About this resource
The SIL Practice Standards expect participants to be supported to understand and make genuine decisions about their home, daily life, relationships and community, and workers to follow a supported decision-making procedure. This record follows the steps described in Australian supported decision-making research: knowing the person, describing the decision, understanding their will and preferences, refining the decision and its constraints, considering whether a formal process is needed, reaching the decision and acting on it.
Purpose
To support decisions made by the person, not for them, and to show how that happened.
Who it is for
Primary profession: NDIS providers and support coordinators. Also relevant for disability support workers, positive behaviour support practitioners, community services and case workers.
Client or participant group: Adults living in supported independent living who want support with a decision, and the workers and decision supporters who help them.
Practice setting: Supported independent living homes and day-to-day support.
Suggested uses
- Decisions about routines, housemates, activities, spending or health appointments
- Showing how a person's will and preferences shaped a decision
- Team handover when several workers support one decision
- Audit evidence for the SIL supported decision-making standard
Instructions for practitioners
- Ask the person whether they want support and how.
- Give information in the way the person understands best and allow time.
- Record the person's will and preferences in their own words where possible.
- Talk through benefits and risks without steering the person.
- Record the decision the person made and what happens next.
- If a nominee or guardian is involved, record why and how the person's views were included.
Instructions for clients or participants
- Tell us what you want to decide.
- Tell us how you like to be helped.
- Tell us what matters to you.
- Make your decision. You can change your mind.
Accessibility considerations
Includes a short participant section in plain language; use pictures, Easy Read or a trusted supporter as the person prefers.
Scope and limitations
A support and record-keeping tool. It does not decide capacity and does not replace legal processes such as guardianship. 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
Supported decision-making research from Australia describes practical steps for supporting people with cognitive disability to make their own decisions. 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.
- Bigby, C., Douglas, J., Carney, T., Then, S., Wiesel, I., & Smith, E. (2017). Delivering decision making support to people with cognitive disability: What has been learned from pilot programs in Australia from 2010 to 2015. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 52(3), 222–240. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.19
- Douglas, J., & Bigby, C. (2020). Development of an evidence-based practice framework to guide decision making support for people with cognitive impairment due to acquired brain injury or intellectual disability. Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(3), 434–441. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2018.1498546
- 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
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.
