Mental health supported independent living describes NDIS-funded support at home for people whose psychosocial disability means they need help or supervision around the clock. Supported Independent Living (SIL) may suit people who need a support worker available 24 hours a day, with help for at least 8 of those hours. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) bases funding on daily support needs, not diagnosis alone. SIL pays for support workers, not rent, groceries or mental health treatment.
+ Key Takeaways
- Keep notes about your support needs over several weeks, as psychosocial disability can affect daily life differently from one period to the next.
- If you mainly need help at certain times, rather than day and night, another home and living support may be a better fit.
- SIL offers practical, day-to-day help at home. Psychosocial Recovery Coaching focuses on building skills and coordinating supports.
- Ask a treating health professional to describe the help you need with everyday tasks, rather than focusing only on your diagnosis.
- SIL can only be delivered by providers that are registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission or applied to register before 1 October 2026.
- If the same provider supplies your housing and support, your tenancy cannot depend on continuing to use their support service.
If you’re looking into mental health Supported Independent Living (SIL), you probably have a few extra questions. Could SIL suit your needs, and how would it fit alongside support you already receive?
SIL provides NDIS-funded help or supervision with everyday tasks at home for people with higher support needs. Understanding what it covers can help you decide whether it’s an option worth exploring.
This article walks you through when SIL may be suitable, how it differs from recovery coaching and what evidence may support a funding request. You’ll also find practical questions to ask providers, so you can compare options with what matters to you in mind.
What Does SIL Pay For?
SIL pays for support workers who help or supervise you with everyday tasks at home. Support is usually shared with housemates, while one-to-one SIL is only funded in limited situations. Supported Independent Living sits within NDIS Core Supports under Home and Living.
SIL can include:
- Personal care: help with showering, dressing and other personal tasks
- Meals: help with preparing food, cooking and eating
- Household tasks: support with cleaning and keeping home routines going
- Everyday skills: help to practise tasks like cooking and cleaning so you can do more yourself
- Overnight support: a worker available through the night, at the level your plan funds
What SIL does not pay for is just as important. You will still need to cover rent and everyday costs such as groceries and utilities. SIL is also not mental health treatment, so your clinical care will continue through your treating health professionals. Our supported independent living funding guide explains which costs are covered.
Who May Be Eligible for Mental Health Supported Independent Living?
SIL may suit you if you need a support worker available 24 hours a day. This usually means at least 8 hours of active help with daily tasks, plus help or supervision for the rest of the day and night.
The NDIS uses the term psychosocial disability to describe disability that may arise from a mental health condition. Having a mental health condition does not necessarily mean you have a psychosocial disability. Our NDIS funding for mental health page explains the broader support options.
Even if you have a psychosocial disability, SIL will not automatically be the right option. The NDIA considers your individual circumstances and whether the support meets the NDIS funding criteria.
Before you speak with anyone, it can help to jot down:
- Daily tasks: what you need help or supervision with
- Timing: how often you need help, and at what times of day
- Overnight: whether you need someone available through the night
- Current help: support you already have, and where the gaps are
- Priorities: what matters to you about where and how you live
Take these notes to your my NDIS contact, support coordinator or recovery coach. They can help you talk through the options.
When Your Support Needs Change
Psychosocial disability can be episodic, which means your support needs may look different from one day or week to the next. Try to describe what happens across different periods, rather than focusing on a single day or appointment. If your needs have changed significantly, read our guide to an NDIS change of circumstances.
For example, a reminder may be enough for you to cook most weeks, while at other times you may need someone to prepare a meal alongside you. Include a rough idea of how often each situation occurs.
When Another Home and Living Support May Fit
If you need support at particular times rather than around the clock, regular support worker hours may be a better fit. SIL is intended for people who need someone available throughout the day and night. Assistance with Daily Life is one option to discuss with your NDIS contact.
Individualised Living Options (ILO) is another option. It may suit you if you need at least 6 hours of paid or informal support at home each day.
Your my NDIS contact can help you work out which options may suit your needs. Looking into SIL does not lock you into a provider or a particular living arrangement.
How Is SIL Different from Psychosocial Recovery Coaching?
SIL and Psychosocial Recovery Coaching can work alongside each other, but they do different jobs. SIL gives you practical help with daily life at home. A recovery coach helps you build skills, make decisions and bring your supports together.
Supported Independent Living
- Main role: help or supervision with everyday tasks at home
- What it involves: personal care, meals, household tasks and overnight support
- How it is funded: as a home and living support in your NDIS plan
Psychosocial Recovery Coaching
- Main role: coaching that builds on your strengths, skills and decision-making
- What it involves: help to understand your plan, find services and work towards your goals
- How it is funded: as a separate support, with hours based on your needs
You do not necessarily have to choose between them. Both may be funded in the same plan. Your recovery coach can help you compare SIL providers, while your SIL workers deliver the day-to-day support you have agreed on.
What Evidence Helps a SIL Request?
For a SIL request, you will need recent evidence from a treating health professional, such as an occupational therapist. The evidence should explain the support you need each day and why other home and living options would not meet those needs.
Strong evidence usually covers:
- Daily support needs: which tasks you need help with, how often and at what times
- Everyday impact: how your disability affects daily tasks, in practical detail
- Changing needs: how your support varies across different periods
- Options explored: other home and living supports you have considered and why they do not fit
- Current supports: informal and community help you already have
- Your goals: where you want to live, who with and how you want to be supported
The most useful reports bring your daily life to the page. They explain what an ordinary day looks like, rather than simply naming a diagnosis. If you already receive home and living supports, any new evidence must be dated after your last plan was approved.
Even with detailed evidence, funding is not guaranteed. The NDIA assesses every request against the NDIS funding criteria and explains how to request home and living supports.
Ask Providers How They Work with Psychosocial Disability
Relevant experience matters, but a sentence on a provider’s website will only tell you so much. Ask how their experience would make a difference to the support you receive each day.
You might ask about:
- Experience: what experience their team has supporting people with psychosocial disability
- Getting to know you: how workers will learn your routines, communication preferences and goals
- Consistency: who would support you, and who steps in when they are away
- Changing needs: how they adjust support when your needs change
- Working together: how they work with your recovery coach or support coordinator, with your consent
If a provider says its approach is recovery-oriented or person-centred, ask what that looks like in practice. A useful answer should explain how it affects your roster and how much say you have in everyday decisions.
If your plan includes a recovery coach or support coordinator, they can be a good place to start. With your permission, they can speak to providers for you.
Check the Household Fit
SIL is often provided in a shared home, so the housemates, location and everyday routines will all affect how the home feels. If you can, visit and meet the household before making a decision.
While you are there, check:
- Visiting: whether you can visit and meet the people you would live with
- Shared supports: which supports are shared and which are only for you
- House routines: how different routines and disagreements are handled
- Your say: how much input you have into household decisions
It also helps to write down what matters most to you. That might be having a quiet space, living in a certain area, seeing familiar workers or being close to important people in your life.
Check Registration and Agreements
Since 1 July 2026, SIL providers have been required to register with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. A provider can only deliver SIL if it is registered or applied to register before 1 October 2026.
You can find a registered provider on the NDIS Provider Register. If your provider has not registered, your plan and funding stay the same.
If one provider supplies both your housing and your SIL, the NDIS Practice Standards require separate tenancy and service agreements. Your tenancy must not depend on receiving their support.
Ask for the agreements in a format that is easy for you to understand. They should clearly set out the costs, the support you will receive and any notice periods. Before you sign, check:
- Changing provider: what happens if you want to change your support provider
- Housing: how a change of provider would affect where you live
- Complaints: how to raise a concern or make a complaint
- Support to review: whether someone you trust can go through the agreements with you
In a shared home, housemates often use the same SIL provider. Ask what changing providers would actually mean for you and the rest of the household.
Whatever you are told, ask for it in writing.
What to Do Next
- Write down the daily tasks you need help with and how often.
- Note how your support needs change across different weeks.
- Talk to your my NDIS contact about which home and living supports may fit.
- Ask your treating health professional for evidence that describes your everyday support needs.
- Check each provider on the NDIS Provider Register before you compare them.
- Request your free Options Report to compare SIL providers matched to you.
Compare SIL Providers with Care Decisions
Finding a SIL provider with current capacity, the right experience and a household that feels right can involve a lot of phone calls. If SIL is included in your plan, Care Decisions can help narrow the search.
An NDIS specialist will talk with you by phone about the support you need, where you would like to live and what matters most to you. If you have made notes while reading this guide, you will already have many of the details they need.
The call takes about 20 minutes. Afterwards, you receive an Options Report with up to 5 matched SIL providers that have current capacity. The providers receive your report at the same time and can contact you directly. You are always free to decide whether you want to take things further.
Contact us today for your Free Provider Options Report.