The five supports at a glance
Before the detail, here's the one-line version of each:
- SIL (Supported Independent Living) — ongoing paid support with daily tasks where you live, often 24/7 in a shared home
- ILO (Individualised Living Options) — a flexible package to design your own living arrangement, mixing paid, informal and community supports
- STA (Short Term Accommodation, including respite) — a short stay away from home with support included, giving you a break or a change of scene and your carers a rest
- MTA (Medium Term Accommodation) — a transitional place to stay, typically while you wait for a long-term housing solution to be ready
- SDA (Specialist Disability Accommodation) — the physical housing itself, purpose-built for people with very high support needs; separate from the support delivered inside it
SIL: ongoing support where you live
SIL suits people who need substantial help every day — often around the clock. It funds a roster of support workers for personal care, meals, medication, household tasks and skill-building, most commonly shared between housemates in a shared home. It does not pay for the home itself. If that sounds like you, our full guide, What is Supported Independent Living?, covers SIL in depth.
ILO: design your own arrangement
ILO is for people who want something more individual than a shared SIL home and don't need paid workers present around the clock. An ILO package funds you to first explore and design an arrangement — where you live, who with, and what mix of supports makes it work — and then to run it. That might look like living with a host family, sharing with a flatmate who provides agreed support, or living alone with a network of drop-in paid and informal supports.
ILO is a two-stage support: an exploration-and-design stage where you work out the arrangement, then the ongoing support stage that funds it. It rewards people (and providers) willing to think creatively — the trade-off is that it takes more setting up than a ready-made SIL vacancy. Care Alliance supports participants through both stages — see Individualised Living Options.
STA: short stays and respite
STA funds short stays away from your usual home — support, accommodation, meals and activities bundled together, typically for up to a fortnight at a time. Families often use it as planned respite: a genuine break for carers, and a chance for the participant to try new things, meet people and practise independence in a supported setting.
STA is also how many people 'road-test' living away from the family home before considering SIL or ILO. Our guide to NDIS respite and Short Term Accommodation covers how it works and how families tend to use it well.
MTA: the bridge to long-term housing
MTA is transitional accommodation for people who have a long-term housing solution confirmed but not yet ready — for example, you're waiting for an SDA build to finish or a SIL vacancy to open, and you can't stay where you are (commonly people ready for discharge from hospital with nowhere suitable to go). It's funded for a defined period as a bridge, not as a destination.
SDA: the housing itself
SDA is different from everything above: it funds the physical dwelling, not the support. It exists for the small proportion of participants with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs who need purpose-built housing — think ceiling hoists, robust construction or fully accessible design. SDA in a plan pays the housing provider; the support delivered inside the home is funded separately (usually SIL). Most people who ask about 'NDIS housing' actually need SIL, ILO or mainstream housing options rather than SDA.
How they combine — and how to decide
These supports aren't mutually exclusive: SDA + SIL is a common pairing (specialist house + 24/7 support), STA sits alongside anything as planned respite, and MTA can bridge into any long-term arrangement. The real question for most families is SIL vs ILO — and it usually comes down to how much support is needed overnight, how individual you want the arrangement to be, and how much informal support already exists around the person.
If you're weighing options, start with the evidence: a solid functional capacity assessment clarifies the level of support actually needed across a week, which points naturally at the right support type. And talk to providers early — a good one will tell you honestly which arrangement fits, including when the answer is 'not ours'.
Common questions
Can I have SIL and SDA in the same plan?
Yes — they're designed to work together for people with very high needs: SDA funds the specialist dwelling, SIL funds the support team inside it. They're assessed separately and you can (and often should) choose different providers for each.
Is ILO cheaper for the NDIS than SIL?
Often, but that's not the point of it. ILO suits people who don't need 24/7 paid support and want a more individual arrangement — the funding follows the design you build, mixing paid support with informal and community supports.
How long can I stay in STA?
STA is typically funded for short blocks — commonly up to 14 days at a time, used a few times a year and sometimes described as around 28 days per year used flexibly. Your plan and circumstances determine the exact amount, so check what's in your plan.
Which support should I ask for at my planning meeting?
Describe your situation and goals rather than leading with an acronym — what you can do independently, what help you need day and night, and what living arrangement you're aiming for. Good assessment reports then let the NDIS match the right support type to the evidence.
This guide is general information about the NDIS, not advice about your individual situation, and scheme rules change over time. For decisions about your plan, check the current guidance at ndis.gov.au or talk to your support coordinator, planner — or call us on 1300 206 309.