3 Independent Living Options for People with Disabilities

Whether you’re newly disabled or planning to move out of your family home for the first time, you might be looking into independent living options in your community. At a glance, finding accommodation that meets your specific needs might seem like a challenge — unfortunately, most houses and apartments in Australia have not been designed with disabled tenants in mind.

However, a wide range of excellent independent living options are available through the NDIS to ensure you can live comfortably and receive the support you need at home.

In this article, we share three independent living options available — read on. 

Supported Independent Living (SIL)

Supported independent (SIL) living helps NDIS participants to continue living at home. It’s designed for people with higher support needs that need some level of help at home during the day (sometimes overnight), seven days a week.

Support workers can help with cooking, cleaning, chores, shopping and even social activities, or they can simply supervise and step in when you need a hand. You might see multiple support workers throughout the day — one who visits in the morning, one who visits in the afternoon and one who stays overnight.

Most participants who get SIL funding also live with housemates who also have SIL funding. If this independent living option isn’t working out for you for whatever reason, your NDIS coordinator will find an alternative.

Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)

Specialist disability accommodation (SDA) is NDIS-funded housing designed for people with extreme functional impairments or very high support needs. SDA houses and apartments have accessible features so residents can live more independently and allow other supports to be delivered safely and easily. 

SDA is often a shared home with a few other people, although you can live in SDA alone if that’s what suits your needs and circumstances best. The NDIS will cover the cost of the home or building — however, you may still need to pay rent and/or other personal costs to live in SDA. 

It is important to note that SDA funding is reserved for a small number of NDIS participants who meet the specific NDIS criteria. Most participants don’t need to live in a specialised home — during the initial planning meeting, the NDIS representative will provide possible alternatives like home modifications and assistive technology. 

You can find disabled housing options via the NDIS SDA Finder.

Living alone or with housemates

Of course, there’s always the independent living option to live alone. Some people love having their own private space where they can unwind after a long day and be totally themselves. It’s about finding (or building) an accessible home to make living alone more feasible. 

The NDIS can also fund home modifications if the building is in good condition, you have a quote and you have had an assessment done by an allied health practitioner to prove the necessity. In a rental property, a written agreement from the owner of the property will be required before any home modifications can take place. 

You might choose to rent a place with some housemates. These might be friends or even just like-minded people. You might choose someone who loves a chat, someone who’s a great cook and cleans up after themselves, or even someone who likes the same TV shows you do. 

Many accommodation websites are available for people with disabilities, like https://www.wayhome.com.au/ or https://www.disabilityhousing.com.au/. Just narrow down your choices and book a few inspections!

Make independent living easier with our incredible range of disability products

At Active Mobility, we want to make independent living easier for Australians living with disabilities which is why we stock a huge range of disability products to make every day a little easier. From easy reachers to dining and dressing aids, lift chairs, walkers, bathroom rails and more, we stock everything you need for comfortable living in your home.

Shop the range online — we offer fast and affordable shipping throughout Australia.