Independent Living in SA: Vana Care's SIL Services

Living in your own home, deciding how your day runs, and knowing the right support is there when you need it. That's what Supported Independent Living (SIL) is designed to make possible. For many South Australians with disability, SIL is the difference between simply being housed and genuinely living life on your own terms. This post explains what SIL involves, how it's funded under the NDIS, and how Vana Care delivers it across Adelaide.

What Supported Independent Living actually means

SIL is NDIS funding for the paid support workers who help you with everyday life in your own home. That can include personal care like showering and dressing, preparing meals, cleaning, managing medication, getting to appointments, and building the practical skills that make independence stick.

A few things SIL is not. It doesn't pay for the house itself, your rent, groceries or bills. Those are everyday costs everyone has. SIL funds the people who support you within the home, anywhere from a few hours of help each day through to 24/7 support including overnight.

In South Australia, SIL is most often delivered in a shared home where two or more NDIS participants live together and share a roster of support staff. It can also be funded for someone living on their own where that's the right fit, because the focus is always the outcome: your independence, your way. For a deeper introduction to the basics, read our guide on what Supported Independent Living is.

How SIL works under the NDIS

Who SIL is for

SIL generally suits adults with significant, ongoing support needs, usually people who need help across most of the day, seven days a week. It's one of several home and living supports the NDIS funds, and the NDIA will look at whether SIL is the best fit for your situation compared with alternatives like drop-in support. You don't need to have it all figured out before you start the conversation.

How funding is decided

SIL funding is built on evidence. The NDIA typically wants to see assessments (often from an occupational therapist) showing your support needs, along with a roster of care. The roster maps out exactly what support you need across a typical week, hour by hour, including whether overnight support is active or a sleepover shift. Your funding then sits in your plan under home and living supports, and the rates providers can charge are set by the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.

If your needs change after your plan is in place, you can ask for a plan reassessment so your funding keeps matching your life. You'll find the official detail on home and living supports at ndis.gov.au.

How SIL compares with other supports

Support type	Typical hours	Where it happens	Best suited to
Supported Independent Living	High, often up to 24/7 including overnight	Your home, often shared with housemates	People with significant daily support needs who want to live as independently as possible
In-home support	A few hours to several hours a day	Your own or your family's home	People who need regular help at home but not around the clock
Community access	Sessions during the day or week	Out and about in the community	People building confidence, connections and skills outside the home

Many people combine these. Someone might have SIL at home and community access funding to pursue hobbies, volunteering or study.

How Vana Care approaches SIL

Vana Care is a registered NDIS provider based in Adelaide, founded in 2021 by Jes & Jason. Our Supported Independent Living service is built around two things the original founders cared about from day one: personalisation and genuine choice.

Personalisation at the core

No two people want the same life, so no two SIL arrangements should look the same. Before support starts, we sit down with you (and family or others you want involved) to understand your routines, your goals and the things that matter to you, then shape the roster and the team around that. Support plans aren't set and forgotten either. We keep reviewing them as your needs and ambitions change.

Flexibility and choice

You should have a real say in how and with whom you live, and who walks through your door each day. We work hard to match support workers to participants on personality and shared interests, not just availability, because the relationship is what makes daily support feel like a good life rather than a service.

A team you can rely on

We have more than 100 support workers across Greater Adelaide and nearby regional SA, trained to promote independence rather than take over. The goal is always to support you to do things, not to do everything for you.

What SIL changes day to day

The people we support have used SIL to keep studying, hold down jobs, learn to cook and budget, manage their own households and build real friendships in their neighbourhoods. Often the biggest shift isn't any single skill. It's confidence, the growing sense that your home and your week are actually yours. If you want a sense of how families experience our support, you can read their words on our reviews page, where we hold a 4.9 star rating from more than 100 Google reviews.

Skill development is a big part of that picture. Cooking, public transport, money handling and self-care are all skills that can be learned with the right support. Our guide to independent living skills assessments explains how those skills are measured and built over time.

Common questions

Is SIL the same as a group home?

No. Older group home models often meant little choice about housemates, routines or staff. Modern SIL is meant to be the opposite: you have a say in where you live, who you live with and how your support runs. Shared living is common because it makes funding go further, but it should never mean losing control over your own life.

Can I get SIL if I live alone?

Yes, in some circumstances. The NDIA funds SIL for people living alone where the evidence shows that's the arrangement that best meets their needs. It comes down to your assessed support needs, not a rule about housemates.

What's the difference between SIL and in-home support?

In-home support generally suits people who need regular help at home for part of the day, while SIL suits people with higher, ongoing needs, often including overnight support. If you're not sure which fits, that's a normal place to start, and we're happy to talk it through.

How do I get SIL into my NDIS plan?

Raise home and living supports with the NDIA or your planner, gather evidence of your support needs, and work through the roster of care process. If you disagree with a decision, you can ask the NDIA for an internal review, and beyond that the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) handles appeals. We don't provide support coordination ourselves, but we can point you in the right direction if you need help with the process.

Where does Vana Care deliver SIL?

We support people across Greater Adelaide and nearby regional South Australia, alongside our community access and in-home support services.

Supported Independent Living is one of the most life-changing supports the NDIS funds, and getting it right starts with a conversation. If you're weighing up SIL for yourself or someone in your family, you can build a personalised quote in a few minutes at Get Support, call us on 08 7228 6202, or email hello@vanacare.com.au. We're happy to answer questions with no pressure attached.