Small homes on ordinary streets

The evidence, and the direction of NDIS policy, both point the same way. New build Specialist Disability Accommodation is funded only where it houses five residents or fewer, and funding for older homes with six or more residents ends after a set transition period. Best-practice research commissioned by the NDIS Commission puts the design standard at no more than six people under one roof.

A small home on an ordinary street is also the easiest kind to belong from. The shops are the local shops. The neighbours are neighbours. Nobody has to travel to be part of a community, because the community is outside the front door.

You choose who you live with. That is your right, and we treat it as one. We take the time to match housemates carefully, because a shared kitchen is a daily relationship, not a room allocation.

You choose who supports you. Matching staff to a person, their interests, temperament, language, culture and humour, matters a great deal. In a home where somebody is distressed, it is often what makes the difference.

Shared or on your own. SIL is most often funded for people sharing supports with housemates, but it can be funded where someone lives alone and needs it. If living alone is what works, we will say so in the evidence we contribute.

Support ratios can vary through the day. Two workers to one person for morning routines and community access, one to one through the afternoon, active overnight if that is what the night needs. Rosters are written around a person's day, not around a template.

Those ratios are determined through the person's NDIS plan rather than by us. What we bring is the team to deliver them and the systems to keep them running safely. And if the NDIA has not funded enough hours, we will help build the evidence for a home and living request, and be honest about what we can safely deliver in the meantime.

Thinking about supported living, for yourself or someone you love? Ask us what a home would look like, not just what it would cost. Call 02 9556 9500 or get in touch.