Support Foundation’s Commitment to Mandatory SIL Registration & NDIS Practice Standards
Strengthening Quick, Quality, Quantity and Independence in Supported Independent Living
At Support Foundation, we believe that every person with disability has the right to live with dignity, safety, independence and genuine choice and control over their own life. Supported Independent Living (SIL) is far more than providing assistance with daily activities — a participant's SIL home is their home first. It is a place where they should feel safe, respected, listened to and empowered to make decisions about how they live.
The introduction of mandatory NDIS registration for SIL providers from 1 July 2026, together with the new SIL-specific NDIS Practice Standards, represents an important change for the disability sector. The new standards place a strong focus on participant rights, safety, quality of support, safeguarding and good practice within the home. Support Foundation is fully committed to meeting these requirements and embedding the principles behind the standards into our everyday SIL operations.
The Four SIL-Specific NDIS Practice Standards
The NDIS Commission describes these standards as setting clear expectations for SIL providers, supporting consistent service delivery, quality and safety for participants and accountability across the sector. The four standards guiding our approach are:
1. Supported Decision-Making (Your Life. Your Choices. Your Voice.)
We believe that people with disability should be supported to make their own decisions, rather than having decisions made for them simply because they require support. The Supported Decision-Making Standard requires providers to support participants to understand and exercise their rights when making decisions about their home, daily life, relationships, routines, supports and community participation.
- Providing information in a way each participant can understand.
- Using the participant's preferred language, communication method and communication tools.
- Giving participants sufficient time to consider their options.
- Respecting each participant's will and preferences while supporting informed choices and the dignity of risk.
- Providing appropriate training and refresher training for workers in supported decision-making.
2. Safeguarding (Everyone Deserves to Feel Safe at Home)
A participant's home must be a place where they feel safe, respected and protected from violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, bullying and other forms of harm. Support Foundation continues strengthening our safeguarding systems to ensure risks are identified early and responded to appropriately.
- Proactive identification and assessment of risks within the home, with active participant involvement in discussions.
- Appropriate incident reporting and management, responding promptly to concerns about harm, bullying or conflict.
- Supporting respectful relationships between people living in shared accommodation while maintaining participants' access to family, friends and community.
- Building stable, consistent worker relationships applying trauma-informed and person-centred approaches.
3. Practice Governance (Quality Support Starts with a Capable Workforce)
Good governance means more than having policies sitting in a folder. At Support Foundation, our policies, training, supervision and leadership systems translate into observable good practice in the participant's home. Workers understand that a SIL property is the participant's home, not simply a workplace.
- Appropriate induction, onboarding, participant-specific training, and competency assessments.
- Participant Involvement in Co-Tenants: Shared living works best when people feel comfortable with the people they live alongside. Support Foundation involves existing participants in decisions affecting their home environment, including consultation when considering new co-tenants.
4. Agreements About Tenancy, Housing and Support Arrangements
One of the vital principles of the new SIL standards is the clear distinction between tenancy or housing arrangements and SIL support arrangements. Where Support Foundation provides both tenancy and SIL support, we ensure these arrangements are appropriately documented and clearly distinguished.
Building a Stronger SIL Workforce
The quality of SIL ultimately depends on the people providing the support. Support Foundation is committed to ensuring that workers have the skills, knowledge, training and supervision necessary to provide safe and person-centred support.
Our workforce development approach focuses on:
- Person-centred practice: Understanding each participant as an individual and tailoring support accordingly.
- Trauma-informed practice: Understanding how past experiences may affect a person's behaviour, communication and support needs.
- Active support: Supporting participants to participate in everyday activities and build independence rather than doing everything for them.
- Supported decision-making: Helping participants make their own decisions and express their will and preferences.
- Positive behaviour support: Using evidence-informed approaches to understand and respond to behaviours of concern while respecting participant rights.
- Safeguarding and de-escalation: Ensuring workers can identify risks and respond appropriately to conflict, harm and safety concerns.
Continuous Improvement: Registration Is Only the Beginning
For Support Foundation, mandatory registration is not simply an audit requirement. It is an opportunity to continually evaluate our care quality:
- Are our participants genuinely making decisions about their lives?
- Do participants feel safe in their homes?
- Do our workers have the skills they need?
- Are our services consistent across different workers and shifts?
- Do participants understand their rights?
- Are participants involved in decisions about their home and who they live with?
- Can participants raise concerns without fear?
- Are our tenancy and service arrangements fair, transparent and clearly understood?
Our Commitment to People We Support
At Support Foundation, our commitment is straightforward. We will continue working towards meeting all applicable mandatory SIL registration requirements and embedding the four SIL Practice Standards into our organisation. We will continue to:
- Support choice and control: Helping participants make genuine decisions about their lives, home and supports.
- Promote safety: Maintaining strong safeguarding systems and responding to concerns appropriately.
- Strengthen our workforce: Ensuring workers are appropriately trained, supported and competent.
- Respect the home: Recognising that every SIL property is first and foremost the participant's home.
- Protect rights: Supporting dignity, privacy, independence, relationships and the right to make informed choices.
- Promote independence: Using active support and person-centred approaches to help participants build skills and achieve their goals.
- Listen and improve: Using participant feedback, incidents, complaints, supervision and quality reviews to continuously improve our services.