's laws, and adapt it to how your service really works.
Higher-risk topic: use only within your training, supervision and organisational procedures.
Research basis
From 1 July 2026, providers of supported independent living must be registered (class of support 0138) and meet the Core Module and the NDIS Commission's SIL Practice Standards: supported decision-making, safeguarding, practice governance, and agreements about tenancy, housing and support. This resource is organised around those standards; using it does not by itself demonstrate compliance. Inquiries into supported accommodation found that abuse and neglect are more likely in closed cultures where residents' voices are not heard; protective cultures, relationships with people outside the service and early responses to conflict are important safeguards.
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. (2023). Own Motion Inquiry into aspects of supported accommodation: Executive summary. https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/own-motion-inquiry-aspects-supported-accommodation-executive-summary-report
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. (2026). Mandatory registration and transition pathways for supported independent living (SIL). https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/about-us/ndis-commission-reform-hub/mandatory-registration/mandatory-registration-SIL
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. (2026). Supplementary module: Supported independent living (SIL) Practice Standards and Quality Indicators. https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/rules-and-standards/ndis-practice-standards/sil
- Robinson, S., & Chenoweth, L. (2011). Preventing abuse in accommodation services: From procedural response to protective cultures. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 15(1), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744629511403649
- Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. (2023). Final report. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report
What is included
A 3-page printable A4 PDF, including a practitioner notes page with the research basis (version 1.0).
Originality
Original Practitioner Plus content: wording, activity structure, layout and icons were created for this resource. No third-party worksheets, illustrations or text were reproduced. Written for Practitioner Plus from the NDIS Practice Standards and NDIS rules listed in the research basis; no third-party template was used. It is not an NDIS Commission form.
