(Cth) Mandate Separation of Specialist Disability Accommodation and Living Support Providers

Author: Robert Guzman, Elizabeth O’Sullivan, Yin Jiang, Ophelia Davenport and Kiri Bain | Publish date: 23/10/2025

Problem Identification: 

In Australia, a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant can receive Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) and living support from the same provider.

Section 73F of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) does not explicitly stipulate that SDA and Living Support Providers (LSP) must be separated. Section 36(1) of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Specialist Disability Accommodation) Rules 2020 outlines that, with a written service agreement, the NDIS provider of SDA and living support can be the same. 

It is known that this means the same provider can control both where a person lives and the daily support they receive. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (‘NDIS Commission’) has said that when a single provider delivers both accommodation and daily support, ‘participants can experience reduced choice and control over their living arrangements’. The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (DRC) has further argued that the lack of mandated separation creates a ‘potential conflict of interest’. They elaborated that linking housing and services may incentivise providers to advance their own commercial interests over the needs of residents.

Context: 

An NDIS provider refers to a stated person, business, or organisation that provides NDIS funded services to an NDIS participant. An NDIS participant refers to a person with a disability who the NDIS has approved to receive funding to support their disability.  

SDA refers to accommodation for a person who requires a specialist housing solution, to suit functional impairment or very high support needs. An LSP refers to a business, organisation, or person who delivers funded support providers to an NDIS participant.

People with Disability Australia (PWDA), Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) and the SDA Alliance (SDAA) have highlighted that ‘the risk of abuse and neglect is heightened for a person with disability whose supports and services are provided by a single service provider’. In a joint position statement, they have said that a model of supported accommodation that relies on one provider ‘does not offer a strong safeguarding approach’ as there are fewer people able to monitor the safety and well-being of persons with disability. In addition, the NDIS Commission Review noted that ‘the current combined arrangement can create situations where participants feel unable to change providers due to a perception that their housing arrangements will be at risk’. DANA has highlighted the experience of a surveyed participant who articulated the potential risks:

“if I piss off my service provider, I'm going to lose my house, you know, so I will put up with being potentially abused, neglected, exploited, having restrictive practices put against me because I'm really worried about my housing.”

The DRC has found that providers who deliver both accommodation and support face an inherent conflict of interest, which they said undermines residents’ independence, choice and security. Evidence has shown that providers may direct residents to their own or affiliated services, regardless of whether these meet the residents’ needs. The DRC said that providers ‘might actively discourage the resident from seeking or obtaining services from another provider, at a more competitive price.’ The SDAA further noted that this conflict of interest ‘heightens the risk of financial exploitation of people with disability’. For instance, the DRC has observed that one private accommodation provider had been ‘enticing NDIS participants to move in, quickly using up their NDIS funding and then evicting them.’

Advice/Solution Identification:

The Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme should amend section 73F of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) to introduce the mandate of the separation of SDA and LSP, and repeal section 36(1) of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Specialist Disability Accommodation) Rules 2020, with suggested exceptions including remote or very remote areas where separation is not possible, First Nations communities where services may be community-led and ‘SDA self-providers that choose to self-manage their in-home care supports’. 

The NDIS Review, PWDA, DANA, and the SDAA have all broadly called for this. PWDA, DANA and the SDAA have emphasised that having multiple providers enables more individuals ‘to monitor the person’s [NDIS participants’] safety and wellbeing’ and ‘increases the likelihood of incidences being reported to the appropriate authorities’. They further stated that this could help ensure that ‘people with disability are afforded appropriate protections from abuse, neglect and exploitation’.

Precedent:

There is international precedent for mandating the separation of housing and support services. In the USA, the assessment and coordination of services must be independent from the direct delivery of Home and Community-Based Services, except for when the provider is the only qualified or willing person in the geographical area.

Download the 1-Page Brief Here - (Cth) Mandate Separation of Specialist Disability Accommo.

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Public Support: 

1. NDIS Review 

2. Disability Advocacy Network Australia 

3. People with Disability Australia 

4. Specialist Disability Accommodation Alliance

   
   

News Coverage:

• The Conversation - ‘Taken together, the NDIS review and the royal commission recommendations could transform disability housing’. Both the recent disability royal commission and NDIS review recommend separating housing providers from providers of support. By: Di Winkler | Fri 8 Dec 2023 - Read the article here.

Where to go to learn more: 

1. Joint statement by PWDA, DANA, and the SDA Alliance - Served as the key policy foundation for this brief. In their joint statement, they called for the separation of housing and care support providers. Read the full statement here.

2. Summer Foundation - Their policy position statement outlined the issues that can occur due to conflicts of interest and the potential outcomes of multiple services being delivered. Read the full position statement here. 

3. NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission - In their report, ‘Next Steps: regulation for in-home and housing supports Report 2024’, they noted that the lack of separation between these services has emerged as a critical issue. Read the report here. 

4. Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (DRC) - In Volume 7, Inclusive education, employment and housing, the Commission explained how the lack of separation between accommodation and supports can lead to conflicts of interest. Read the full report here.

5. Life Without Barriers - ‘Life Without Barriers to separate Supported Living and Specialist Disability Accommodation to enable choice for people with disability’. Life Without Barriers announced its policy change to separate Supported Living and Specialist Disability Accommodation. By: Life Without Barriers | Tues 15 Aug 2023 - Read the article here.

6. Vera Living - ‘5 Benefits of Specialist Disability Accommodation and Supported Independent Living Being Separate’. Explored 5 reasons why keeping SDA and Living Support Providers Separate is key. By: Vera Living | Fri 23 Jun 2023 - Read the article here.

7. Enliven Housing - ‘The Separation of NDIS housing and disability supports’. Explained the principles behind the separation of housing and disability supports under the NDIS. By: Enliven Housing | Fri 27 Oct 2023 - Read the article here.

8. National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) - The Act, which this brief proposes to modify. Section 73F of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) (The NDIS Act) does not explicitly stipulate that SDA and living support providers must be separated. Read the full Act here.

9. National Disability Insurance Scheme (Specialist Disability Accommodation) Rules 2020 - The rules, which this brief proposes to modify. Section 36(1) outlines that, with a written service agreement, the NDIS provider of SDA and living support can be the same. Read the rules here.

Human Perspective: 

Liam, a young man with disability in Victoria, had moved into a Specialist Disability Accommodation where the same provider managed both his housing and daily supports. Liam said that from the start, he had no input into which support company would assist him, as all aspects of his care were determined by the provider. Over time, he realised that any suggestion to bring in an external support worker was discouraged. Liam felt his choices were restricted and that challenging or changing his supports could jeopardise his housing. Liam said that this made him feel anxious and dependent, with little sense of control over his daily life. Eventually, Liam moved to a property where housing and support were managed separately. Liam no longer felt like he was tied down. Instead, he knew that if he wanted to move, his supports would still stay the same. He believed that being able to choose his own support providers gave him better choice, control and peace of mind.

To protect the anonymity of those involved, this is a fictionalised account drawn from an amalgamation of real-life stories, experiences and testimonials gathered during the research process for this brief. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.

Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement: 

N/A

Support 

If your organisation would like to add your support to this paper or suggest amendments, please email Info@foreaustralia.com. 

Reference list: 

Disability Advocacy Network Australia. (2022). Submission on the National Disability Advocacy Framework. https://dana.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/DANA-Submission-on-the-National-Disability-Advocacy-Framework-1.pdf

National Disability Insurance Agency. (2025, October 13). Connecting with participants. https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/working-provider/connecting-participants

National Disability Insurance Agency. (2025, October 13). What is a provider? https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/working-providers/what-provider

National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth). https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2013A00020/latest/text 

National Disability Insurance Scheme (Specialist Disability Accommodation) Rules 2020. https://www.accessarchitects.com.au/images/PDF/NDIS_SDA_Rules_2020.pdf#page=30

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. (2024). Next Steps: regulation for in-home and housing supports Insights Report. https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-

12/Next%20steps%20regulation%20for%20in-home%20and%20housing%20supports%20consultation%20summary.pdf

NDIS Review Panel. (2023, October). Working together to deliver the NDIS: Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme – Final Report. https://www.ndisreview.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/working-together-ndis-review-final-report.pdf

People with Disability Australia. (2019). Closing the door on Assisted Boarding Houses: Transitioning to contemporary, affordable and accessible housing for people with disability. Submission to NSW Department of Customer Service (Better Regulation Division) section 105 legislative review of the Boarding Houses Act 2012. https://pwd.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SB-161019-PWDA-Submission-on-the-Review-of-the-Boarding-House-Act-2012.pdf

People with Disability Australia. (n.d.) Joint Statement: Separation of housing and support. https://www.sdaalliance.org.au/wp-content/uploads/positionstatementseparationofhousingcaresupports.pdf

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. (2023). Final Report Volume 7, Inclusive education, employment and housing. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2023-09/Final%20Report%20-%20Volume%207%2C%20Inclusive%20education%2C%20employment%20and%20housing%20-%20Part%20C.pdf#page=98 

Summer Foundation. (2021, July). Separation of Housing and Support: Policy Position Statement by the Summer Foundation. https://assets.summerfoundation.org.au/pdf_offload/2022/04/The_Separation_of_Housing_and_Support.pdf 

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (1981). Subpart G – Home and community-based services: Waiver Requirements. Health Care Financing Administration [HCFA]. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-IV/subchapter-C/part-441/subpart-G#p-441.301%28c%29%281%29%28vi%29