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Tab 5 · Money · Victoria

Rent, bills, and your support provider

If you are an NDIS participant living in SDA, the NDIA says you pay a reasonable rent contribution to your SDA provider, capped at 25% of the Disability Support Pension and 25% of the Pension Supplement, plus any Commonwealth Rent Assistance you receive. In Victoria, you pay no bond under an SDA residency agreement, and your provider cannot require rent more than one month in advance.

General information about Victorian law, not legal advice. The official place to check is Consumer Affairs Victoria’s page on rent, bond and other costs in SDA.

The ledger

Who pays for what

The rent and funding rows are national NDIS rules; the bond and bills rows are Victoria’s, as Consumer Affairs Victoria states them.
CostWho pays
Rent contributionYou, paid to your SDA provider.
The SDA itself, and your carersThe NDIA explains that SDA funding goes to the SDA provider and supported independent living (SIL) funding pays for carers, while you cover rent and bills.
BondNone under an SDA residency agreement. Under a residential rental agreement, your provider can ask for one.
Usage charges for gas, power, water and other utilitiesYou.
Other utility charges, such as installation, and any rates or taxesYour provider.
The extra on a usage bill caused by a faultYour provider. If they refuse, you can apply to VCAT for a decision.
Limits

The limits on rent

Rent is not the only cost. The NDIA reminds residents that living in SDA means paying rent and other day-to-day living costs, such as bills. On the funding side, an eligible participant’s plan sets out an SDA budget, which is the most the NDIA will pay for their SDA supports, and if you live in SDA of lower value than your plan allows, your provider can claim only the value of the property.

The NDIS rules allow for rent. Section 21 of the NDIS (Specialist Disability Accommodation) Rules 2020 says: “Despite the matters specified in an eligible participant’s plan under section 19, an eligible participant may be required to contribute to rent for the specialist disability accommodation that the eligible participant resides at.”

The NDIA says the rent a provider charges must not go above the maximum reasonable rent contribution set in the SDA pricing arrangements, that the contribution is an agreed amount paid straight to your SDA provider, and that it should be written into your service agreement. The NDIA’s pricing arrangements adjust the recommended maximum when the Disability Support Pension changes.

Victoria adds its own limits for SDA residency agreements:

  • Your provider must not require rent more than one month in advance; the Act sets a penalty of 60 penalty units. Since 1 July 2026 this has been one month, where it used to be 30 days.
  • Rent cannot go up more than once every 6 months.
  • A rent increase needs at least 90 days’ written notice to you, and to your guardian or administrator if you have one, on the approved form.
Housing and support

Your home and your support are separate things

Supported independent living, or SIL, is the NDIS funding for a support worker to help or supervise you, around the clock. Many people living in SDA also have it. SIL does not cover everyday living costs unrelated to disability support needs; the NDIA’s example is groceries. The rules set out to keep the home and the support apart, so that a choice about one does not limit the other.

The NDIS practice standards for SDA put it in one sentence: “Each participant’s right to exercise choice and control over other NDIS support provision is not limited by the participant’s choice of specialist disability accommodation dwelling.”

The rules also plan for one organisation doing both jobs. Where an SDA provider delivers both SDA and other NDIS supports to the same resident, the NDIS Commission’s SDA standards expect separate service agreements, and they expect your housing rights, including security of tenure, to be upheld whatever you decide about other supports in the dwelling, subject to what the SDA service agreement itself covers. The SIL standards say the same from the other side: where one provider gives both SIL and tenancy, there are separate service and tenancy agreements, and you are helped to understand that they are legally separate and that neither depends on the other. In the standard’s own voice for residents, your tenancy agreement stands alone and does not hinge on getting services from any one provider. The same SIL standards expect policies that let you raise concerns about your supports and your tenancy management without fear of retribution.

The SDA Conditions Rule adds duties for an SDA provider whose residents also have supports from other NDIS providers. Its registration is conditional on two things:

  • where possible, documented arrangements with each resident and with that resident’s other NDIS providers who deliver SIL in the dwelling;
  • making sure providers of other supports can get into each SDA dwelling it provides.

Those arrangements, where they exist, must set up a way for you and all your NDIS providers to work together, and must set out the rights and responsibilities of the SDA provider, your other providers and you.

Dated change

Registration for SIL providers

From 1 July 2026, some SIL providers must be registered with the NDIS Commission. The NDIA’s guide for providers now says SIL can only be delivered by providers that are registered, or that applied to register before 1 October 2026.

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