Guide
7 questions to ask on a SIL home visit
By Complete Choice · Last reviewed 25 September 2026
On a Supported Independent Living (SIL) home visit, ask about seven things — whether the doorways and bathroom work for you, who is there overnight, who you'd live with, the street and what's nearby, how your health needs are supported, how you raise a concern, and what happens if it doesn't work out. There's a printable checklist below.
A Supported Independent Living (SIL) home is somewhere you’ll live, with people you’ll see every day. Photographs don’t tell you what that’s like. A visit does — if you ask the right questions.
Take the checklist at the end of this page with you. Tick things off as you go, and write the answers down: after two or three homes, they blur.
1. Do the doorways and bathroom work for you?
Don’t take “accessible” on trust — ask what it means in this home. Can you get through every door you’ll need to? Does the shower, the toilet and the space around them work for how you move? If you use a wheelchair, bring it and try. If a provider can’t tell you a measurement, ask them to take it.
2. Who is there overnight?
SIL is support around the clock, but overnight can look very different from one home to the next. Ask who is there, whether they’re awake or asleep on call, and what happens if you need help in the middle of the night.
3. Who would you be living with?
Housemates decide whether a house works. Ask who lives there, what their days look like, and whether you can meet them before anyone decides. A good provider will make sure the people already living there have a say too.
4. What’s the street like?
Look outside the front door. What’s within walking distance — shops, a bus stop, a park? Is it busy, or quiet? The right home in the wrong spot can make every outing hard work.
5. How are your health needs supported?
If you have health or medication needs, ask exactly who supports them, and how. If you need nursing support, ask whether the provider is registered to deliver it — you can check on the NDIS Commission’s register.
6. How do you raise a concern?
Ask who you’d talk to if something was wrong, and what happens next. You can also always go straight to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544, at any time, without telling the provider first.
7. What happens if it doesn’t work out?
It’s a fair question, and a good provider won’t flinch at it. Ask how much notice you’d give, and whether you could change provider without losing your home — or change home without changing provider.
And one more: what will it cost you?
Your SIL funding pays for support, not the house. Ask what you’ll pay each week for rent, board and bills — as a real number, not a range. Our guide to what SIL funding pays for explains who pays what.
When you’re ready, see our current vacancies — each one shows the date it was last checked.
Take this with you
- Doorways and bathroom: Can I get through every door I need to? Does the bathroom work for me — the shower, the toilet, the space?
- Overnight: Who is here overnight? Are they awake, or asleep on call? How fast does someone come if I need help at 3am?
- Housemates: Who lives here? What are their days like? Can I meet them before I decide — and do they get a say?
- The street: What's within walking distance? Where's the nearest bus stop or station? Is it noisy?
- Health needs: Who supports my health and medication needs? Is there nursing support if I need it?
- Raising a concern: Who do I talk to if something's wrong? What happens after I raise it?
- If it doesn't work out: How much notice do I give? Can I change provider without losing my home, or my home without changing provider?
- Costs: What will I pay each week for rent, board and bills — as a real number?
From completechoice.com.au/guides/questions-to-ask-on-a-sil-home-visit/ — Complete Choice, 08 7009 4462