NDIA Accountability Project

This project is in DRAFT

Specialist Disability Accommodation Alliance submission (DRO advocacy)

‹ PrevPage 1 of 7 · Source p. 1Next ›

Submission 663

Submission: National Disability Insurance

Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

SUBMITTED TO: COMMUNITY AFFAIRS LEGISLATION COMMITTEE

MAY 2026

Submission 663

Overview

The Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Alliance would like to thank the Community Affairs Legislation Committee for the opportunity to share our views relating to the National

Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

(hereafter referred to as the Bill).

The SDA Alliance is a national peak body representing the best-practice SDA sector. Our members include SDA providers, institutional investors, developers, builders, financial institutions, allied health professionals and industry consultants. Our members make a significant impact on the lives of people with disability – by providing housing that is modern, innovative and designed to serve the needs of SDA residents.

With 73 members Australia-wide, together we:

  • Represent approximately $4.2 billion of total development costs for SDA projects
  • Have delivered over 3375 homes with a further 890 under development
  • Will provide housing to 6031 people with disability The SDA Alliance is driven by three principles: collaboration, participant choice and control and excellence & innovation. The voices of people with disability will always guide our work and influence our strategies. By engaging with governments and other key stakeholders, we seek to improve standards and regulations and promote the provision of excellence in SDA.

Our response to the Bill is led by lived experience and focuses on the safe, quality and efficient provision of specialist disability housing.

The SDA Alliance welcomes the opportunity to further discuss and collaborate on matters raised in our submission.

1300 409 932 info @sdaalliance.org.au Level 11, 143 Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000

Submission 663

The Issues

Access and planning measures + framework planning

  • The Bill is proposing a standardised assessment tool to determine whether people meet the functional capacity threshold for access to the Scheme. A standardised

assessment tool may not be able to capture the full range of disability (including if applied too narrowly or in the absence of professional recommendations/advice) which may lead to some people being overlooked or disadvantaged.

•  Specialist  disability accommodation  (SDA)  supports  individuals  with  extreme

functional impairment or very high support needs. The proposed assessment approach could be problematic for people with disability in need of SDA: currently, there is a lack of clarity regarding how housing needs (including SDA eligibility) or environmental considerations will be incorporated into the proposed assessment approach.

  • Housing stability and environmental barriers affecting a participant should be carefully considered during framework planning to ensure that participant plans align with participants’ evolving functional needs, safety, independence, and long-term or changing needs.

Participant security and long-term wellbeing

  • Housing insecurity causes considerable anxiety among participants. Participants approved for SDA should not be required to ‘prove’ eligibility annually given individuals with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs will most likely require SDA for their whole lives.

  • Over the course of a lifetime, participant needs may change due to health, ageing or life stage. It is essential that SDA participants are offered the option to age in place – this supports a person’s choice and control, reduces disruption, and gives agency to remain connected to their community and home.

  • SDA is a critical form of social infrastructure. The delivery of best practice SDA enables people with disability to have access to quality, well designed housing – the impacts of which can be life changing. Best-practice SDA has the capacity to:

§ Promote participant independence and reduce the need for supports § Improve workforce efficiency § Utilise design, location, and assistive technology to empower participants, promote agency, and decrease dependence on face-to-face supports or support ratios. § Reduce hospital admissions and delayed discharges

1300 409 932 info @sdaalliance.org.au Level 11, 143 Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000

Submission 663

§ Reduce restrictive practices § Support ageing carers

§  Improve  social  and  community  connections  (which  in  turn  improves

safeguarding) § Support NDIS Scheme sustainably § Reduce long-term crisis costs across systems (e.g., health and justice)

Support Coordination reforms

  • Our experience shows that a significant number of participants eligible for SDA lack access to specialist support and information required to explore available housing options. According to the NDIA’s Quarterly Report 2025-26 Q31, 9370 participants are SDA eligible, but not yet using SDA.

  • Introducing specialist Housing and Living Navigators, as recommended by the NDIS Review (Action 8.2) to provide advice on participants’ housing and living options is important to supporting participants navigate the complexity of this landscape. This approach will ensure changes in housing and living arrangements at different life stages are explored, designed and planned effectively and efficiently; it will also assist the most vulnerable participants (including those under the guardianship of the Public Advocate).

  • Housing and Living Navigators need to possess expertise in disability, NDIS legislation, and navigating the disability housing landscape. Such a specialist service will lead to positive outcomes for participants and the Scheme including: participants receiving efficient services and accurate information that relate to their circumstances, and cost savings for the Scheme as the work is undertaken efficiently by specialists.

Commissioning home and living supports

  • The SDA Alliance welcomes the Australian government’s commitment to consultation on commissioning home and living supports (which are anticipated to begin in July 2026). Ensuring participant voices are at the centre of these discussions is essential.

  • The Supported Independent Living (SIL) commissioning model must be developed such that people with disability may genuinely exercise choice and control over the provision of their housing and supports.

  • The provision of housing and care supports for people with disability are closely linked. Several considerations need to be addressed including housing suitability, participant

1 National Disability Insurance Agency Quarterly Report 2025-26 Q3 – available here.

1300 409 932 info @sdaalliance.org.au Level 11, 143 Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000

Submission 663

safety, functional capacity, informal supports, participant preferences, workforce availability, location and psychosocial context.

Social and community participation

  • A reduction in social and community participation support could lead to negative consequences for many SDA participants, including increased isolation and reduced informal support options. The impact of increased social isolation could lead to participants needing more costly interventions within the NDIS Scheme and broader service systems, including health services.

  • A reduction in social and community participation support may adversely affect shared support settings within the SDA context. For example, when participants are unable to engage in community events, skill and capacity building activities, employment, or planned formal and informal supports, they may spend more time at home. This can strain support arrangements, workforce resources, and household stability. Over time, such limitations may result in participant boredom, behaviours of concern, lack of support, tenancy complexities, safeguarding issues, increased support requirements, and, most importantly, a reduction in independence, choice, control, and capacity that have been built over the previous years.

    • Social and community participation is essential for SDA participants - it can play a

crucial role in promoting independence, ensuring a stable tenancy, employment, safety, and overall quality of life. While the SDA Alliance acknowledges the necessity for reform to ensure Scheme sustainability, it is crucial that the reform process supports the core principles of participant choice and control that are fundamental to the NDIS.

Recommendations

In light of the above, the SDA Alliance recommends:

  1. Pathways to SDA are explicitly embedded in functional capacity assessments and planning processes to ensure those in need of accessible housing have access to appropriate support.

  2. SDA approval processes for participants are streamlined and efficient (with eligibility not required to be proven annually) to minimise potential participant, service or investment risk on account of delays in SDA approval. SDA payments from the NDIS to SDA providers are efficient and timely to ensure Scheme sustainability and the delivery of best practice SDA.

1300 409 932 info @sdaalliance.org.au Level 11, 143 Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000

Submission 663

  1. The NDIA consistently include Onsite Shared Support (OSS) as a stated support for individuals who have made the choice to live in a clustered SDA setting (inclusive of apartment, house and villa arrangements). This will provide the essential framework for the delivery of OSS to be efficient, consistent in quality, and financially viable for OSS providers.

  2. The Australian government define clear, prompt, and consistent nationwide pathways for transitional, legacy, and basic cohort participants to access modern, safe, and accessible housing and living arrangements, including SDA where suitable. This will reduce delays, uncertainty, and administrative barriers that might

    prevent participants from transitioning into safer, more appropriate, and

participant-focused housing options.

  1. The Australian government accept and consequently act upon Action 8.2 of the NDIS Review2: As part of the local navigation function (Action 4.1) the NDIA should commission Housing and Living Navigators to provide advice on participants’ housing and living options.

  2. The Australian government collaborates with participants (and their families), providers, disability organisations and other industry stakeholders on the design of a SIL commissioning model which supports participant choice and control. It is important that participants choose where, how and with whom they live.

2 NDIS Review Final Report, 2023 – available here.

1300 409 932 info @sdaalliance.org.au Level 11, 143 Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000

Submission 663

SDA Alliance

1300 409 932 info@sdaalliance.org.au Level 11, 143 Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000

1300 409 932 info @sdaalliance.org.au Level 11, 143 Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000