SIL Registration Changes Explained

If you've been following the news about NDIS reforms, you've likely seen recent updates regarding Supported Independent Living (SIL). We know these changes can feel confusing, and it's completely natural to feel uncertain about what this might mean for your daily life and support arrangements.

From 1 July 2026, providers delivering SIL supports must be registered, or have started transitioning to registration, with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The NDIA has introduced this requirement to improve participant safety, increase quality and accountability, and ensure providers meet consistent benchmarks and safeguards.

For many people who rely on SIL funding, this has raised understandable questions, including:

What will happen to my existing support team?

Will my support arrangements need to change?

What if my support workers aren't registered?

Because Careseekers is a registered NDIS provider, nothing changes for participants already connecting with SIL support through our platform. And if you aren't currently using Careseekers and have questions about what's next, we can help.

Many participants are bringing their existing support teams onto Careseekers so they can maintain continuity of care, keep working with the people they know and trust, and let their support workers stay genuinely independent.

This article unpacks SIL, the registration changes, and how SIL works on Careseekers .

First, what is SIL?

Supported Independent Living (SIL) is a type of NDIS funding designed for people who need significant daily support to live as independently as possible. While SIL is often associated with group homes, it can support a range of living arrangements depending on a person's goals, needs and preferences, including:

Living with family

Living independently

Sharing with friends or housemates

Living in Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)

Receiving support from workers in your own home

The focus of SIL isn't where you live - it's the supports you need to live safely and independently.

A quieter change: what actually counts as SIL

Alongside the registration deadline, there's another shift worth knowing about - the definition of what counts as SIL has tightened.

Previously, many families living in their own home who used a provider simply to source workers for personal care were classified as SIL, almost by default. That's no longer automatically the case.

What now matters most is who's actually managing and rostering the support workers. As a general rule:

If a provider manages your workers and rosters, and delivers a meaningful level of daily support, that's typically SIL.

If you (or your family) are the one engaging and managing your support workers directly - even for a high number of hours a day - that's generally not classified as SIL.

If a provider manages your workers but the level of support is low, that's generally not classified as SIL either.

In short: SIL isn't just about how many hours of support you receive - it's about who’s managing the workers. This matters because it changes how some existing arrangements should be funded and reported, and it's worth checking with your provider or planner whether your current supports are still correctly classified.

How SIL works on Careseekers

Careseekers doesn't operate group-home models, and we don't put your support workers on our payroll as employees either. Instead, we connect participants directly with independent, self-employed support workers, so you can build a team that genuinely fits your life and your workers keep running their own independent practice, on their own terms.

This means you choose who supports you, when support happens, and how it fits into your life and your support workers aren't tied to shift rosters or employment conditions set by a platform. It's a model built on genuine independence, on both sides.

Through Careseekers , participants can use SIL funding for eligible in-home supports while keeping complete choice and control over their arrangements. For many people, this flexibility makes it possible to keep living in their own home and community, surrounded by the people and routines that matter most.

What's changing?

For Careseekers users, nothing. Careseekers is already a registered NDIS provider for SIL supports. That means participants and support workers connecting through Careseekers can continue as usual, without interruption. As a registered provider, we'll continue meeting all registration, audit and compliance requirements - so you can have confidence your supports will continue seamlessly.

What if I'm not with Careseekers?

One of the biggest concerns raised across the disability community is continuity of support. Many participants have spent years building trusted support teams and arrangements that work for them. Regulatory change can create real uncertainty, particularly for people receiving support through providers that aren't currently registered.

If your SIL supports are delivered through an unregistered provider, they'll need to have begun transitioning to registration by 1 October 2026 to keep providing SIL supports. This could mean significant disruption to your supports - understandably, a worrying prospect if you rely on SIL funding.

Want peace of mind without your workers losing their independence?

The upcoming changes don't have to mean losing the support team you've worked hard to build, and they don't have to mean your support workers giving up their independence to become someone's employee.

With Careseekers, you can:

Continue working with trusted, independent support workers

Maintain full choice and control over your supports

Have the confidence that comes from using a registered NDIS provider

Keep your support workers self-employed, not bound to a platform's employment terms

To find disability support services, please visit www.careseekers.com.au/services/disability-support-workers

To find aged care services, please visit www.careseekers.com.au/services/aged-care-workers

To become a care or support worker, please visit www.careseekers.com.au/carer

To make a referral, please visit https://www.careseekers.com.au/referrals