A supported independent living house is a home. The same people live there, and they expect the same faces, the same morning routine and someone on shift every single night.
Yet many providers roster that home as if it were a list of separate visits. Every fortnight the manager opens a blank grid, rebuilds the same shape from memory or from last time, and fixes the same gaps again. This article shows how to set a house up once, step by step, so each fortnight starts from the shape the house really has.
Where SIL stands in October 2026
This is context, kept short. The dates below have passed unless stated.
- Registration. The Commission's SIL Practice Standards page says the standards apply to supported independent living providers, who "must be registered from 1 July 2026". That is in force.
- What registered SIL providers must do. The mandatory registration for SIL page says providers must "comply with the core module of the NDIS Practice Standards", "comply with the new supplementary module for supported independent living Practice Standards" and "have certification audits", from 1 July 2026, with transition pathways.
- Claiming. In an NDIA news item of 24 June 2026, the NDIA said claim code 0138 applies to SIL supports from 1 July 2026 (0115 for earlier supports). Unregistered SIL providers who did not apply to register by 1 October 2026 "can only claim for services up to 30 September 2026", and from 1 October 2026 plan managers should reject invoices from SIL providers who are not registered and have not applied.
- Modules. The NDIS Practice Standards page lists supplementary modules including "high intensity daily personal activities", "specialist disability accommodation" and "supported independent living", and says the modules required depend on the types of supports and services delivered.
- Coming up. The reform hub lists two webinars titled "Getting ready for 2027: SIL and NDIS Digital Platform Requirements", on 27 October 2026 (11:00 am to 12:00 pm AEST) and 29 October 2026 (2:00 pm to 3:00 pm AEST).
- Consultation, not a rule. The Commission is also reviewing the NDIS Practice Standards. That review is a consultation, and nothing from it is in force.
For a wider look at readiness, see SIL registration readiness.
Why a SIL house should be set up once
This section is our interpretation, not a statement from the NDIS Commission or the NDIA.
Five things make a house different from a list of visits.
- A fixed place. The house, not the individual shift, is the unit you plan around.
- Overnight cover. Every night needs someone there. An overnight gap is a home without cover.
- Consistency. A roster that treats shifts as interchangeable works against a team residents know.
- The sleepover shape. An overnight is often active hours, a sleepover, then active hours. Flatten that into one block and the real shape of the night is lost.
- A repeating pattern. Most weeks look much like the last, so rebuilding one is effort for no gain and another chance to miss something.
If those are true of your house, the sensible design is a house profile, a weekly pattern, and a fortnight that is reviewed rather than rebuilt.
The setup, step by step
You need the right people in the room and answers to a handful of questions. Many providers do it in one working session; the table shows a sensible order.
| Part of the day | Steps | Who should be there |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | 1 House and participants; 2 House team | Operations lead, house leader |
| Midday | 3 Requirements; 4 House rules | Operations lead, house leader, whoever owns training and checks |
| Afternoon | 5 Weekly pattern | House leader, rostering coordinator |
| End of day | 6 First fortnight | Operations lead, rostering coordinator |
Step 1: The house and its participants
- The address and the name the team uses for the house.
- Each participant who lives or stays there, and their link to the home: a SIL resident, a short stay or respite.
- Anything that changes who can work a shift, such as a need for two staff.
Have ready: the current participants, each person's link to the home, and the house leader's name.
Step 2: The house team
Sort the people who work in the house into three groups, and name who leads.
- Regular team. The people who work most shifts and know the residents.
- Backup. People who know the house and can step in when a regular is away.
- Relief. Qualified people from outside the house who can cover when the first two groups cannot.
A shift that needs filling should reach for the regular team first, then backup, then relief, so consistency is the default.
Have ready: names in each group, the house leader, and any pairings to avoid on shift.
Step 3: The requirements of this house and its shifts
Decide what a person must hold before working in this house. This depends on the Practice Standards modules you deliver under, so work from your own scope, not a generic list.
- The training and checks that must be current for any shift in the house.
- Anything extra for particular shifts, such as an overnight that needs specific skills.
- Which of these are hard requirements (nobody without it works the shift) and which are preferences.
Have ready: the list of required training and checks, marked hard or preferred.
Step 4: The house rules
These are the questions the team otherwise asks every week. Agree them once.
- Swaps. Can staff swap shifts, and who approves?
- Cancellations. What happens when a worker cancels, and how quickly is cover found?
- Open shifts. How do staff pick up a shift nobody has, and who approves it?
- Clock-in. How do workers record the start and end of a shift here?
- How far ahead the roster is created. This is usually one setting for the whole organisation. Choose a horizon that gives staff notice and still lets a manager review properly.
Have ready: a one-page statement of the five rules, agreed by the operations lead.
Step 5: The weekly pattern
This is the heart of the day. Do not design the pattern in the abstract. Put a real week that worked on the board and copy its shape.
- List every shift, mornings through overnights, with start and end times.
- Record who normally works each one and how many people it needs.
- For each overnight, record the real shape: active hours, the sleepover, then active hours, with times.
- Remove one-off events so the pattern is the usual week, not last week.
The NDIA's Guide to providing SIL says a roster of care helps "break down the participant's weekly support needs", and that it "isn't a requirement and you don't need to submit it to us". Our reading: the roster of care is an optional planning tool, and the house pattern you build here is the provider's own working version of it.
Have ready: one real week laid out shift by shift, with sleepover times.
Step 6: The first fortnight
- Generate the fortnight from the pattern.
- Review it against the house: are the regulars where they should be, is every overnight covered, are the step 3 requirements met?
- Fix the gaps and exceptions, such as leave or a one-off event.
- Publish it so staff see their shifts.
- Let the pattern repeat. The next fortnight starts from the same shape, so effort goes into exceptions, not rebuilding.
If the first fortnight shows the pattern is wrong, change the pattern, not just that fortnight. For choosing software for this job, see our guide to NDIS software for SIL providers.
Sleepovers, done properly
A sleepover is where a flattened roster does the most damage. Keep to what actually happens in the house.
- Record the real shape. Active hours, the sleepover, then active hours, each with its own start and end time.
- Set the times once. If the sleepover starts at the same time every night, set it once in the pattern. If it varies, record the variation.
- Note what happens in the night. If a worker is called up for active work during the sleepover, have a way to note it and agree how it gets reported.
- Check it with whoever handles pay. How a sleepover is paid depends on your own arrangements. This article does not cover award rates, so check with whoever sets your pay rules.
How BondiByte helps
BondiByte is NDIS provider software. For a SIL house, these parts match the steps above.
- The house and its participants (step 1). You create a site for the house. On the site's Clients tab, link each participant to the house and choose an Assignment type, such as SIL, Current Residence, Short Stay / Respite, Day Program or Community Access. Each link carries start and end dates.
- The house team (step 2). On each site's Staff tab, link staff as Primary Team, Secondary Team or Relief Team, and add a Site Lead or a Coordinator / Oversight person. Smart Rostering looks at the primary team first, then secondary and relief.
- Requirements (step 3). Capabilities are the skills, checks and qualifications a shift can require. For a site you choose whether a requirement is a Hard blocker or a Preferred setting, and a site's Hard blocker is always obeyed. Staff compliance documents carry expiry dates. Where you make a requirement mandatory, Smart Rostering and every other way of filling a shift will not use staff whose evidence expires before the shift ends.
- House rules (step 4). Each site has its own rules for swaps, cancellations, open shifts and clock-in, and can be allowed to auto-publish its roster. Smart Rostering creates shifts ahead of each roster period, 21 days by default.
- The pattern and sleepovers (step 5). You can roster a SIL house by hand, sleepovers included, and the fortnight you build becomes the pattern Smart Rostering repeats. A sleepover template records first active support, the sleepover, then last active support. Timesheet drafts arrive as three lines: active hours, one sleepover allowance, active hours. With Pay Levels on, they are priced from your Pay Level rules and a Sleepover rule you publish.
- The first fortnight (step 6). Smart Rostering produces a fair-ranked draft from the site's pattern. A manager reviews and publishes it. Auto-publish applies only where a site opts in; other sites keep manager review. Where a seat is left unfilled, Smart Rostering records the reason.
Smart Rostering supports your team and does not replace it. BondiByte does not guarantee compliance, registration or any audit outcome, and a manager decides what gets published.
Start a 28-day free trial on Starter, Foundation or Growth, no card needed. Every plan includes the full toolset.
Frequently asked questions
Is registration now mandatory for SIL providers?
The Commission's SIL Practice Standards page says SIL providers "must be registered from 1 July 2026". The NDIA's news item of 24 June 2026 says unregistered providers who did not apply by 1 October 2026 can only claim for services up to 30 September 2026.
What are the SIL Practice Standards?
They are the supplementary module for supported independent living, alongside the core module. The mandatory registration for SIL page says SIL providers must comply with both and have certification audits.
Do I need a roster of care?
No. The NDIA's Guide to providing SIL says it "isn't a requirement and you don't need to submit it to us". It is a planning tool.
How far ahead should a house roster be built?
None of the sources we checked sets a required period, so this is our view. Build it far enough ahead that staff have notice and a manager can review it, and no further than you can staff with confidence. Set the horizon once as a house rule (step 4).
Can automation run a SIL house safely?
That depends on how it is set up. In BondiByte, Smart Rostering produces a draft that a manager reviews and publishes, a site's Hard blocker is always obeyed, and auto-publish applies only where a site opts in. Our suggestion is to keep manager review on until you trust the pattern.
Sources
- NDIS Practice Standards for supported independent living, NDIS Commission, checked 17 October 2026.
- Mandatory registration for SIL, NDIS Commission, checked 17 October 2026.
- NDIS Commission reform hub, NDIS Commission, checked 17 October 2026.
- SIL claims and payment changes from 1 July 2026, NDIA news, 24 June 2026.
- NDIS Practice Standards, NDIS Commission, checked 17 October 2026.
- Guide to providing supported independent living (SIL), NDIA, checked 17 October 2026.
Checked on 17 October 2026. Rules change, so confirm with the NDIS Commission and the NDIA before relying on this.