About this resource
The SIL safeguarding standard asks providers to balance participants' dignity of risk with safety in the home and community, to involve people in safeguarding discussions and to build formal and informal safeguards, including relationships with family, friends and community. Research on group homes shows that closed cultures increase the risk of abuse, so this plan also records the people outside the service in the person's life. It is planned with the person, not about them.
Purpose
To balance a person's right to take risks with safety in a shared home, in a way the person agrees with.
Who it is for
Primary profession: NDIS providers and support coordinators. Also relevant for positive behaviour support practitioners, disability support workers, community services and case workers.
Client or participant group: Adults living in supported independent living, with their workers, decision supporters and team leaders.
Practice setting: Supported independent living homes and community activities.
Suggested uses
- Planning for activities such as travelling alone, cooking or new relationships
- Safeguarding when there is conflict between housemates
- Reviewing safeguards after an incident
- Audit evidence for the SIL safeguarding standard
Instructions for practitioners
- Start with what the person wants to do and why it matters to them.
- Talk through possible risks to the person and to others, without assuming the answer is no.
- Agree safeguards the person is comfortable with.
- Record the person's informal safeguards: people and places in their life.
- Never use a restrictive practice to manage the risk unless it is in an authorised behaviour support plan.
- Review the plan with the person on the agreed date or after any incident.
Instructions for clients or participants
- Tell us what you want to do.
- Tell us what could help you stay safe.
- Tell us who you trust.
Accessibility considerations
Plain language; can be completed with pictures, Easy Read or a trusted supporter.
Scope and limitations
A planning and record-keeping tool. It is not a behaviour support plan and does not authorise any restrictive practice. A practical record-keeping tool. 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 and your registration groups, and adapt it to your own policies.
Research basis
Human rights frameworks and research on the dignity of risk support people's right to make their own choices, including choices that involve some risk. 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. 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.
- Ibrahim, J. E., & Davis, M. (2013). Impediments to applying the ‘dignity of risk’ principle in residential aged care services. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 32(3), 188–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.12014
- 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
- United Nations. (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-persons-disabilities
What is included
A 4-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.
