Direct answer: SIL (Supported Independent Living) funding is NDIS money that pays for the support a participant needs to live in a shared or individual home: help with daily tasks, personal care, and supervision. It's funded based on support ratios (like 1:3, 1:2, or 1:1) and rostered hours. SIL funds the support, not the housing, which is what separates it from SDA. For providers, getting the ratios, rosters, and claiming right is where SIL succeeds or fails.
SIL is one of the highest-value, most complex supports an NDIS provider can deliver, and one of the easiest to get wrong. The funding depends on support ratios, roster patterns, and shift types that stack in ways that catch providers out at both the claiming and the audit stage.
This guide explains SIL funding from the provider's seat: what it covers, how it's calculated, the ratios that drive the dollars, the SIL versus SDA distinction, and where SIL funding most often goes wrong. If you deliver or plan to deliver SIL, this is the foundation.
What does SIL funding cover?
SIL funding covers the support delivered to a participant living in a home, not the home itself.
Short answer: SIL funding covers help with daily tasks, personal care, meal preparation, medication support, and supervision in a shared or individual living arrangement. It does not cover rent, food, utilities, or the cost of the dwelling.
What SIL pays for:
Assistance with daily living tasks
Personal care and hygiene support
Help with meal preparation and medication
Overnight support (active or sleepover)
Supervision and skill-building for independence
What SIL does not cover:
Rent or the cost of the property (that's SDA, if eligible)
Everyday living costs like food, utilities, and personal items
Support delivered outside the living arrangement
That last distinction matters constantly, because families ask providers "does SIL pay the rent?" The answer is no, and knowing where the line sits protects your claiming.
How is SIL funding calculated?
SIL funding is built from two things: the support ratio and the rostered hours.
The support ratio is how many participants share one support worker at a given time:
1:1 — one worker per participant (highest need, highest cost)
1:2 — one worker per two participants
1:3 — one worker per three participants (lower need, shared)
Short answer: SIL funding is calculated from the participant's support ratio (such as 1:1, 1:2, or 1:3) multiplied by the rostered support hours across the week, priced against the current NDIS price limits.
A participant's plan specifies the ratio and hours based on their assessed needs. The provider then builds a roster that delivers that support, and claims against the NDIS price limits for each shift type. This is where SIL gets complex: a week's roster mixes weekday, evening, weekend, and overnight rates, and each must be claimed correctly.
Active overnight vs sleepover: the pricing difference
One of the most misunderstood parts of SIL funding is overnight support, and it directly affects both funding and payroll.
Sleepover: the worker sleeps at the home and is available if needed. Paid at a set allowance, with any active work during the night claimed and paid on top.
Active overnight: the worker is awake and working through the night. Paid at the applicable active hourly rate.
Key point: Getting active overnight and sleepover wrong is a common SIL error that hits both your SIL funding claim and your SCHADS payroll at once. The two must line up.
This is exactly where SIL funding and payroll collide. The same overnight shift is both a claim and a pay calculation, and if they don't match, you have exposure on both sides. Our SCHADS payroll audit guide covers the payroll half.
SIL funding vs SDA funding: the difference
This is the confusion that trips up nearly everyone.
SIL funding | SDA funding | |
|---|---|---|
What it funds | The support | The housing |
Covers | Daily assistance, personal care | The dwelling itself |
Who's eligible | Those needing daily support | Those needing specialist housing |
Can exist alone | Yes, SIL without SDA is common | Sometimes |
Short answer: SIL funds the support a person receives; SDA funds the specialist housing they live in. Many participants have SIL without SDA. Providers register and claim for each separately.
For the housing side, see our SDA requirements guide. For the compliance side of delivering SIL, our SIL provider compliance guide goes deeper.
Who is eligible for SIL funding?
SIL funding is for participants with higher support needs who require significant help to live independently, typically those needing support across the day and often overnight.
Eligibility is assessed by the NDIA based on the participant's functional capacity and support needs, and SIL must be deemed reasonable and necessary. It's generally for people needing substantial daily support, not occasional assistance.
For providers, the practical point is that SIL participants come with detailed, high-value plans, and the funding must be delivered and evidenced precisely.
Where SIL funding goes wrong for providers
SIL is high-value, which means errors are expensive. The common failures:
Roster doesn't match the funded ratio. Delivering 1:1 when the plan funds 1:2, or vice versa.
Overnight shifts claimed incorrectly. Sleepover vs active overnight confusion.
SCHADS payroll doesn't match the claim. The shift is billed one way and paid another.
Thin progress notes. SIL support delivered but not evidenced per shift. Our progress notes guide covers this.
Budget overruns. Rostering more support than the plan funds, unrecoverable.
Each of these is a claiming risk, an audit risk, or both. SIL is the support type where a connected system, roster, funding, payroll, and evidence in one place, matters most.
Key takeaways
SIL funds support, not housing. SDA funds housing.
SIL funding is calculated from support ratio (1:1, 1:2, 1:3) times rostered hours.
Active overnight and sleepover are priced differently and must match your payroll.
SIL doesn't cover rent, food, or utilities.
SIL errors are expensive because the support is high-value; the roster, claim, and payroll must all line up.
Frequently asked questions
What does SIL funding cover?
SIL funding covers support with daily living tasks, personal care, meal preparation, medication, supervision, and overnight support in a shared or individual home. It does not cover rent, food, utilities, or the cost of the housing itself.
What does SIL stand for?
SIL stands for Supported Independent Living. It's NDIS funding for the support a participant needs to live in a shared or individual home, distinct from SDA, which funds the housing.
How is SIL funding calculated?
SIL funding is based on the participant's support ratio (such as 1:1, 1:2, or 1:3) multiplied by rostered support hours across the week, priced against current NDIS price limits for each shift type.
What is the difference between SIL and SDA funding?
SIL funds the daily support a participant receives; SDA funds the specialist housing they live in. A participant can have SIL without SDA. Providers register and claim for each separately.
Does SIL funding pay for rent?
No. SIL funding pays for support only. Rent and the cost of the dwelling are not covered by SIL. Specialist housing may be funded through SDA for eligible participants.
Can you have SIL funding without SDA?
Yes. SIL support without SDA housing is common. SDA is only for participants who meet strict eligibility for specialist housing; SIL support can be delivered in many living arrangements.
The bottom line
SIL funding explained simply: it pays for support, calculated by ratio and hours, and it lives or dies on whether your roster, your claim, and your payroll all tell the same story. The providers who deliver SIL profitably and pass audits are the ones whose systems keep those three aligned, shift by shift.
Get the ratios right, match overnight shifts correctly, evidence every shift, and SIL becomes a stable, high-value part of your operation rather than a claiming and audit minefield.
See SIL run in one connected system. Start a free CareVisor trial and see how providers align SIL rosters, funding, SCHADS payroll, and progress notes in one place, so every shift is claimed right and evidenced by default.
About CareVisor
CareVisor is the audit-ready operating system for Australian NDIS providers, built in Sydney by NDIS operators who have prepared for and passed Quality and Safeguards Commission audits firsthand. SIL rostering, participant management, claiming, incident reporting, progress notes, and SCHADS payroll live in one platform, mapped to the NDIS Practice Standards, with a time-stamped audit trail captured by default. Learn more about us or start your free trial at carevisor.com.au.
