Your pathway to
Specialist
Disability Accommodation
SPECIALIST DISABILITY ACCOMODATION (SDA) is the new way for disabled Australians to realise their dreams of living in a beautiful home that is designed specifically with them in mind.
Our consultants and support staff here at NDIS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA are highly professional and trained to assist SIL Providers to assist Participants with more suitable accommodation, either as SIL, STA, or SDA homes.
What IS SPECIALIST DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION?
SDA homes are purpose built for people with complex support needs who want to live with independence but are unable to do so in a normal home environment. SDA homes are only available to people with specialist disability accommodation (SDA) on their NDIS plan. Funding is only provided to a small proportion of NDIS participants with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs who meet specific eligibility criteria.
What is ‘Extreme Functional Impairment’?
Extreme functional impairment means that you have a lot of trouble, or are unable to do daily tasks on your own. You might require assistance to complete basic tasks such as:
- moving around
- completing personal care tasks
- looking after yourself
What is ‘Very High Support Needs’?
Very High Support Needs means that:
- you need a lot of person-to-person support that you may not be able to get from your family or friends who provide ‘informal support.
- you need SDA to stay safe or keep others around you safe due to behavioural issues
- you live or have lived in some form of supported accommodation (such as a hospital, aged care home, group home)
For the NDIS to approve SDA in your plan, it will need to be proven that SDA will give you long-term benefits for
- pursuing your goals
- improving your functional capacity
- reducing your need for person-to-person supports
- creating better connections with your family, community, health services, education and employment
What we do
NDIS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA is here for you to realise your new SDA home.
Our consultants and support staff work with all links in the supply chain to ensure that we can bring to you a fit-for-purpose home creatively and lovingly designed to be what you want and need. Whether you want to live by yourself with a carer, or in a shared home environment with new friends, we can work with other professionals to deliver an outcome you will be happy with. As a renter, or an owner-occupier, we can project manage the location you want with the people and services you need to make your life much more enjoyable.
NDIS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA is here for you to realise your new SDA home.
Our consultants and support staff work with all links in the supply chain to ensure that we can bring to you a fit-for-purpose home creatively and lovingly designed to be what you want and need. Whether you want to live by yourself with a carer, or in a shared home environment with new friends, we can work with other professionals to deliver an outcome you will be happy with. As a renter, or an owner-occupier, we can project manage the location you want with the people and services you need to make your life much more enjoyable.
Participants
NDIS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA connects you with the Support Coordinators, Financiers, Builders, SDA Providers and others best suited to help create the perfect housing solution for you.
Suppliers
NDIS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA brings together industry professionals to create and end-to-end process to help Providers and Participants on their SDA journey.
Consultants
NDIS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA have consultants working together with connections to SIL & SDA Providers, Support Coordinators, Builders, Developers and Investors – we only work with those whose values are aligned in that the Participants’ Choice & Control is of utmost importance in the process.
Generating New Ideas. Solving Big Problems
The Journey to your new NDIS home is a complex one with many steps along the way. Our job is to smooth that journey and ensure each step is managed in order to provide you with maximum choice and control in finding your forever home.
Why we are different
NDIS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA is not a Service Provider so we are best placed to solve accommodation requirements for SDA & SIL Providers and their clients in a confidential professional manner. With over 60 years property experience in our team we can streamline the process of working directly with builders and developers.
We understand that it's about YOUR dreams
We discuss your living goals and help you and your family achieve them
We deliver what YOU want and need
We provide options to ensure you find a suitable place to live
We listen and give YOU choice to make your own decisions
We ask, we listen and we find ways to empower you towards living a life of your choosing
We build where YOU want and need
We make sure we build you a forever home in the community you want to live in
Our HOMES
Our homes are turn-key solutions, meaning after we get a thorough understanding of all stakeholders (participants, families, providers & investors), we do all the behind the scenes work between investor, builder, land developer, solicitors, lender and provider to ensure a streamlined process of communication and updates, before construction begins. This is our role as consultants in project managing the transaction. During construction, we will communicate all relevant updates to the Service Provider in planning for your transition to your new home.
When designing a new home for a NDIS Participant, we factor in your needs, functionality for carers, safety for all and aesthetics. We have found that to deliver the best result the following requirements are important:
- Modelling of the house to protect your safety and that of carers. For example, double access points for rooms and no restrictive or low visual areas within the house.
- Quality fittings and workmanship to ensure delivery of a home that is robust and sustainable.
- Carers rooms include private bathroom facilities for comfort and privacy.
- Housing plans include opportunities for both inside and outside privacy, with the use of secured bedroom courtyards or patios.
- Location of the property relative to your accessibility and noise requirements. For example, we consider your physical and social needs (work, transport, shops etc) as well as other behavioural needs.
Design Specifications
Whether we work with new homes, villas, townhouses or apartments, they are designed to allow easy access and mobility once inside whilst incorporating specific support needs.
All homes are built in accordance with the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) guidelines and meet the Livable Housing Australia (LHA) Platinum, Gold or Silver Standard as a minimum.
Each home is tailored to meet required levels of accessibility and support across the spectrum of High Physical Support, Fully Accessible, Improved Livability and Robust.
Our paramount focus is to match YOU with accommodation that best supports YOUR lifestyle.
Short Term Accommodation
Short Term Accommodation services, also known as Respite services can strengthen a family’s ability to care for a family member with a disability and stay together as a family. That’s why we offer quality, short term accommodations in a comfortable and relaxed 5-star environment where your loved ones or participants will be well looked after. Our welcoming respite, short stay accommodation homes are a relaxed stay for people with a disability for a night, a weekend or a week or two.
A short stay away from home:
- gives the participant the chance to try new things
- can be a place to make new friends or develop new skills
- may help to maintain the participants current living situation by giving their informal supports a break.
Short Term Accommodation may suit your participants needs if their usual support network isn’t available for a short period.
Included in your STA holiday are the following::
- personal care (optional)
- accommodation
- food
- activities
The NDIS funds up to 28 days of Short Term Accommodation per year, depending on your participants plan. STA funding can be used flexibly. For example, it could be used in a block of up to 14 days at a time or for one weekend a month.
Our STA respite care can be arranged for a day, overnight, a weekend, a holiday or longer – for up to 2 weeks, depending on the carers and participants needs, eligibility and what services are available in the local area.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between plan management and support coordination?
Plan Management is the management of the funds allocated to you under the NDIS. ie your NDIS budget, payments and invoices. Support Coordination is the implementation of your NDIS plan. ie keeping you on track with using the services and supports you need.
What is the difference between the NDIS and the NDIA?
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is the new funding scheme to support for Australians with disability, their families and carers. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is the independent statutory agency (basically the organisation), whose role is to implement the NDIS.
What happens to my funding if I am over 65?
To access the NDIS you must be aged under 65 when you apply. Once you have an NDIS plan, when you turn 65 you should continue to receive similar support through the Commonwealth Continuity of Support program. However you’ll cease to get NDIS funding if you’ve turned 65 and you enter an aged residential care facility or start permanently receiving ‘home care’ as defined under the Aged Care Act 1997.
What is a Local Area Coordinator?
Local Area Coordinators (LACs), are organisations who have partnered with the NDIA to deliver the NDIS. For the majority of NDIS participants, LACs will be who contacts you on behalf of the NDIA, to work with you to develop and submit your plan.
What happens to unused funds in my plan?
You may find you have unused funds if your independence increases and your need for support decreases. There is no benefit in trying to not use services and save them up if you need to use them. If you find you are not using funds and wish to adjust the kind of supports and services you need, talk with your Support Coordinator or Plan Manager.
It seemed a lot easier before the NDIS
Yes, it takes a while to get the full understanding of the NDIS. However before the NDIS started, many parents and carers used to be frustrated about not having choice or control. With the NDIS being designed so that the person living with the disability has more choice, control and flexibility, it also means that the responsibilities and roles have to be different.
Why all the paperwork?
The information that the NDIA have, guides them on the services and supports that they approve. So the more information they have, means the better they’ll be able to understand why someone needs the support and services that have been requested.
What are the Stats so far in uptake in the NDIS Scheme?
- Around 650-700 new SDA places were created or commissioned in the past 12 months (2019/20).
- Only 250-300 of these were for unmet demand. The remaining 400 were to rebuild existing & outdated government disability housing stock.
- For 2019 there was only $70M spent on SDA funding for accommodation. The target is $700M every year.
- The 2020 numbers are estimated to be between 600-900 brand new homes due for completion around Australia. In March 2020 it was forecast to be 200 for 2020, but this is revised up due to demand from investors.
- Over the next five years (2020-2025), there will be 16,000 new or refurbished SDA places needed around Australia.
Begin the Journey
Ready to begin your journey to find your forever home?
Tell us what your dreams and needs are and we’ll start down the pathway of building your own SDA home.
“We welcome all people – participants, service providers, support coordinators, families etc – within the NDIS ecosystem, to contact us to see how we can help in any way, shape or form.”
Debbie Kindness
debbie@ndis.property