Home and living supports request

What is a home and living supports request?

A home and living supports request is how an NDIS participant asks the NDIA to fund supports for where and how they live, such as Supported Independent Living, Individualised Living Options or Specialist Disability Accommodation. The participant explains their home and living goals and sends evidence of their support needs, and the NDIA decides whether to add those supports to the plan. It is usually handled as a request to change the plan, through a variation or a reassessment.

"Home and living" is the NDIA's umbrella term for supports that help a participant live where they want, as independently as possible. The NDIA's requesting home and living supports page sets out the current process. People often still call it "the home and living form", because the NDIA has used dedicated forms for these requests; check that page for the forms currently in use rather than relying on an old copy.

Supports commonly considered through a home and living request include:

• Supported Independent Living (SIL) — paid support in a shared or individual home, usually around the clock.
• Individualised Living Options (ILO) — a living arrangement designed around one person, such as living with a host.
• Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) — housing built for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.
• Medium-term accommodation (MTA) — somewhere to live while waiting for a long-term home or supports.

How a home and living request works

The NDIA's process starts with the participant thinking about what they need, then gathering evidence, then sending it in. Your local area coordinator, planner or support coordinator can help at each step.

You don't have to use the optional Home and Living Supporting Evidence Form, but the NDIA describes it as a good way to make sure it has all the information it needs to decide whether to change your plan. When you send evidence, say why you are sending it, so it is linked to a home and living request rather than filed as general information. The NDIA's page lists the ways to send it, including by post and in person at an NDIA office.

How long a decision takes

Because a home and living request is usually dealt with as a change to the plan, the timeframes in the NDIS Act for those requests are a useful guide:

• Plan variation — the NDIA must vary the plan, refuse, or tell you it needs more time within 21 days of receiving the request.
• Plan reassessment — if the conditions for a requested reassessment are met, the NDIA must decide within 90 days whether to vary the plan, reassess it or not reassess it.

If the NDIA doesn't decide within those periods, the Act treats it as a decision not to vary or reassess, which can then be reviewed. If the NDIA needs more information, it will tell you what is missing.

What evidence to include

The NDIA decides on the evidence, comparing the options against the NDIS funding criteria, including value for money compared with other ways of meeting the need. Its operational guidelines for SIL, ILO and SDA describe what it looks at for each support.

Evidence is stronger when it describes needs rather than naming a preferred product. "Needs prompting and supervision for meals and medication each evening, and help most nights" is more useful to a decision-maker than "needs SIL".

Home and living request vs other ways to change a plan

A home and living request isn't a separate legal pathway; it is a request about one kind of support. What matters is whether the change can be made by varying the current plan or needs a full reassessment.

After the decision

If the NDIA adds home and living supports, read the new or varied plan closely before signing anything with a provider. Check:

• Which support was funded — SIL, ILO, SDA or another option may be funded instead of the one you asked for, because the NDIA compares options.
• The level of support — for SIL, the hours, ratios, intensity and type of overnight support the funding was based on.
• How funding is released — home and living supports are often released in shorter funding periods so funds line up with regular service delivery.
• Who will deliver it — you choose your provider, and you will need a service agreement before supports start.

If the decision doesn't match your needs, you have 3 months from receiving the decision notice to ask for an internal review. You can also send new evidence with a fresh request if your situation changes, for example if a family carer can no longer provide overnight support.

What providers should know

Providers are often asked to contribute evidence. Do it carefully: only describe supports you can deliver, keep quotes and rosters consistent with the participant's own description of their needs, and get consent before sharing personal information. Since 1 July 2026, providers delivering SIL must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission: mandatory registration for SIL), so a participant choosing a SIL provider will need a registered provider.

The free SIL roster of care tool helps draft a roster with the participant, and the NDIS price guide shows current price limits for home and living supports.

Common mistakes with home and living requests

• Sending evidence without saying why. Tell the NDIA it relates to a home and living request.
• Asking for a product, not describing a need. The NDIA compares options; evidence should show what support is needed and when.
• Leaving out overnight needs. Night-time support often decides the type and cost of SIL.
• Relying on a provider's roster alone. A roster is optional and must be built with the participant, not instead of independent assessments.
• Mixing up SIL and SDA. SIL funds the support, SDA funds the building; they are assessed separately.
• Not asking for a review. A decision not to fund home and living supports can go to internal review and then the Administrative Review Tribunal.