Why Applying for SIL Is Harder Than Applying for Other Supports
Most NDIS supports — therapy, community access, daily living — can be added to a plan with a reasonable evidence pack and a well-prepared plan meeting. SIL is different. Because it’s a high-cost, ringfenced funding package, the NDIS scrutinises SIL applications heavily, and most first applications get cut down from what participants ask for.
The good news: SIL approvals are largely evidence-based. If you can show that your support needs genuinely require a rostered care package, the NDIS will fund it. The key is putting together an application that does the convincing work for the planner.
Step 1 — Know If SIL Is the Right Category
Before you apply for SIL, make sure it’s actually what you need. SIL is for participants whose support needs require:
- Daily support with personal care
- Regular or continuous overnight support
- Support across multiple categories (personal care, household tasks, community access) in a coordinated way
- A support team, not just one worker a few hours a week
If your needs sit closer to 3-5 hours a week of standard personal care, you don’t need SIL — you need Assistance with Daily Life (AWDL) from your Core Supports budget. Applying for SIL when AWDL would suffice usually results in rejection and can slow down your other support funding too.
Step 2 — Get an OT Functional Capacity Assessment
The single most important piece of evidence for SIL funding is an Occupational Therapy assessment of your daily living support needs. Specifically, a Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) that covers:
- Your ability to complete Activities of Daily Living (showering, dressing, toileting, mobility)
- Your ability to complete Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (cooking, cleaning, managing money, taking medications)
- Your overnight support needs and the clinical reasoning behind them
- Whether informal supports (family) can reasonably provide the needed support
- Your goals and what independence looks like for you
The FCA needs to be done by a registered OT familiar with NDIS assessment. A generic OT report isn’t enough. Ask your support coordinator or us to recommend assessors who do good NDIS work.
Step 3 — Build Your Roster of Care
The roster of care is the document that translates your assessed needs into actual support hours across a typical week. It’s what the NDIS uses to calculate SIL funding.
A good roster of care includes:
- Every support activity you need (with start/end times)
- Whether each activity is 1:1, 1:2 (shared), or requires specific staffing ratios
- Standard vs high-intensity supports (trained workers vs general workers)
- Weekday, weekend, evening, and overnight breakdowns
- Sleepover vs active overnight distinctions
Rosters of care are typically prepared by the SIL provider you’re planning to use, or by your support coordinator. They’re shown as a weekly schedule — like a shift grid — with every hour accounted for.
Realistic roster building
A common mistake: padding the roster with hours you don’t strictly need, hoping the NDIS will fund it. This backfires. Planners see through it, and it undermines the credibility of the genuinely needed hours. Build a roster that reflects actual need, supported by evidence, and let that speak for itself.
Step 4 — Gather Supporting Evidence
Alongside the OT FCA and the roster of care, bundle in:
- GP or specialist letter confirming your condition and its impact on daily functioning
- Hospital discharge summaries if you’ve had recent admissions related to your disability
- Allied health reports (physio, speech, psychology) relevant to your supports
- Documentation of why informal supports can’t cover the need (family circumstances, carer age/health, geographic distance)
- Evidence of past incidents or near-misses if applicable (falls, medication errors, missed meals, isolation issues)
Step 5 — Prepare for the Plan Meeting
The plan meeting is where you make the case. Planners see hundreds of plans and they can tell the difference between a participant who’s clearly thought through their needs and one who’s winging it.
Practical tips:
- Bring your support coordinator or an advocate — two people speaking to the evidence is stronger than one
- Don’t just read the OT report — summarise its findings in your own words
- Tell the planner what a day in your life actually looks like without adequate support
- Tell them what the roster of care would let you achieve (stay out of hospital, maintain employment, avoid family burnout, etc.)
- Know the NDIS Act language — “reasonable and necessary”, “pursuit of goals”, “value for money” — and use it
Step 6 — What Happens After Submission
SIL funding decisions take time. Typically:
- 2-4 weeks after the plan meeting, you get a draft plan
- Review the draft — if SIL funding is less than needed, this is your window to push back before the plan is finalised
- Once the plan is approved, you can start using SIL funding immediately
If SIL is refused or substantially cut:
- Request a reconsideration (informal internal review) within 3 months
- If reconsideration fails, appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
- Get a disability advocate involved — services like Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion can help
What to Avoid
- Applying for SIL without an OT FCA — it’s nearly always rejected
- Using a generic roster of care copied from another participant
- Exaggerating your support needs — planners cross-check with the evidence
- Submitting without running the application past your support coordinator or a specialist
- Leaving it until the last minute — SIL applications need weeks of preparation
How We Help
Aussie Bridge Care works with participants applying for SIL regularly. We can:
- Prepare a roster of care based on the supports we’d deliver
- Connect you with OTs who write good NDIS FCAs
- Review your evidence pack before submission
- Support you at the plan meeting if you want us there
We do this even for participants who haven’t signed a service agreement with us yet. It’s part of how we build trust. Call 07 3472 7562 if you’d like to talk through your situation.
