Supported independent living providers in Victoria

Who are the best SIL providers in Australia?

The ranked list above names the top supported independent living (SIL) providers on Carevo, ordered by the methodology explained above it. SIL is NDIS funding for help with daily tasks in a shared home, paid from the Core Supports budget under Assistance with Daily Life through hourly line items in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2026-27 (effective 1 July 2026).

The SIL market in 2026

Under the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2026-27, standard weekday daytime support is capped at $70.23 an hour and a night-time sleepover at $297.60 a shift. On the supply side, Carevo lists 28,004 NDIS providers across 4,782 suburbs, and SIL houses turn over slowly, so vacancies matter as much as quality.

Turning the ranked list into a shortlist

The rankings come from the methodology above; your own shortlist should turn on four things.

Registration category. If your plan is agency-managed you can only use providers registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Check any registration claim against the Commission’s public NDIS Provider Register, and confirm it covers daily personal activities.

Pricing transparency. A good SIL provider walks you through a draft roster of care in half-hour blocks and shows how each block maps to a 2026-27 line item. Anyone quoting a single annual dollar figure without a roster behind it is guessing; the NDIS does not publish annual SIL price bands.

Response time. The search for SIL is often urgent, after a hospital discharge or a family carer burning out. Across Carevo, 70 per cent of inquiries get a provider response within an hour. Slow answers to a vacancy question predict slow answers to a roster problem later.

Coverage and vacancies. A great provider with no vacancy near your supports and family is not an option. Ask what is vacant now and what opens in the next three months, then judge the houses, housemates and staff, not the brochure.

Who is eligible for SIL funding under the NDIS?

SIL is for NDIS participants with higher support needs who require significant help throughout the day, usually including overnight support, and who typically live with other participants (NDIS operational guidance, 2025). A few drop-in visits a week is not SIL.

To get it into a plan you must show at a planning meeting why 24/7 support availability is reasonable and necessary: usually a functional capacity assessment, carer statements and medical reports, and an explanation of why lower-intensity options fall short. A support coordinator can help you prepare.

What does SIL funding cover, and what does it exclude?

SIL pays for rostered support workers in your home: personal care, meal preparation, medication management, household tasks and overnight support. It does not pay rent, board, groceries or utilities; those come out of your own income.

Your funding is built from an assessed roster of care that sets support hours and staffing ratios, from support shared across housemates up to one-to-one for complex needs, in half-hour blocks billed against the hourly caps in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2026-27. The building is funded separately, through Specialist Disability Accommodation or private rental; community access and allied health sit under separate budgets.

Do SIL providers need to be registered with the NDIS Commission?

Registration is currently required only when a participant’s plan is agency-managed; plan-managed and self-managed participants can also use unregistered providers. Most established SIL operators are registered, since registration is audited against the NDIS Practice Standards.

The NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce (2024) recommended mandatory registration for SIL providers because the support runs 24/7 in the participant’s own home. Whatever a provider claims, verify it on the Commission’s public register.

How is SIL different from SDA?

SIL pays for the support workers; Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) pays for the building. SIL sits under Core Supports, while SDA sits under Capital Supports and is limited to participants with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.

You can hold both in one plan and live in an SDA dwelling with SIL supports, often from two different organisations. Our SDA guide covers the four design categories and eligibility.

Questions to ask a provider before signing a service agreement

1. What is your registration number and which registration groups does it cover? A good answer matches an entry on the NDIS Provider Register covering daily personal activities.
2. Can I see the proposed roster of care before I sign? A good answer is a written roster in half-hour blocks matching your plan, not a lump sum.
3. What happens to my supports if a housemate moves out? A good answer is a vacancy plan that does not quietly cut your hours while the ratio changes.
4. Is the SIL agreement separate from any tenancy or SDA agreement? A good answer is yes, two documents you can end independently.
5. Can I do a trial stay and meet the current residents first? A good answer is yes, with a compatibility meeting before any commitment.
6. Have you been subject to Commission compliance action? A good answer is a straight no, consistent with the Commission’s published compliance actions.

SIL supply by state

SIL supply concentrates where SDA stock and support workers do: the eastern capitals first, then regional centres. Carevo lists 8,844 NDIS providers in NSW, 7,545 in Victoria and 4,431 in Queensland. For local vacancy searches, start with the city pages for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, or the suburb directory below. Many participants search SIL alongside specialist disability accommodation, since a plan funding both needs a house that fits both.

How this page is compiled

The provider rankings and figures on this page come from Carevo platform records, including provider registrations, measured response times and coverage, together with the cited official sources. Carevo is an Australian platform that connects families with vetted NDIS and aged care providers. Carevo does not deliver care itself.