Setting Up a SIL Home

Before setting up a home, know whether what you offer is SIL. This lesson explains the Commission's definition of SIL, the new registration group 0138 Assistance with supported independent living, and what registered SIL providers must do. Key points: SIL is a package of home and living support for people who need support at all times or most of the day; from 1 July 2026 SIL providers must be registered; they need certification audits and must meet the core module and the SIL supplementary module; and a person who chooses and manages their own workers is not receiving SIL.

The SIL supplementary module adds four Practice Standards on top of the core module. This lesson explains each one and what it means when you set up a home. Key points: supported decision making means participants make decisions about their home and life, with support, and workers are trained in it; safeguarding covers safety from violence, abuse, neglect and harm, including between housemates, with workers trained in de-escalation, trauma informed practice and positive behaviour support; practice governance covers trained and competent workers, active support, choice about who people live with and rehearsed emergency planning; and tenancy agreements must be separate from support.

A SIL home is a person's home and also a workplace, so several sets of rules apply at once. This lesson maps them out. Key points: NDIS obligations include the NDIS Code of Conduct, worker screening for risk assessed roles, incident management and reportable incidents, complaints management and the rules on regulated restrictive practices; as an employer you have work health and safety duties to workers and others in the home; privacy law applies to participant information; and state laws cover tenancy, fire safety, electrical safety, plumbing and food. Knowing which applies helps you set the home up properly.

SIL pays for support, not housing. This lesson explains where SIL homes come from and why housing and support must be separated. Key points: SIL can be delivered in specialist disability accommodation, private rentals, social housing or a person's own home; residents pay their own rent and everyday living costs; when the same provider gives both tenancy and SIL, there must be separate service and tenancy agreements, neither contingent on the other; conflicts of interest must be identified and managed under a policy residents can understand; and residents must be able to raise concerns without fear of losing their home.

Who a person lives with shapes their safety and happiness more than almost anything else in a shared home. This lesson covers matching and vacancies. Key points: the SIL standards expect residents to decide about their home, including who they live with; current residents must be consulted before a new person is placed; compatibility looks at routines, noise, interests, support needs, behaviours of concern, culture and relationships; trial visits and meals together help; and filling a vacancy quickly must never outweigh safety and choice.

Before move in you need a service agreement and a roster that matches each person's funded and assessed support. This lesson explains the basics. Key points: SIL is funded in the participant's plan based on their support needs, and providers usually prepare a quote showing shared and one to one support across the week; the service agreement should set out supports, costs, how changes are made and how to end it; the roster must deliver what is agreed and funded; shared hours must be fair between residents; and claims must match support actually delivered.

Fire safety is the first physical check in any new SIL home. This lesson covers what needs to be in place. Key points: smoke alarms must meet your state's law, which can specify type, location and interconnection, for example Queensland requires interconnected photoelectric alarms in existing homes by 1 January 2027; residents who are deaf or hard of hearing may need visual or vibrating alarms; fire blankets and extinguishers suit the kitchen and are commonly serviced six monthly under AS 1851; exits must be clear and keys accessible; and every resident needs a personal evacuation plan. Some homes, including some specialist housing, have sprinklers or alarm systems needing regular certification.

Electrical, gas and hot water hazards are easy to miss in an ordinary looking house. This lesson explains what to check. Key points: safety switches, also called residual current devices, protect against electric shock and must be tested regularly; work health and safety laws require electrical equipment used in higher risk conditions to be inspected and tested by a competent person, and AS/NZS 3760 sets out how and how often; most providers test and tag all equipment they supply; residents' own appliances belong to them; gas appliances need servicing by a licensed gas fitter; and hot water at bathroom outlets should be temperature limited to reduce scalds.

A safe home also has to be accessible and feel like a real home. This lesson covers the rest of the physical set up. Key points: get an occupational therapy assessment of the home against each person's needs; check assistive technology such as hoists, beds and shower chairs is prescribed, installed and serviced; look for falls risks, lighting, steps, pools, balconies and windows; agree security that protects without restricting residents; avoid institutional features like staff signs on doors, locked kitchens and office style furniture; and let residents personalise their rooms.

Most compliance in a SIL home is proved by simple, well kept records. This lesson lists the registers, logs and schedules to set up before move in. Key points: a hazardous chemicals register with current safety data sheets for any workplace chemicals; a test and tag register; fire equipment and smoke alarm records; fridge and freezer temperature logs; a cleaning schedule; a maintenance and repairs log; a vehicle log; a first aid kit checklist; a key register; and records for residents' money. Each needs an owner, a frequency and somewhere it is reviewed.

Cleaning chemicals are in every home, but a SIL home is also a workplace. This lesson explains when safety data sheets and a hazardous chemicals register are needed. Key points: a safety data sheet gives information on hazards, safe handling, storage, first aid and spills; under work health and safety laws an SDS is not required for consumer products used in household quantities and in a household way; larger or commercial products, such as concentrated disinfectants, need a current SDS and a place on the register; decanted chemicals must be labelled; chemicals are stored away from food and from residents at risk; and workers are trained in safe use.

Health supports need to be ready before move in. This lesson covers the set up of medication storage, first aid and infection control. Key points: medication is stored securely, in a cool dry place, with a separate locked fridge or container for refrigerated medicines kept between 2 and 8 degrees; Schedule 8 medicines have extra storage and record requirements under state law; each resident's medication chart, health plans and pharmacy arrangements are in place; a first aid kit is chosen through a risk assessment; workers hold current first aid; and infection control supplies, a spill kit, sharps containers and an outbreak plan are ready.

Notices and signs inform residents, workers and visitors, but this is someone's home. This lesson lists what should be displayed or available, and what must never be on show. Key points: some items are required at workplaces, such as test tags, chemical labels, fire equipment tags and, in some states, workers compensation information; others should be available, such as the emergency plan, emergency contacts, first aid kit location and SDS folder; residents should have accessible complaints, advocacy and rights information, including the NDIS Commission on 1800 035 544; and personal information, medication charts and plans must never be displayed. Ask residents what they are comfortable with.

The team you put in the home matters more than the building. This lesson covers recruiting, screening and preparing the team before move in. Key points: workers in risk assessed roles need an NDIS worker screening clearance; the SIL standards expect workers trained and assessed as competent in person centred and trauma informed practice, active support and supported decision making, with de-escalation and positive behaviour support training for relevant workers; each worker is inducted to the home and to each resident; high intensity supports need competency for the specific person; and a practice leader supports the team on shift, not just in the office.

This case study brings the course together as a new home is prepared for three residents. You will work through a pre move in walk through, a gap in the emergency plan and move in day itself. Key points: use a structured pre move in checklist covering agreements, fire, electrical, gas and water, equipment, registers, health set up and notices; do not move residents in until critical gaps are fixed; involve residents in setting up their home; and plan move in day around the person, with familiar workers and time to settle. The lesson ends with the course wrap up and the final assessment.