What does SIL cost? A worked example

The example week

Three people share a home. All have standard support needs, and no one needs one-to-one support. On weekdays everyone is out at day programs from 9am to 3pm.

All workers support all three residents.

What it costs each resident

How the numbers work

• Each hour is priced at the NDIS price limit for that time and day: $73.58 weekday daytime, $81.07 weekday evening, $103.54 Saturday and $133.50 Sunday. A sleepover is $311.79 a night.
• Shared support is split evenly: one worker with three people means each pays a third; two workers with three people means each pays two-thirds.
• The 7pm–10pm block is priced at the evening rate because it crosses 8pm.
• Public holidays: priced as 24-hour days at the public holiday rate and averaged across the year, as the NDIA's tool does. It allows up to 12. Victoria has 14 in 2026–27, so real costs can be a little higher.
• Unplanned days at home: covers days when someone is unwell or their day program is closed. The NDIA's tool allows up to 10.3 days a year for standard needs and adds them to the yearly total. In this example they're priced as one-to-one support.

What changes the cost

• Fewer people sharing. With the same staff but two residents instead of three, the home costs the same, but each person's share rises to about $6,330 a week. That's about $109,700 more a year each.
• Awake overnight instead of a sleepover. A sleepover worker can sleep when they're not helping. If they have to give more than two hours of help in a night, the extra hours can be charged on top. If someone regularly needs help overnight, an awake worker is needed instead. In this example, that adds about $52,300 a year per person.
• How shifts are arranged. Under the NDIS Pricing Schedule, when one worker's support crosses into a higher-priced time, the higher rate applies to the whole support. If one worker covered 3pm–10pm on weekdays, the whole shift would be at the evening rate, adding about $50 a week per person here.
• Time at home and individual needs (like one-to-one support) add hours and cost.

What SIL doesn't pay for

Day-to-day living costs that aren't disability support, such as groceries, rent, board or lodging, utilities, vehicle costs and holiday expenses. These are paid by the resident. Day programs and community activities are funded from other parts of the plan, not SIL.

About price limits

For NDIA-managed and plan-managed funding, these are the maximum prices a provider can charge.

Check it yourself

Enter the same roster into the NDIA's roster of care tool and you'll get the same figures. Or try your own roster with our SIL roster tool, which uses the same pricing.

Sources and method

• NDIS Support Catalogue 2026–27 (v1.1, effective 1 July 2026): SIL items 01_801 to 01_806 and 01_832, national (non-remote) price limits, standard intensity
• NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27 (effective 24 September 2026): time-of-day definitions, sleepovers, shifts that cross times
• NDIA SIL roster of care tool (version 4.0) and its guide: method, public holidays and unplanned days
• NDIA, Guide to providing supported independent living: what SIL doesn't include
• Business Victoria: Victorian public holidays 2026–27
• Assumes the same week all year. Figures rounded. Prices checked 6 October 2026; reviewed each 1 July.