SIL, STA and SDA: what's the difference?

The quick answer

Each support answers a different question. One way to remember them is to ask what the money pays for.

• SIL pays for people: support workers who help or supervise you at home, every day and night.
• STA pays for a short break: support and a place to stay for a few days, so your usual carers can rest.
• SDA pays for a building: a home designed for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.
• MTA pays for a temporary place to live: up to 90 days while your long-term home is not ready.

Supported independent living (SIL)

SIL is funding for support workers to help or supervise you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in your home. You might share workers with the people you live with, or have workers just for you. SIL funded one-to-one is only for limited situations.

The NDIA says SIL may suit you if you need someone with you around the clock, including overnight, with hands-on help for at least 8 of those hours. Workers can help with personal care, meals, cleaning and routines. They can also help you build skills, including social skills, and carry out a behaviour support plan written by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner.

SIL does not pay for rent, groceries or bills. The NDIS Commission says it is not SIL if you only get a few hours of support a day or week, or if you choose and roster your own workers. Those arrangements are funded in other ways, usually from the Assistance with Daily Life part of your Core Supports.

From 1 July 2026, SIL providers must register with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission). The NDIS says SIL can only be delivered by providers that are registered or that applied to register before 1 October 2026. If your provider is not registered, the NDIA has said it will help you look at your options.

Short-term accommodation (STA) or respite

STA gives you time apart from the people who usually support you, like family, friends or an unpaid carer, while they take a break. It is meant to help them keep caring for you. For a time in 2025 and 2026 the NDIA called it short term respite.

You may be able to get STA if you live with your main unpaid carers, or get daily drop-in support from them. They must also give you more than 6 hours of disability-related support a day. It is usually funded for up to 28 days a year. You can use up to 14 days in a row, or smaller stays across the year.

STA can happen in respite accommodation or standard accommodation, such as a motel, cabin or short-stay rental. It can also be in your own home or a homestay with a support worker, if you usually need overnight support. It should generally be in your home state or territory.

Since 1 July 2026, providers claim STA in two parts: the hours of support from workers, and the accommodation. STA funding cannot be used for holiday packages, holiday accommodation, airfares, food or meals, or activity and entry fees.

Specialist disability accommodation (SDA)

SDA is the only NDIS funding that pays for housing itself. SDA homes have features that suit very high support needs, such as wider doorways, ceiling hoists, backup power or very strong walls and fittings.

There are four SDA design categories: improved liveability, fully accessible, robust and high physical support. It is often shared with a small number of other people, each with a private bedroom.

SDA does not include support workers or personal care. That is why many people in SDA also have SIL or other daily living support in their plan. SDA funding pays the SDA provider. You pay a rent contribution and your own bills, and the rent cannot be more than the maximum set in the SDA pricing arrangements.

SDA providers must be registered with the NDIS Commission, and each home must be enrolled with the NDIA. You must have a written service agreement with your SDA provider. If you have SDA funding, you can look for vacancies with the NDIA's SDA finder.

Medium-term accommodation (MTA)

MTA is somewhere to live for up to 90 days when you cannot move into your long-term home yet. Examples are waiting for an SDA home to be ready, waiting for home changes to finish, or leaving hospital or a justice setting while your long-term home is sorted out.

MTA is a one-off support. It covers the accommodation only, not food, internet, power or personal care. It is not emergency housing.

How these supports can work together

You can have more than one of these supports in your plan. For example:

• SDA plus SIL: the SDA funding pays for the home and the SIL funding pays for the workers in it.
• Living with family plus STA: your family keeps supporting you day to day, and STA covers short breaks.
• MTA before SDA or SIL: a temporary place to stay until your long-term home and support are ready.
• Your own rental plus SIL or daily living support: you rent a home in the usual way and support workers come to you.

How to ask for home and living supports

Talk to your my NDIS contact if you think you need SIL, STA, SDA or MTA, or if your living situation is changing. They will ask what options you have already tried and what you need. The NDIA will need recent evidence from a treating health professional, such as an occupational therapist. It should explain your daily support needs and what other options you have already tried.

Decisions are based on what the NDIA agrees is reasonable and necessary for you. If you disagree with a decision, you can ask for it to be reviewed. A support coordinator, if you have one in your plan, can help you find registered providers and get things in place.