What is Specialist Disability Accommodation?

Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) refers to accommodation for people who require specialist housing solutions, including to assist with the delivery of supports that cater to their extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. SDA dwellings have accessible features to help residents live more independently and allow other supports to be delivered better or more safely.

Specialist disability accommodation is designed to be more accessible for you based on your disability related support needs. It assists you to live more independently in your home and allow your other supports to be delivered better or more safely. For example, you might need a home with reinforced ceilings so you can get a ceiling hoist installed. It doesn’t include the services or support you might get in your home that relate to your disability supports needs. For example, personal care supports , supported independent living, individualised living options and some assistive technology are other types of home and living support that the NDIS may fund.

Home & Living

Home and Living supports are usually provided by a registered NDIS SIL provider and they will work with you to co-design the supports you need, when you need them which will align to your NDIS funding.

Specialist disability accommodation may involve a shared home with a small number of other people where you have your own private bedroom. You can choose to share your bedroom with other people, like a partner, if you want to.

You might be able to live in specialist disability accommodation by yourself, if that option best meets your disability related support needs and circumstances.

Providers need to be registered to offer specialist disability accommodation. Providers have to enroll homes with us that meet the standards and requirements for specialist disability accommodation. We call these homes specialist disability accommodation dwellings.

Participants will need to pay rent, and other day-to-day living costs such as bills, to live in specialist disability accommodation.

Participants eligible for SDA:

  • have an extreme functional impairment or very high support needs
  • meet the specialist disability accommodation needs requirement and the NDIS funding criteria
  • More information about SDA and eligibility is in the SDA Operational Guideline .

SDA helps to stimulate the market to produce high quality, contemporary, accessible, well-designed housing for participants with SDA funding in their plan. SDA funding is paid directly to SDA providers to cover the building and maintenance costs. Participants pay a reasonable rent contribution and other day to day living costs such as electricity bills.

SDA Design Categories

There are 4 specialist disability accommodation design categories we could fund if you are new to specialist disability accommodation:

IL: Improved Liveability

Housing with better physical access. It also has more features for people with sensory, intellectual or cognitive impairments. For example, you may need walls and floors that are very easy to see, living areas that mean your support workers can see you easily, or very few stairs in your home.

FA: Fully Accessible

Housing with a high level of physical access features for people who have lots of physical challenges. For example, you need to use a manual or powered wheelchair at home, or can’t use steps.


R: Robust

Housing that is very strong and durable, reducing the need for repairs and maintenance. The way it is built should make it safe for you and others. This type of design category may suit people who need help managing complex and challenging behaviours. We think about how often you currently cause property damage, and the extent of the damage.

HPS: High Physical Support

Housing that includes a high level of physical access for people who need very high levels of support. For example, you may need a ceiling hoist, backup power supply, or home automation and communication technology.

 

Providing Access to Environments for all Participants

Specialist Disability Accommodation is a range of housing designed to provide the most accessible environments possible for individuals with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. Each SDA home comes with a variety of accessibility features based on the design type they have been built to. Each design type (Improved Liveability, Fully Accessible, High Physical Support & Robust) has minimum requirements to ensure that they meet the needs of a potential resident and provide the best accessibility features possible.

Accessible features commonly seen in an SDA home are:

  • Height adjustable bench tops
  • Wide door frames and hallways
  • Luminance contrasts between walls, skirting boards and door frames
  • Structural provisions for ceiling hoists
  • Assistive/smart technology
  • Emergency power backup
  • Damage proof walls and windows/glass
  • Shower rails

These features are interchangeable and can depend on the participants needs and house design. Once a tenant has moved in, SDA provides can accommodate for any unforeseen barriers and ensure that your ongoing needs can be met throughout your time in an SDA home.

So What are the Benefits?


Specialist Disability Accommodation is designed to assist participants to live more independently in their own home and allow support to be delivered to a higher and more efficient standard. The benefits of Specialist Disability Accommodation range beyond helping you move around your home though.

In fact, SDA housing can help a participant to:

  • Reduce the impact of a disability on daily life
  • Improve functional capacity (the things that can or cannot be done due to a disability)
  • Learn new skills and abilities over the medium to long term
  • Maintain informal supports such as family members and friends
  • Reduce the amount of support needed
  • Pursue goals and facilitate choice