When you’re looking at which NDIS supports could be right for you, you might be thinking, ‘what types of services will help me achieve independence?’. Having supported accommodation in your NDIS plan ticks that box, enabling you to move out of home and experience more choice and control. If you do decide to explore your options for disability accommodation in WA, then it’ll be useful to understand the difference between Supported Independent Living (SIL) and Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).
What is Supported Independent Living (SIL)?
Supported Independent Living (SIL) is an NDIS-funded service covering personal supports that aim to support people with disability to live more independently. The supports can include assistance with meal preparation, personal care, and other daily tasks. If you’re looking to move out of home but require regular support for daily living, then SIL can make your goal much more achievable.
What is Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)?
Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) refers to the NDIS-funded development of purpose-built housing. This type of disability accommodation is specially designed to meet the unique needs of people with disability and includes specific housing modifications that can help you reach independence. Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) can be customised to your individual needs, and is designed so that you can receive supported living services in your home.
The difference between SDA and SIL
Supported Independent Living (SIL) and Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) are linked, but they refer to two quite different NDIS funding streams. Basically, SIL covers the actual support services that you can receive from a support worker, whereas SDA refers to the actual house that these services are delivered in.
Your SIL provider will provide your support workers and focus on developing your independent living skills and independence, while an SDA provider generally builds and looks after the home you live in (a bit like a landlord). The two services can and often do work together, but they can also be accessed separately, as SIL supports are also available for people who don’t live in SDA homes.
Who is eligible?
Like any NDIS funding, you’re not guaranteed eligibility and will need to prove that the funding you apply for is ‘reasonable and necessary’. Supported Independent Living (SIL) is for people with disability who have high support needs and require significant person-to-person support in order to live independently.
Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) is only given to a very small percentage of NDIS participants, as it’s reserved for people with very high support needs or ‘extreme functional impairment’. Click here if you’d like more information about the process for applying for SDA.
How to add SDA or SIL to your NDIS plan
Whether you’re applying for your first NDIS plan or you’re coming up to your plan review meeting, you might want to think about whether SDA and SIL could be right for you.
It’s important that you prepare for your meeting with your NDIA planner, and can show them that one of your goals is to live more independently.
NDIS providers, like Activ, can support you to prepare for your planning meeting and help you to secure the right funding, whether that’s SIL or SDA. Click here to learn more about Activ’s pre-planning services.
What SIL and SDA services do Activ provide?
Since 1951, Activ has been supporting people with disability to live more independently, offering a range of disability services like supported accommodation in Perth and WA.
As a registered NDIS provider, we work together with various property developers to provide Supported Independent Living (SIL) services in Specialist Disability Accommodation homes in WA.
So, if you’re looking for a provider for your Supported Independent Living services or to support you in exploring your Specialist Disability Accommodation options, get in touch today!