Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)

Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) is a range of housing designed for people with very high needs. SDA homes are constructed to be more accessible for you. They enable better or safer delivery of other supports you may need. To learn more about SDA click here.

SDA funding is paid directly by the NDIA to SDA providers. SDA funding is for the cost of the home or building you live in. You will usually still need to pay rent or other personal costs to live in SDA. The services or support you might get in that home are not included in your SDA funding. See the  Specialist Disability Accommodation explained | NDIS

If you don’t have SDA funding in your NDIS Plan, you’ll need to go through the NDIA’s Informing Housing Solutions process to be approved for SDA funding and support. Sunnyfield can provide you with information so you can discuss Informing Housing Solutions with your NDIS Planner.

When a participant is eligible for SDA the NDIA will provide that participant with an amount of funding. The NDIA considers the participant’s goals and preferences and calculates the amount of SDA funding based on:

• Design category – determined by the participant’s support needs
• Dwelling type – determined by both the goals and needs of the participant to achieve those goals
• Location – determined by both the goals and needs of the participant, and which represents value for money.

The participant can then use that funding to find a dwelling to move into that is consistent with their goals and support needs. SDA funding is provided to a participant, not a dwelling, and a participant can move from one dwelling to another.

Improved liveability – Housing that has been designed to improve ‘liveability’ by incorporating a reasonable level of physical access and enhanced provision for people with sensory, intellectual, or cognitive impairment, including people with blindness, deafness, or sensory processing disorder causing severe functional impairment.

The home environment has some additional design features for people with sensory, intellectual, or cognitive impairment in order to live more independently.

Fully accessible – Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision for people with significant physical impairment.

The home environment is designed for people with significant physical impairment, who experience an extreme or complete loss of the ability to perform one or more self-care or self-management functions. This can include mobility, eating, toileting, or managing their behaviour.

The home environment provides a high level of physical access, which enables participants to maximize their independence and privacy.

Robust – Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision and be very resilient, reducing the likelihood of reactive maintenance and reducing the risk to the participant and the community.

This model is built for people with significant or profound intellectual disabilities, Who regularly exhibit behaviours of concern (complex or challenging behaviours) that may impact the quality of life or physical safety of the individual and/or those around them.

The home environment helps to minimise the risk of injury for residents, minimise neighbourhood disturbances and can cope with heavy use. The home environment features adequate space and safeguards to support the needs of residents with complex behaviours.

High Physical Supports – Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision for people with significant impairment and requiring very high levels of support.

The home environment is designed for people with significant physical impairment (acquired brain injury (ABI), spinal cord injury, or progressive neurological disease i.e. MS) and require access to constant or immediately available support services for a large part of the day.

The home environment combines a high level of physical access with a 24/7 support service to enable people with complex support needs to feel safe and healthy, whilst promoting independence, choice and control.

When a SDA eligible participant moves into a dwelling that has been enrolled as SDA, the SDA provider can then claim against that participant’s NDIS SDA funding.

If you’d like to find out more about SDA funding and eligibility, contact your support coordinator or local area coordinator or OT.

To explore Sunnyfield’s range of disability accommodation solutions visit:

Supported Independent Living
Supported Independent Living Vacancies
Short-term Accommodation