If you're confused by the range of home and living supports available through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), don't worry, because we're here to help with this easy-to-follow guide!
Home and living supports can help you choose who you want to live with and where you want to live. Funding can also be provided for reasonable and necessary home modifications and assistive technology, as well as formal supports, to help you achieve your goals. The different types of home and living supports available through the NDIS are:
Here’s a breakdown of each type of home and living support available in the NDIS, the criteria to apply for them, and how they might look in your plan.
STA funding covers the cost of accommodation, as well as the support you receive while staying there – including personal care, food and activities you and the STA provider agree to.
You can access STA funding (in the right circumstances) for up to 14 days at a time, for a total of 28 days per year.
STA can be used to build your independence (e.g. develop new skills) or strengthen your informal supports by offering you and them respite – the opportunity to take a break, with the aim of maintaining your current living arrangements.
It can also be used to support you if there’s an unplanned breakdown of your formal supports.
Examples of STA could be:
If you believe your disability means you require non-traditional STA (from a provider offering individual support), the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will need evidence to support your request before funding can be approved (in writing).
Importantly, STA isn’t a ‘holiday’ – and that means you can’t use your NDIS funding for things like cruises, holiday packages, hotels, airfares, passports, visas, or excursions, activities, and experiences.
The NDIS may fund STA if it:
The NDIS doesn’t typically fund STA if it isn’t for the purposes STA is meant for and/or it exceeds 14 days in a row, or a total of 28 days per year.
If STA isn’t stated in your NDIS plan, but you have enough funding available in your Core Supports budget to ensure your approved supports aren’t affected by spending on STA, you may be able to use it. There are standard rates for STA in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.
Your NDIA partner should tell you if you’ll receive a plan in PACE during your planning meeting.
Access to MTA can help you find a place to live when you haven’t yet found your long term home. You might be funded for MTA if you’re moving out of a healthcare setting, like a hospital, or waiting to move into SDA.
The NDIA typically funds MTA – which doesn’t include the cost of food – for up to 90 days, and it must be included in your plan.
Your NDIA partner should tell you if you’ll receive a plan in PACE during your planning meeting.
To be eligible for MTA, you need to have found – or be looking for – long term accommodation. For more information about MTA, click here.
If you have very high support needs, it could mean you need to live in a specially designed home that meets your access requirements. If you do, SDA will be a stated support listed in your plan, which means funding has been allocated for a specific support or service, and you can't use that funding for anything else.
SDA housing includes accessible features to help residents live more independently and allow other supports to be delivered better or more safely. Funding is paid directly to your SDA provider to cover the building and maintenance costs, and you’ll need to pay a reasonable rent contribution and other day-to-day living costs, such as electricity bills.
To be eligible for SDA you must have an extreme functional impairment or very high support needs, and meet the SDA needs requirement and the NDIS funding criteria. Find everything you need to know here.
Your NDIA partner should tell you if you’ll receive a plan in PACE during your planning meeting.
SIL funding is designed to provide you with the support you need to assist you to complete daily tasks and build your skills.
It covers a range of supports in and out of home, like cleaning, cooking, personal care, or support to go shopping.
In addition to funding for your ongoing SIL supports, you may also be able to claim 10-15 days of ‘irregular SIL supports’ each year, for those times when you need a little extra help. Funding for ’unplanned exits’ may also be provided if you need to immediately exit SIL accommodation due to a death or breakdown in your support relationship.
Whether you live alone or with others, you may be able to access SIL funding if the NDIA considers the supports to be reasonable and necessary for you. Remember, the funding is for the support you receive, and not for rent or other day-to-day expenses, like utility bills and groceries.
Your NDIA partner should tell you if you’ll receive a plan in PACE during your planning meeting.
ILO funding gives you choice and control to live the way you want and in a living arrangement that suits your needs and preferences, but with tailored supports that help you to achieve your goals.
You may decide to share your home with friends or housemates, live with a ‘host’ who’ll provide informal supports, or live on your own with the support you need. ILO supports work with other funded supports and services, as well as with informal supports.
You’ll first need to work out where you want to live, who you want to live with, what support you’ll need, and who you want to provide that support. Then, you can work with your support coordinator or Local Area Coordinator (LAC) to put your supports into place.
Remember, ILO funding doesn’t pay for your accommodation, just the supports delivered to help you live there.
Another thing to know is that ILO supports can involve non-standard arrangements, like an agreement with roommates to subsidise rent in return for them providing informal supports to you. These arrangements then need to be documented in your NDIS plan.
Using your ILO funding, you can explore different ways to live and then design your supports to help you live the way you choose. Find out more here.
Click here to see how the NDIS decides if it can fund you for ILO.
Your NDIA partner should tell you if you’ll receive a plan in PACE during your planning meeting.
Assistance with Daily Life is a support category in your Core Supports budget. It's for assistance or supervision of personal tasks during day-to-day life that help you to live as independently as possible. Examples might include assistance with household cleaning or yard maintenance, or with attending medical and other appointments.
These supports are provided individually to participants and can be provided in a range of environments, including in your own home.
Applications for Assistance with Daily Life funding are assessed on a case-by-case basis and will be included if the request is considered reasonable and necessary and the support will help you to achieve your goals.
Home modifications are changes that are made to the structure, layout or fittings of your home, so you can safely access it and move around comfortably. The NDIS can fund home modifications to make a home accessible.
You may need home modifications if you:
Click here to find more information about home modifications.
Your NDIA partner should tell you if you’ll receive a plan in PACE during your planning meeting.
Assistive technology is the equipment you may need to help you with everyday tasks. Perhaps you want to buy an iPad to help you to communicate better, or modified cutlery for a child who’s learning to cut up their own food? Maybe you need a new wheelchair, a handrail or a washing line to assist you to live more independently?
Whatever assistive technology you have in mind, you may be wondering if the NDIS will fund it, and where to turn to next. Click here for more information.
If you want to explore home and living options, the NDIA will start by getting some information from you. You might be asked to complete the ‘Supporting evidence form – home and living’, or advised to request a change to your plan. You can find out more about that on the home and living supporting evidence form page.
Based on the information you provide, the NDIA will consider your request and, if it meets the NDIS funding criteria, the Agency will determine how much support you need to explore and design your home and living support package. The NDIA will communicate with you through the plan reassessment process before it’s approved and added to your plan.
Your NDIA partner should tell you if you’ll receive a plan in PACE during your planning meeting.
Updated 31 October
