Every SIL provider must now register with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. This requirement began on 1 July 2026, driven by reviews that identified higher risks to participant safety and quality of care in supported independent living services. Registration brings practice standards, independent audits, worker screening, and ongoing reporting obligations.
Providers who already deliver SIL need to lodge their application before the deadline. New entrants cannot deliver SIL until the Commission grants registration. This guide breaks registration, practice standards, and audit preparation down into what providers actually need to do.
What Is SIL Under the NDIS?
Supported Independent Living, or SIL, funds in-home support that helps a participant live as independently as possible. It covers personal care, daily living tasks, and supervision, usually delivered in shared or individual accommodation.
The obligation to register sits with the provider, not the participant. Participant funding and plans stay the same regardless of a provider’s registration status.
SIL attracts extra regulatory attention because of how the support is delivered. Care happens inside private homes, often around the clock, with limited outside visibility. That combination of vulnerability and low oversight is exactly what prompted the reform.
Mandatory Registration for SIL Providers
Mandatory registration means a provider must hold NDIS Commission registration before delivering or claiming SIL supports. It replaces a system where unregistered providers could deliver SIL with little regulatory oversight.
Registered SIL providers will be subject to quality standards, independent audits, suitability assessments, reporting requirements, and worker screening checks. A related reform aimed at support coordination has been paused, so that requirement does not currently apply.
Who is affected: any provider currently delivering SIL, any registered provider planning to add SIL to its service offering, and any new provider entering the SIL market. For the authoritative position on scope and definitions, refer directly to the NDIS Commission’s mandatory registration guidance.
Timeline: providers who already deliver SIL have until 1 October 2026 to submit their registration application, and they must comply with the relevant practice standards, including the new SIL-specific standards, once registered. Providers entering the SIL market from 1 July 2026 cannot deliver SIL supports until the Commission has granted registration for that support.
The audit pathway is not a quick process. SIL sits under the Certification pathway, a two-stage audit that typically runs eight to twelve months from application to final approval. Starting early matters far more than most providers assume.
What happens if a provider doesn’t register in time
A provider that has not applied for registration by 1 October 2026 must stop providing SIL services. That includes any provider currently operating under plan-managed or self-managed arrangements without registration.
New providers face a stricter position from the outset. They simply cannot start delivering or claiming SIL until registration is granted, so late applications directly delay revenue and service starts.
Core Compliance Obligations for SIL Providers
Registration is the entry point, not the full picture. Once registered, a SIL provider carries ongoing obligations across several areas. Use this checklist as a working starting point.
SIL-specific practice standards: Registered providers must demonstrate how their service meets the new SIL practice standards, covering rostering, supervision ratios, and participant safeguards specific to shared and individual living arrangements.
Policy and procedure documentation: Written policies must match what actually happens on the ground, covering intake, support planning, medication management, and complaints handling.
Incident management and reportable incidents: Providers need a documented process for identifying, recording, and reporting incidents within Commission timeframes, with staff trained to recognise what qualifies as reportable.
Worker screening and qualifications: Every worker delivering SIL must hold a valid NDIS Worker Screening Check, with renewal reminders set well before expiry to avoid gaps in coverage.
Suitability and governance checks: Registration includes suitability assessments of the provider itself, not just individual workers, alongside the broader reporting requirements that come with holding registration.
Operationalising Compliance (Not Just Documenting It)
A policy sitting in a folder does not satisfy an auditor. The gap between having a policy and living it day-to-day is where most non-conformances start. Rosters, supervision levels, and staff qualifications all need to match what the documentation says.
For providers running multiple houses, consistency is the real test. One house running tight documentation while another runs loose practice creates exposure across the whole registration, not just the weaker site.
Build an internal audit habit before the Commission builds one for you. A short monthly check against your own practice standards, incident log, and worker screening register catches gaps while they are still cheap to fix.
Preparing for a SIL Audit
Auditors assess whether documented practice and actual practice line up, house by house. For SIL specifically, that means checking rosters against funded hours, verifying worker screening currency, and reviewing incident records against Commission reporting timeframes.
Common gaps that trigger non-conformances include out-of-date worker screening checks, incident reports that were logged late, rosters that do not reflect the supervision level a participant’s plan requires, and policies that have not been updated since the new SIL practice standards were introduced.
Pre-audit checklist:
- Confirm every current worker’s screening check is valid, with no expiries inside the next 90 days
- Cross-check rosters against each participant’s documented support needs
- Review the last six months of incident reports for timeliness and completeness
- Update policies and procedures to reflect the current SIL practice standards
- Run a mock file review on two or three participant files, including one from each house
Consequences of Non-Compliance
Non-compliance carries a range of outcomes depending on severity. Minor gaps identified during an audit typically result in a non-conformance that the provider must address within a set timeframe.
More serious or repeated issues can lead to compliance notices, conditions placed on registration, or, in the most serious cases, suspension or revocation of registration. Reportable incidents that are mishandled or under-reported also draw direct Commission attention.
None of this is designed to be punitive for providers acting in good faith. The framework exists because SIL involves vulnerable participants in low-visibility settings, and the standards give providers a clear structure to demonstrate they are meeting their duty of care.
Getting Ready for SIL Registration
SIL compliance in 2026 comes down to three things: registering before the deadline, matching documented policy to daily practice, and preparing early for a certification audit that takes months, not weeks. Providers who start now avoid the scramble that late movers will face closer to October.
Book a Free Consultation to work through where your service currently stands.
VCCG works with NDIS providers preparing for registration, audits, and day-to-day compliance across SIL services. If your team needs a clear path through the new requirements, a compliance advisor can walk you through the gaps specific to your service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all SIL providers need to register under the new reform?
Yes. All providers delivering SIL supports must begin the registration process under the Commission’s transition requirements, including providers who have previously operated as unregistered under plan-managed or self-managed arrangements.
What’s the difference between SIL requirements and general NDIS provider requirements?
SIL sits under a higher-risk classification with its own practice standards, on top of general NDIS provider requirements. It also uses the more rigorous Certification audit pathway rather than a lighter-touch verification process.
How often are SIL providers audited?
Registration involves an initial certification audit, followed by surveillance audits at set intervals to confirm ongoing compliance. Exact intervals depend on registration conditions set by the Commission at the time of approval.
What documentation should a SIL provider have ready at all times?
Current worker screening records, up-to-date policies and procedures matched to the SIL practice standards, incident logs, and rosters that reflect each participant’s documented support needs.
Can a small or sole-operator SIL provider meet these requirements without a compliance team?
Yes, with the right structure in place. Many smaller providers already carry out most of the required work; the task is organising it into a format that satisfies certification, which is exactly where compliance support adds the most value.