Supported Independent Living (SIL) in Melbourne and across Victoria
Complex support, built around you and the life you want to live.
It’s all about having the right support around you to live life your way.
20 years’ experience supporting people with complex and high support needs.
CareChoice provides Supported Independent Living (SIL) across Melbourne and Victoria for people who need significant support with everyday life at home.
As a registered NDIS provider specialising in complex and high support needs, we work with you and the people who know you best to create supports around your needs, preferences, routines and goals.
Whether you’re looking for support in your current home, exploring shared living, moving into Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), changing providers or transitioning home from hospital, we’ll take the time to understand what’s important to you and how we can help.
Speak to our SIL team
What is Supported Independent Living (SIL)?
Supported Independent Living, often called SIL, is NDIS funding for a support worker to help you at home. It’s designed to help you with everyday tasks while building your skills and independence. Depending on your needs and funding, support may be individual or shared with other people you live with.
Depending on your needs, that might mean support with:
- personal care, such as showering or dressing
- preparing meals
- keeping your home clean
- managing medication
- mobility
- implementing behaviour support plans
- attending medical or therapy appointments
- overnight support
- building confidence, routines and everyday skills that matter to you.
SIL funding pays for the support you receive, rather than the home itself or everyday living expenses such as rent, groceries and utilities.
What’s the difference between SIL and SDA?
SIL = the support
Help and support with everyday life at home.Explore CareChoice Homes
SDA = the home
Specialist housing designed for eligible NDIS participants with significant support needs.Understand SDA
Some people have funding for both SIL and SDA, but they are separate supports.
Learn more about Specialist Disability AccommodationWhat to expect from Supported Independent Living with CareChoice
Support built around you.
Good SIL should fit into your life, not make your life fit around the support.
That’s why we start by getting to know you: your goals, preferences, routines, strengths and the things that matter to you.
Using a person-centred active support approach, we look for opportunities for you to take an active role in everyday life, build your skills and strengthen your independence.
We also make every effort to match Support Workers to your needs, interests and goals. Because when someone is part of your everyday life, getting along with them is hardly a minor detail.
Support that evolves with you
Life changes. Your support can too.
We regularly review your support with you and your care team so it can change as your needs and circumstances do.
Our teams also use secure technology to record observations about your support and wellbeing, helping us spot changes earlier and respond when something doesn’t seem quite right.
Keeping the right people connected
You’re at the centre of your support, but you don’t have to manage everyone around you.
With your consent, we stay connected with the people involved in your care, including family, guardians, Support Coordinators, allied health professionals and other members of your support network.
Individualised updates help everyone stay informed and work towards the goals that matter to you.
Learning and improving
Sometimes things don’t go to plan. When that happens, our focus isn’t only on what occurred, but what we can learn from it.
Our post-incident check-ins and regular reflective practice sessions help us understand what worked, what could be improved and whether anything needs to change to better support you.
Why choose CareChoice for Supported Independent Living?
Your everyday life should feel like your life, not a service.
When your support needs are complex, making that possible takes more than good intentions. It takes experienced people, consistent teams, tailored training, strong leadership and systems working behind the scenes.
That’s the CareChoice difference.
Quality you can have confidence in
- 0non-conformances
- 1best practice finding
- 2026audit
Strong safeguards and quality systems sit behind the support you receive every day.
Someone who knows your home and your support
Every CareChoice 24/7 SIL home has a dedicated Team Leader, giving you, your family and your care team a consistent point of contact and day-to-day leadership.
A team prepared for you
Our dedicated Learning & Development team tailors training around individual needs, including complex and high-intensity supports.
We build capable teams around the person, not simply roster people to shifts.
Keeping your support one step ahead
By getting to know you, regularly reviewing your support and using technology to keep important information connected, our teams can recognise changes earlier and respond to your needs.
Smaller homes. Familiar faces.
We focus on smaller living arrangements and dedicated support teams, helping create greater consistency, familiarity and trust.
Through our housing partners, we also support contemporary one, two and three-person SDA homes across a range of design categories, including Robust Plus.
Complex transitions, carefully planned
Moving from hospital, rehabilitation or another residential setting can be a big change.
We get to know you before you move, work alongside your current care team and prepare your new support team to help create greater continuity from day one.
Who we support through Supported Independent Living
For 20 years, CareChoice has supported people with complex and high support needs, including people living with acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, degenerative conditions, early onset dementia, mental health and complex behavioural support needs, and dual diagnosis.
We have particular experience supporting people who need:
- 24/7 support and supervision
- complex personal care
- high-intensity supports
- Positive Behaviour Support strategies
- support to build everyday living skills and independence
- careful management of changing needs and risks
- coordinated support involving family, health and allied health professionals
- a carefully planned transition from hospital or another living arrangement.
Complex support doesn’t mean life should become all about care.
Our focus is on putting the right support around you so you can participate in everyday life, build skills, strengthen your independence and work towards the things that matter to you.
Looking for a home as well as SIL support?
If you’re exploring Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) as well as SIL, we can help you understand the options available through CareChoice Homes.
We work with reputable SDA providers offering contemporary one, two and three-person homes across Melbourne and Victoria and across a range of design categories.
Already have somewhere you want to call home? Talk to us about whether CareChoice can provide your SIL supports there.
Explore CareChoice Homes and current SDA vacanciesPlease note: clients will require an appropriate NDIS plan which includes SDA and SIL funding.
Meet our Supported Independent Living team
Great SIL support doesn’t happen by accident.
Behind the Support Workers you see every day is a wider CareChoice team providing leadership, training, quality oversight and specialist expertise, so the people supporting you have support too.
Real People. Real Outcomes.
I think I speak for the whole team when I say that you have been a brilliant advocate for Dusan and have overseen a huge improvement in his quality of life.
I think I speak for the whole team when I say that you have been a brilliant advocate for Dusan and have overseen a huge improvement in his quality of life.
Advocate GuardianOctober 2025It has been great working with you, and such a comfort knowing my client was in such good hands with you and the team you built around him.
Specialist Support CoordinatorOctober 2025It’s been so wonderful working with you at the house and your care and support of Dusan has made such a positive impact on his life.
Occupational TherapistOctober 2025I can honestly say she is in the best space since her move to Melbourne.
GuardianJune 2026Thinking about SIL? Start with how you want to live.
You don’t need to have the support arrangement figured out before you talk to us.
Tell us where you’re living now, what support you need and what you’d like everyday life to look like. We’ll listen first, then talk through your options and how we may be able to help.Talk to our SIL teamSupporting or referring someone?
We work with families, Support Coordinators, health professionals and other care partners to develop SIL arrangements around each person’s needs and circumstances.Make a referralFAQs.
Yes. CareChoice is a registered NDIS provider and provides Supported Independent Living support in Melbourne and across Victoria.
Yes. If your current SIL arrangement is no longer meeting your needs, you can explore other providers. CareChoice can work with you and your support network to understand your needs and plan a safe, coordinated transition.
The right SIL provider should understand your individual support needs and what matters to you in everyday life. Ask about the provider’s experience supporting people with needs similar to yours, how they recruit and train Support Workers, how consistent your team will be and who provides day-to-day leadership.
It’s also worth asking how they manage quality and safeguarding, communicate with you and your support network, respond when needs change and support you to build independence and achieve your goals.
Specific questions could include:
- Are you a registered provider?
- How long have you been operating?
- Do you have experience in my specific disability and or medical needs?
- Are your staff qualified?
- How do you train staff?
- Has your business recently had an audit and what were the results?
Most importantly, you should feel listened to and comfortable with the people who will become part of your everyday life.
SIL may be funded for someone living alone in some circumstances, but individual SIL arrangements are more limited and other NDIS home and living supports may sometimes be more suitable. What is appropriate depends on your disability support needs and individual circumstances. Find out more here (opens in a new tab).
No. SIL and SDA are separate NDIS supports. SIL relates to the assistance you receive at home, while SDA relates to eligible specialist housing. Some people have both, while others receive SIL in other living arrangements.
Yes. Some NDIS participants have funding for both. SIL funds disability-related support at home, while SDA funds eligible specialist housing.
No. SIL funds disability-related support. Everyday living expenses such as rent, groceries and utilities aren’t covered by SIL funding.
Yes. Depending on your support needs and NDIS funding, CareChoice can provide overnight and 24-hour SIL support.
SIL is generally intended for people who need significant support with everyday life at home. Your individual needs, goals, living situation and other circumstances all contribute to what the NDIS may fund.
Not sure? You don’t need to become a SIL expert before you call us. Tell us about your situation and we’ll help you understand whether CareChoice may be able to help.