How to get Supported Disability Accommodation Funding

How to get Supported Disability Accommodation Funding

People with a disability who have high care needs can obtain NDIS funding to help them live an independent and fulfilling life, through personalised supports and purpose-build accommodation.

The NIDS provides two funding streams to support this: Supported Independent Living (SIL) and Supported Disability Accommodation (SDA).

Supported Independent Living (SIL) is defined as help and/or supervision of your daily tasks to help you live as independently as possible. Examples of supports included in SIL are things like assistance with personal care tasks, assistance with capacity building (e.g. cooking and meal preparation, cleaning), and support with medical appointments.

Supported Disability Accommodation (SDA), sometimes know as ‘Specialist’ Disability Accommodation, refers to purpose-built accommodation designed specifically for people with very high support needs. SDA dwellings are designed with accessible features to help residents live more independently and to allow supports to be delivered better and more safely. SDA accommodation typically consists of individual villas, townhouses, or apartments, with each facility having its own accessible bathroom, kitchen and laundry built to High Physical Support standards.

There are five types of SDA accommodation categories: Fully Accessible, High Physical Support, Improved Liveability, Robust, and Basic.

You can read more about the types of SDA accommodation and what to look for in Robust SDA accommodation.

Very high support needs mean family or friends may not be able to provide this level of support informally, or living in SDA can help reduce risk to participants or risk to others.

To be eligible for SDA you must be:

• Over 18 years of age and eligible to receive support under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
• Approved to receive Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) funding because you live with an extreme functional impairment or have very high support needs and it is reasonable and necessary to provide you with special housing.
• Able to demonstrate that SDA will help pursue your goals, improve your life and mitigate the impact of your impairment on your functional capacity.

‘Extreme functional impairment’ means that you typically have a lot of trouble completing, or can’t complete, daily tasks on your own. You also have a hard time moving around, looking after yourself, and completing personal care tasks, and need lots of support from someone to do at least one of these things.

• Ensure you have your housing goal in your NDIS plan e.g. “I want to live more independently, in my own home”.
• Under the capacity building support section, obtain funding to cover an SDA application in your plan.
• Compile relevant reports as evidence of your SDA eligibility e.g. social work and OT assessments.
• Submit your SDA application via your NDIS Plan Manager to the SDA panel, who will decide if you are eligible, or how much you’ll be funded for.
• If your SDA application is successful, you can start looking for suitable SDA to move into. If your application is unsuccessful or you are unhappy with the funding decision, you can request a decision review.

swara is a Brisbane not-for-profit NDIS registered support provider. We are more than just a disability service provider—we are a vibrant community offering tailored support for individuals aged 10 to 70 with diverse physical, mental, and psychosocial disabilities.

swara will be providing the SIL supports at the Robust SDA Accommodation being built by KinKera and we would love to provide Supported Independent Living services to you at these incredible villas! Designed with the specific needs of robust SDA-eligible NDIS Participants in mind, these villas offer a range of features to enhance the quality of life.

swara works with care providers, participants and their loved ones to ensure that our accommodation is appropriate for the participant’s situation to ensure that it’s fit for purpose for your needs.

Read more about our Robust SDA Accommodation or contact the swara team today to discuss your needs.