The rules: registration and the four SIL Practice Standards
The Commission describes SIL as a package of home and living support for people who need support at all times or most of the day, managed and delivered by the provider. A person who chooses, directs and rosters their own workers is not receiving SIL. SIL providers need registration group 0138 Assistance with supported independent living.
The SIL supplementary module has four standards:
- Supported decision making: residents make decisions about their home, routines and relationships, and workers are trained in supported decision making.
- Safeguarding: a safe, respectful home, with risks between housemates managed and workers trained in de-escalation, trauma informed practice and positive behaviour support.
- Practice governance: workers trained and assessed as competent in evidence based practice including active support, residents consulted about who they live with, and emergency plans that are rehearsed and tailored to each person.
- Agreements about tenancy, housing and support arrangements: separate service and tenancy agreements, neither contingent on the other, and managed conflicts of interest.
Read the full standards on the NDIS Commission website. For the registration steps, transition rules and audits, see our guide to SIL provider registration in 2026.
Before move in: the house
- Smoke alarms that meet your state's law. Queensland, for example, requires interconnected photoelectric alarms in existing homes by 1 January 2027. Add visual or vibrating alarms for residents who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Fire blanket and extinguisher in the kitchen, commonly inspected six monthly under AS 1851 and tagged.
- Exits that open easily from inside, a safe assembly point and a personal evacuation plan for every resident.
- Safety switches (residual current devices) checked and tested.
- Test and tag of provider supplied electrical equipment by a competent person, using AS/NZS 3760, recorded in a register.
- Gas appliances serviced by a licensed gas fitter, and hot water at bathroom outlets temperature limited (usually 50 degrees, and 45 degrees in some care and disability settings depending on your state).
- Accessibility assessed by an occupational therapist, with prescribed equipment installed and serviced.
Registers and logs to set up
- Hazardous chemicals register with current safety data sheets for workplace chemicals
- Test and tag register
- Smoke alarm, fire equipment and evacuation drill records
- Fridge and freezer temperature log
- Cleaning schedule
- Maintenance and repairs log
- Vehicle log and pre trip checks
- First aid kit checklist
- Key register
- Individual money records for each resident, reconciled by a second person
Safety data sheets: when you need one
Safe Work Australia guidance says a safety data sheet (SDS) is not required for consumer products used in household quantities and in a way consistent with household use, such as a supermarket bathroom spray. Commercial, bulk and concentrated products, including many hospital grade disinfectants, are workplace chemicals: obtain the current SDS, keep it where workers can reach it and list the product on your hazardous chemicals register. Label any decanted container.
Fridge and freezer temperature checks
- Fridge at 5 degrees or colder, freezer at minus 15 degrees or colder.
- Check with a thermometer at least daily and record the reading, time and initials.
- If food has been between 5 and 60 degrees: under 2 hours, refrigerate or use; 2 to 4 hours, use straight away; over 4 hours, throw it out (the 2 hour 4 hour rule).
- Refrigerated medicines are usually kept at 2 to 8 degrees, separate from food, with their own record.
What to display on the walls, and what not to
A SIL home is a workplace, but it is someone's home first. Keep worker notices together in a staff area where possible, and ask residents what they are comfortable having on their walls.
- On the item: test tags, chemical labels, fire equipment service tags, equipment instructions.
- For workers and visitors: the emergency plan and evacuation diagram, emergency contacts including the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26, the first aid kit location, where the SDS folder is kept, workers compensation information where your state requires it (for example New South Wales), and the names of elected health and safety representatives if you have them.
- For residents, in accessible formats: how to complain to you and to the NDIS Commission on 1800 035 544, independent advocacy contacts, the National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline on 1800 880 052, rights and the Code of Conduct.
- Never on display: medication charts, health, mealtime and behaviour support plans, incident reports, progress notes or residents' personal details.
Free download: SIL home starter pack
A two page PDF: what to display in a SIL home (and what never to), plus a printable monthly fridge and freezer temperature log. Enter your details and we will email it to you.
We use your details to send the download and, only if you tick the box, occasional updates. See our privacy policy.Watch out for restrictive practices
Locking a fridge, pantry, gate or door so a resident cannot use it can be an environmental restraint, which is a regulated restrictive practice. It needs authorisation, a behaviour support plan and reporting, and a lock put in for one resident affects every housemate. Unauthorised use is a reportable incident.
Train your team
Our two SIL courses cover all of this in depth, with narrated lessons, workplace scenarios and a final assessment:
90 minSetting Up a SIL Home
A complete, practical guide to getting a supported independent living home ready before anyone moves in. This course explains what counts as SIL under the 2026 rules, mandatory registration and the four SIL Practice Standards, and how tenancy and support agreements must be kept separate. It then works through the house itself: smoke alarms, fire blankets and extinguishers, evacuation planning, test and tag, safety switches, hot water, gas and accessibility. You will learn which registers, logs and folders to set up, from the hazardous chemicals register and safety data sheets to fridge temperature logs, and exactly what should and should not go on the walls in a person's home. A move in case study brings it together. Duration: 90 minutes.
90 minOperating a SIL Home
Everything that keeps a supported independent living home safe, compliant and genuinely homely, shift after shift. This course covers working in a person's home, active support, handovers and records, and keeping housemates safe with each other. It works through every routine check: fridge and freezer temperatures and what to do when they are out of range, smoke alarms, fire equipment and evacuation drills, test and tag and electrical hazards. You will learn safe food handling and leftovers, mealtimes and choice, hazardous chemicals and safety data sheets, cleaning and infection control, medication, residents' money, maintenance, vehicles, emergencies, incidents and reportable incidents, and keeping notices current. Case studies bring it together. Duration: 90 minutes.
50 minNDIS Home and Living Supports Explained
Where and how a person lives shapes almost every part of their life. This course explains the main NDIS home and living supports: supported independent living, individualised living options, specialist disability accommodation and its four design categories, medium term accommodation, short term respite (previously called short term accommodation) and assistance with daily life in the home. It covers how participants ask for home and living supports, the recent change to mandatory registration for supported independent living providers, people's rights in shared living, including choice about who they live with, and what it means for you as a worker to be supporting someone in their own home. Two case studies about shared living and planning a move bring it all together. Duration: 50 minutes.
45 minIntroduction to Restrictive Practices for NDIS Workers
A restrictive practice is anything that restricts the rights or freedom of movement of a person with disability. Under the NDIS, five types are regulated: seclusion, chemical restraint, mechanical restraint, physical restraint and environmental restraint. This course explains what each one is, how to recognise them in everyday support, and why they must only ever be used as a last resort. You will learn how state and territory authorisation and behaviour support plans work together, what your role is when a plan includes a restrictive practice, and how to recognise and report unauthorised use. This course builds knowledge only. You must also follow each participant's behaviour support plan and be trained in any practice you are asked to implement. Duration: 45 minutes.
50 minIncident Reporting
Incidents happen in every support setting, and how we respond in the first minutes and hours makes a real difference to the people involved. This course explains what an incident is, the different types you may come across, and the immediate steps to take to keep everyone safe. You will learn how to report and document incidents through our internal system, what makes a good incident report, and which incidents are reportable incidents that registered NDIS providers must notify to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, including the 24 hour and 5 business day timeframes. Case studies about a fall at home and an unreported restrictive practice show how it all fits together. Duration: 50 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Do SIL providers have to be registered?
Yes. From 1 July 2026, providers delivering supported independent living must be registered with the NDIS Commission, have certification audits and meet the core module and the SIL supplementary module of the NDIS Practice Standards.
What are the SIL Practice Standards?
Four standards: supported decision making; safeguarding; practice governance; and agreements about tenancy, housing and support arrangements.
Do I need safety data sheets for cleaning products in a SIL home?
Not for consumer products used in household quantities and in a household way. Commercial, bulk or concentrated products are workplace chemicals and need a current SDS and a place on your hazardous chemicals register.
What temperature should the fridge be in a SIL home?
5 degrees or colder, with the freezer at minus 15 degrees or colder. Check and record the temperature at least daily.
Is test and tag required in a SIL home?
Work health and safety laws require electrical equipment used in higher risk conditions to be regularly inspected and tested by a competent person, and AS/NZS 3760 sets out how. Most SIL providers test and tag all the equipment they supply. Queensland has its own electrical safety laws.
Source: NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Checked 30/10/2026. Provider Compliance is not affiliated with the NDIS Commission.