SIL Mandatory Registration: What Providers Must Do Now

The short version

If you deliver Supported Independent Living (SIL), four things matter:

• SIL needs registration. Since 1 July 2026, SIL providers must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission under a new group, 0138 Assistance with supported independent living (Commission SIL page).
• The grace period has closed. Unregistered SIL providers had to apply before 1 October 2026 to keep going. If you didn't, you must stop (F2026L00802).
• Registration means a certification audit against the Core module plus a new SIL module (Module 5A) with four standards: supported decision-making, safeguarding, practice governance, and agreements about tenancy, housing and support.
• More is coming. The Government has funded mandatory registration for all high-risk supports from 1 July 2027. That is announced and funded, not law yet.

Everything below is sourced. Where the Commission's pages and the law differ, we go with the law. This is general information, not legal advice.

What changed on 1 July 2026

SIL has a legal definition now

The amended Provider Registration Rules say a person must be registered under section 73E of the NDIS Act to provide assistance with supported independent living. You are providing it if all three of these are true (F2026L00802):

1. The participant needs constant, or immediately available, person-to-person support at all times of the day, or for a substantial part of the day.
2. The help is a package of supports that assists with, or supervises, the tasks of daily life so the participant can live as autonomously as possible at home and get out into the community.
3. You manage the package and the supports delivered under it.

The Commission says it is not SIL if a person only gets a few hours of support a day or week, or chooses and manages their own workers, including directing, planning and rostering them. Families who self-direct like that generally won't need to register. The Commission also says a SIL item number shouldn't be claimed where SIL doesn't apply (Commission SIL page).

The test is what you deliver, not what's in the plan. The Commission's April FAQ says any provider claiming a SIL line item is caught, while in-home supports claimed under 0104 and 0107 keep their existing rules (Commission FAQ, April 2026).

A new registration group: 0138

The Rules add "assistance with supported independent living" as its own class of support. It is assessed by certification against Schedule 1 (the Core module) and Schedule 7A (Module 5A, the SIL Practice Standards) (F2026L00802). The Commission's applications portal lists it as 0138 (Commission, applying).

Group 0115 stays for other group and shared living supports, such as short term accommodation, medium term accommodation and individualised living options (Explanatory Statement).

Why the Commission did it

The Commission's own numbers, for October to December 2025 (Explanatory Statement):

Half the SIL providers were unregistered, mostly small operators: 85% were paid under $250,000 a quarter. The same document cites the Commission's 2023 own motion inquiry, which found 85% of reportable incidents happened in group homes.

Delivering SIL without registration on or after 1 July 2026 may breach the NDIS Act. The maximum penalty is 2 years' imprisonment, 120 penalty units, or both (Commission SIL page).

Who had to do what, and by when

The transition is in section 32 of the Rules (F2026L00802; Explanatory Statement):

One wording catch. The NDIA, and parts of the Commission's pages, say "by 1 October 2026" (NDIA news, 9 June 2026). The Rules say an application made "before 1 October 2026". The law is the one that counts, so 30 September was the last safe day.

What happens now

If you were already registered for 0115

The Commission sent a formal notice in June 2026, giving providers the chance to say they didn't want to be registered for SIL. If you stayed in, your registration was varied to include 0138 and you got a new certificate. You must now comply with the SIL Practice Standards to stay registered, and you'll be audited against them at your next audit after 1 July 2026, whether that's your mid-term or your renewal (Commission pathway).

If 0138 isn't on your certificate and you still deliver SIL, email registration@ndiscommission.gov.au now (Commission, applying).

If you applied in time

The Commission's pathway for unregistered providers who applied between 1 July and 1 October goes like this (Commission pathway):

1. You get an initial scope of audit.
2. You engage an approved quality auditor and complete a certification audit, which includes the SIL Practice Standards.
3. The Commission reviews your application and may ask you questions.
4. If approved, your certificate includes 0138. If refused, you can't deliver SIL and must follow the steps for stopping services.

You can keep delivering SIL throughout. The pathway asks for a "valid registration application", and the portal deletes applications not completed within 60 days (Commission, applying). A half-finished draft is unlikely to count, so check yours was submitted.

If you applied and were audited before 1 July 2026, that audit didn't cover the SIL standards. You may get conditions requiring extra audits, and the SIL standards get checked at your next audit (Commission pathway).

How long you have to finish the audit: not settled

The Rules set no deadline for completing the audit. In consultation, the Commission floated a 3-month application window and 12 months to complete the audit, and 66% of providers surveyed called that achievable (Explanatory Statement). The pathway pages we read on 2 October 2026 give no number. Some consultants quote 3 to 6 months; we couldn't find that in any Commission document. Book your auditor now.

If you missed the deadline

• Stop delivering SIL. Carrying on risks the penalty above (Commission SIL page).
• Tell the NDIA at provider.support@ndis.gov.au, write a transition plan, tell each participant in an accessible way, and help them move to a provider of their choice. The Code of Conduct still applies to unregistered providers (Commission, stopping services).
• Participants keep their funding. The NDIA will help them find a registered provider (NDIA news, 9 June 2026).
• You can still apply, but as a new entrant. Under the Rules you can't deliver SIL until you're registered (F2026L00802).
• Check the definition honestly. If a participant really directs and rosters their own workers, it may not be SIL. Don't relabel SIL to dodge registration; claim the item that fits what you deliver.

The audit: certification, not verification

The Commission runs two main audit types (Commission, audits):

SIL is certification. Stage 2 can include visits to your office and houses, participant and worker interviews, staff file sampling and watching supports delivered. Participants are enrolled unless they opt out, so tell them it's coming.

Each standard and indicator gets a rating: 3 (elements of best practice), 2 (conforms), 1 (minor non-conformity) or 0 (major non-conformity). A major gives you 3 months to fix it, and your registration won't progress until you do. The auditor sends the report to the Commission within 28 days of finishing a certification audit (Commission, audits).

After that, registration generally runs for three years (Commission, about registration). Certification providers also need a mid-term audit: engage your auditor around 12 months in, and the final report is due by 18 months. Registering with the Commission is free, but you pay the auditor, and the Commission doesn't set audit prices (Commission, audits).

The SIL Practice Standards (Module 5A)

The standards are in Schedule 7A of the Rules. The quality indicators auditors check are in a separate instrument, in force from 1 July 2026 (F2026N00443). The Commission has also published an evidence guide for providers and workers (Commission, SIL standards).

The tenancy indicators are aimed at providers who supply both the SIL and the housing to the same participant. If that's you, two deserve a hard look. Residents must be supported to understand they can change their SIL provider at any time during the tenancy, with arrangements in place to make that work. And there must be no limits on a resident's access or possessions unless a behaviour support plan is in place, applied in the least restrictive way.

Every resident should also have a written service agreement that covers six things: how concerns about the home are raised and dealt with, how conflict with co-tenants is managed, how changes in needs are agreed, how vacancies are filled with each resident's say taken into account, how behaviours that put a tenancy at risk are managed, and how residents can have visitors (F2026N00443).

The evidence auditors will want

The Commission is blunt: auditors want real examples, such as incident reports, complaints records, training logs and supervision notes, not just policies (Commission, audits).

House documents and agreements

• A signed service agreement for each resident covering the six matters above, and a separate tenancy agreement where you're also the landlord. Keep signed copies, or a record of why a resident didn't get one.
• Your conflict of interest policy, in a format residents can follow.
• An emergency plan for each house, with records showing residents were consulted and drills happened.
• Notes showing current residents had a say before a new housemate moved in.

Rosters of care

The NDIA's current guide says a roster of care "isn't a requirement and you don't need to submit it to us". It calls it a tool for showing weekly supports and how funding will be claimed, and offers a template (NDIA, guide to providing SIL). If you were used to submitting one, that has changed.

Our view: keep one anyway. A roster that matches the shifts worked and what you claimed is the fastest way to show supports were delivered as agreed. The same guide says only one support can be claimed for each period of time, so community time isn't SIL.

Incident management

Registered providers must notify the Commission of every reportable incident, including ones already handled internally (Commission, reportable incidents):

A 5 day form with the actions taken follows. Expect the auditor to trace one incident from first report to final action.

Restrictive practices

You must be registered to use regulated restrictive practices. That means a behaviour support plan, authorisation under your state or territory's rules, and monthly reporting of authorised use to the Commission. Unauthorised use is a reportable incident (Commission, restrictive practices).

Worker screening and training

• Key personnel and every worker in a risk-assessed role need an NDIS worker screening clearance, and this is checked when you apply (Commission, applying).
• Keep a written list of risk-assessed roles, updated within 20 business days of a change, and a record of each worker in those roles kept for 7 years. A clearance lasts 5 years (Commission, worker screening).
• Keep a training record that maps to the SIL indicators: supported decision-making with refreshers, de-escalation, trauma-informed practice, positive behaviour support and active support, plus supervision notes (F2026N00443).

What's coming next

Confirmed:

• Change of ownership audits. Since 1 July 2026, a certification provider must notify the Commission as soon as it knows a sale will happen, and start an audit within 3 months if the sale significantly changes its governance (F2026L00802).
• Support coordination mandatory registration is paused (Commission, mandatory registration).

Announced and funded, details still to come:

• High-risk supports from 1 July 2027. The 2026-27 Budget funded expanding mandatory registration to all high-risk supports from 1 July 2027, so that 90% of NDIS payments go to registered providers (NDIA news, 30 June 2026). The Department says it will publish a list of high-risk supports, "such as personal care, daily living supports and supports provided in closed settings", with all providers in scope registered by December 2030 (DHDA provider FAQs, July 2026). We couldn't find that list published as of 2 October 2026.
• Provider enrolment with the NDIA from 1 July 2027, and a 90 day claiming window from 1 December 2026 (DHDA provider FAQs).
• SIL commissioning. The NDIA will consult on whether to commission part of the SIL market rather than leave it fully open (DHDA provider FAQs).

Your checklist

1. Test every participant against the definition and write down why each arrangement is or isn't SIL.
2. Check your certificate shows 0138. If you applied, confirm the application was submitted, not sitting as a draft.
3. Book your auditor. Get more than one quote using your initial scope of audit.
4. Gap-check against Module 5A indicator by indicator, with an action plan.
5. Split tenancy and service agreements where you're also the landlord, and add the six required matters.
6. Write and rehearse an emergency plan for every house, with residents involved.
7. Clean up worker screening: risk-assessed roles, worker records, expiry dates.
8. Build a training matrix covering supported decision-making, de-escalation, trauma-informed practice, positive behaviour support and active support.
9. Test your incident process against the reporting timeframes.
10. Line up restrictive practices: plans, authorisations, monthly reports.
11. Keep rosters that match the shifts worked and the claims made.
12. Tell participants whether you're registered or planning to be, as the NDIA asks.
13. If you missed the deadline, stop, tell the NDIA and run a proper transition.
14. Plan for 2027 if you also deliver personal care or daily living supports outside SIL.

The audit is about showing your records match what happens in the house. Orangised keeps each house on its own record with its residents, approved staff, roster and documents, tracks every worker's screening, police, First Aid and CPR checks with reminders before they expire, and keeps your registers in one place with a read-only login for your auditor. It won't apply for registration or report anything to the Commission for you. That part is still yours.