What Is a SIL Assessment? A Guide for Support Coordinators and Families
A SIL assessment is one of the most consequential pieces of work in an NDIS participant's journey. It shapes where they live, who supports them day to day, how much funding sits in their plan and whether their daily life feels safe, dignified and connected. Get it right and the participant has the foundation for years of stability. Get it wrong and the participant is either under-supported or stuck in an arrangement that does not fit.
This blog explains what a SIL assessment is, who runs it, what it covers and how Support Coordinators and families can prepare. It also covers where Positive Behaviour Support fits in, which is something the NDIS expects to see in any SIL recommendation involving behaviours of concern.
What Is a SIL Assessment?
A SIL assessment, sometimes called a Supported Independent Living assessment, is a structured clinical assessment used to determine the level and type of support an NDIS participant needs to live in a SIL arrangement. The outcome of the assessment shapes the SIL funding request that goes to the NDIS, including the proposed roster of care.
A SIL assessment is typically completed by an Occupational Therapist with experience in disability and NDIS housing decisions. Where a participant has behaviours of concern, the assessment is completed alongside, or in collaboration with, a Behaviour Support Practitioner. The outputs of both inform the final SIL recommendation.
The assessment answers four practical questions:
- What support does this person need across a typical 24-hour day and a typical week?
- What does that support need to look like to keep them safe and help them grow?
- How many support workers does that translate into, and at what skill level?
- What is the roster of care that delivers that support consistently?
What a SIL Assessment Is Not
It is worth being clear about the distinctions, because SIL assessments are sometimes confused with two other NDIS assessments.
A SIL assessment identifies the support needs of a participant in a shared or individual supported living arrangement, and it produces a roster of care recommendation for SIL funding.
An Occupational Therapy Functional Capacity Assessment is broader and is used to evidence a participant's functional capacity across multiple life domains for NDIS plan reviews. It is not specific to a SIL setting.
A Home and Living assessment sits at the higher level of housing decision-making. It looks at whether SIL, Individualised Living Options (ILO), Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) or another arrangement is the right fit in the first place.
A SIL assessment usually follows a Home and Living decision that SIL is the right model. It then determines what SIL needs to look like for the individual.
What a SIL Assessment Covers
A thorough SIL assessment looks at the participant across every domain that affects daily living. Typical areas include:
- Personal care and morning and evening routines.
- Meal preparation and eating, including any mealtime safety needs.
- Medication management.
- Communication and social interaction.
- Mobility, transfers and physical access in the home.
- Community access, transport and social inclusion.
- Sleep, overnight support and waking needs.
- Behaviour support needs, including any current restrictive practices.
- Mental health, emotional regulation and trauma history where relevant.
- Compatibility with potential housemates in a shared SIL arrangement.
The assessor draws on multiple sources of information: direct observation, conversations with the participant, family and current support team, existing clinical reports and any incident or behaviour data already in place.
Why PBS input matters
The most common gap in SIL submissions is a strong OT assessment with no clinical Positive Behaviour Support input behind the behaviour support component.
Where a participant has behaviours of concern, the NDIS expects the SIL recommendation to be backed by a current Behaviour Support Plan. Allied Health 2U's PBS team can contribute alongside the OT, so the funding request reflects the participant's actual needs.
Explore Positive Behaviour SupportWhere Positive Behaviour Support Fits Into a SIL Assessment
For NDIS participants with behaviours of concern, the SIL recommendation must be informed by Positive Behaviour Support input. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission expects any SIL arrangement involving restrictive practices to be backed by a current Behaviour Support Plan and clinical evidence from a Functional Behaviour Assessment.
In practice this means:
- The Behaviour Support Practitioner contributes to the SIL assessment, particularly around overnight support needs, supervision levels and skill mix of support staff.
- Where restrictive practices are in place, the assessment must reference the Positive Behaviour Support Plan and the plan to reduce them.
- The roster of care must be designed to give support workers the time and capacity to implement the BSP consistently.
This is one of the most common gaps in SIL submissions: a strong OT assessment, but no clinical PBS input to evidence the behaviour support component. The result is funding that does not match the participant's actual needs.
Allied Health 2U delivers Positive Behaviour Support across Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, the Illawarra and Adelaide, with telehealth available Australia-wide. Where a SIL assessment requires PBS input, our PBS team can contribute alongside the OT.
SIL assessments
SIL assessments under one coordinated team
Allied Health 2U can lead the OT assessment and bring in Positive Behaviour Support and Psychology input where they are needed, so the SIL submission is consistent and well evidenced. Tell us about the participant and we will map the right input.
Prefer email? info@alliedhealth2u.com.au
Common questions
What is a SIL assessment?
A SIL, or Supported Independent Living, assessment is a structured clinical assessment that determines the level and type of support a participant needs to live in a SIL arrangement. It is usually led by an Occupational Therapist, and where a participant has behaviours of concern it is completed alongside a Behaviour Support Practitioner. The outcome shapes the SIL funding request and the proposed roster of care.
Who completes a SIL assessment?
An Occupational Therapist with experience in disability and NDIS housing decisions usually leads it, looking at functional capacity, physical access, equipment, and the home environment. Where behaviours of concern are part of the picture, a Behaviour Support Practitioner contributes the behaviour support component, and psychology input is added where mental health or trauma is relevant.
Why does Positive Behaviour Support matter in a SIL assessment?
Where restrictive practices are involved, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission expects the SIL arrangement to be backed by a current Behaviour Support Plan and clinical evidence from a Functional Behaviour Assessment. A strong OT assessment with no Positive Behaviour Support input is one of the most common gaps in SIL submissions, and it often leads to funding that does not match the participant's actual needs.
How can Support Coordinators and families prepare?
Pull together existing clinical reports, including any current Behaviour Support Plan, Functional Behaviour Assessment, psychology reports, and incident data from the last six to twelve months. Be honest about what is and is not working, involve the current support team, and be clear about the participant's own goals, since SIL assessments work best when they are person-led.
How does Allied Health 2U support SIL assessments?
We can provide the OT-led assessment, including home environment review and a roster of care recommendation, with Positive Behaviour Support input where behaviour support needs are part of the picture and Psychology input where mental health or trauma factors are relevant. Coordinating these under one provider keeps the SIL submission consistent and well evidenced.
How OT Sits in a SIL Assessment
The OT lead on a SIL assessment looks at the participant's functional capacity, physical access needs, equipment, sensory profile and skill development potential. They will also look at the home environment itself, including whether modifications are required, and whether the proposed housemates are clinically compatible.
Allied Health 2U's Occupational Therapy team provides face-to-face OT across Sydney and Greater Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast, with telehealth available Australia-wide.
Who Receives the SIL Assessment Report
The SIL assessment report typically goes to:
- The Support Coordinator, who uses it to prepare the SIL submission to the NDIS.
- The participant and their family or guardian.
- The proposed SIL provider, so they can quote against the roster of care.
- The NDIA decision-maker reviewing the SIL funding request.
A clear, well-evidenced SIL assessment makes the funding submission faster and stronger. A vague or under-evidenced one almost always results in a request for more information, or in funding being approved at a lower level than the participant needs.
How Support Coordinators and Families Can Prepare
A few practical things make a SIL assessment go well:
- Pull together existing clinical reports, including any current Behaviour Support Plan, Functional Behaviour Assessment, psychology reports, medical history and incident data from the last six to twelve months.
- Be honest about what is currently working and what is not. Assessors cannot evidence what they do not see.
- Involve the current support team. They know the participant's day-to-day rhythms better than anyone.
- Where the participant is non-verbal or has complex communication needs, plan the assessment around their communication profile, not against it.
- Be clear about the participant's own goals for their living arrangement. SIL assessments work best when they are person-led.
How Allied Health 2U Supports SIL Assessments
Allied Health 2U can support SIL assessments through:
- OT-led SIL assessment, including direct observation, home environment review and roster of care recommendation.
- Positive Behaviour Support input where behaviour support needs are part of the SIL picture.
- Psychology input where mental health, trauma or emotional regulation factors are part of the participant's profile.
- Coordination across the disciplines so the SIL submission is consistent and well-evidenced.
Need a SIL assessment for an NDIS participant? Get in touch with Allied Health 2U on 1300 24 2428. We can coordinate OT, PBS and Psychology input under one provider.
Positive Behaviour Support
