Individualised living options for providers

An ILO provider plays a critical role in understanding a person’s vision for their life and developing support arrangements that meets that vision. ILO providers will support participants to make decisions about where and with whom they live and how their supports can enable them to live a full life. 

ILO Stage 1 – Exploration and Design 

Providers (and other parties) will work with participants to:

  • explore where and how they want to live, including helping others around them understand what they want and how this will work for them
  • understand their strengths and capabilities
  • learn what they can do to build their skills through their ILO supports
  • choose where they live, who they live with and how they’re supported
  • understand how supports from friends and family, community supports and paid supports can all play a role in their ILO
  • find out what’s possible and assess and manage any risks in their preferred way of living
  • help them design and make decisions about their ILO.

At the end of Stage 1 Exploration and Design, the NDIA expects participants and providers to have:

  • reached a decision point about the preferred home and living arrangement and the package of supports 
  • sought the involvement of the provider who will implement the ILO to assist in the completion of the Service Proposal Form (DOCX 87KB)  
  • developed an ILO service proposal that describes the participant’s needs and preferences, primary and supplementary supports and quote of costs for their ILO. 

ILO Stage 2 – Supports

Providers of ILO Supports will: 

  • ideally be involved in the Exploration and Design stage and contribute to the ILO service proposal
  • build and implement the ILO supports arrangement, including all of the end-to-end management of primary, supplementary, formal and informal supports
  • facilitate the drafting of agreements between participants and supports, supports and providers, and participants and provider
  • undertake dispute resolution and problem solving 
  • monitor and adjust the ILO arrangements as required. 

Components of ILO Supports

Individualised living option supports have 3 parts:

  • Primary supports
  • Supplementary supports
  • Monitoring and adjustment

Primary supports 

Primary supports are delivered by the people the participant lives with. They help with supports a participant needs every day. 

These include:

  • Host arrangement – a participant lives full time with a host who is not related to them, in the host’s home
  • Housemates – a participant lives full time in their own home, or a shared rental property, with another person or other people who are not related to them. 

The level of support that a host(s) or housemate(s) provides will be different for every individualised living option. 

The level of support provided by a host(s) or housemate(s) will be determined through a combination of the consideration of the individual circumstances, the participant’s choices and home and living goals, and the NDIA’s assessment of reasonable and necessary.

Supplementary supports 

Supplementary supports are extra supports put in place with a participant’s primary support. These supports are flexible and might be used to help get extra or different support from time to time. They might also be used if a participant needs support outside the usual times the primary support is available. This might be when the primary support has other commitments such as work, medical appointments, or holidays. 

Supplementary supports might be paid or unpaid. Paid supplementary supports might include respite care or having support workers stay in the participant’s home on an ad hoc or regular basis. 

Unpaid supplementary supports might be arrangements for the participant to stay with family. 

Examples of supplementary supports include:

  • back-up support for primary supports 
  • on-call arrangements
  • support of a mentor
  • volunteers
  • neighbours
  • paid “drop-in” support
  • structured supports from family or friends.

Funding primary and supplementary supports

Any payment arrangements for your primary and supplementary supports will depend on the support they provide you. Each individualised living options package and payments to your support providers is different.

It needs to be discussed and agreed to by you and your provider. 

Both you and your supports should seek independent financial advice before agreeing to an individualised living option arrangement.

Payments received through an individualised living option may be assessable for tax purposes.

The Australian Taxation Office can provide information about assessable income and allowable deductions. 

Agreements

Agreements are an important part of ILO. They set out roles, responsibilities and expectations of each person in the living situation. Providers should develop agreements between themselves and participants, participants and their primary and supplementary supports and the supports and the provider. 

Monitoring and adjustment

Monitoring is an important part of an individualised living option arrangement and is the responsibility of providers and participants. The level of monitoring needed will be different with each individualised living option arrangement.

Monitoring involves regular checks with all parties to make sure the individualised living option arrangement and supports are working for the participant. 

The service proposal must include a monitoring plan for the individualised living option package. Providers will develop a plan that describes what will be monitored. Monitoring should help track:

  • if supports are helping a participant to be more independent at home and helping meet plan goals
  • if a participant is happy with their living arrangement 
  • if a participant feels safe 
  • that all parties know how to raise and discuss issues or concerns
  • if there are any problems with the persons providing primary or supplementary supports. 

The monitoring plan should also include information such as:

  • how often monitoring will occur
  • whether monitoring will be face to face, virtual or by phone
  • how parties will contribute to monitoring
  • how issues can be raised and how they might be resolved
  • the process for adjusting a participant’s ILO arrangement. 

Providers are responsible for coordinating and maintaining monitoring plans. 

ILO supports must be delivered in line with the NDIS Act and relevant NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission requirements including the NDIS Code of Conduct .

View ILO - Our Guidelines for more information.

This page current as of
5 January 2023