If you deliver Supported Independent Living (SIL) supports, you know that mandatory registration is coming.
As of March 2026, the below is a clear account of what’s actually confirmed, what’s still unknown, and what you should realistically be doing right now to prepare. I’ll do my best to keep this updated as new information comes through.
What’s been announced?
In December 2025, the Australian Government confirmed that mandatory registration for SIL providers (as well as platform providers) will begin from 1 July 2026.
This means that any provider delivering supports under Registration Group 0115 (Assistance with Daily Life Tasks in a Group or Shared Living Arrangement) will need to be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
The reason for the change isn’t arbitrary. Multiple independent reviews, including from the Disability Royal Commission, the NDIS Review, the NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce, have identified significant quality and safety issues for participants in SIL settings. The Commission’s Own Motion Inquiry into supported accommodation found that 85% of all reportable incidents occurred in group home settings, and documented patterns of exploitation, abuse, and lower quality services, particularly for participants with large NDIS plan budgets.
This is a change that is grounded in genuine participant safety concerns.
What mandatory registration means for you
If you’re already registered with the NDIS Commission and your registration includes Registration Group 0115, nothing changes. You’re good to keep going as is.
If you’re delivering SIL supports but aren’t currently registered, or are registered but not for Registration Group 0115, you’ll need to go through the registration process. For SIL, this means a Certification audit against the Core Module of the NDIS Practice Standards, plus any applicable supplementary modules.
SIL is a higher-risk support category. That means you’ll be going through the full Certification pathway, not Verification. The audit will cover 22+ practice standards, involves mandatory site visits, participant/worker/management interviews, and file reviews. Registration is not a quick or a cheap process.
An important note on the ‘1 July 2026’ deadline
1 July 2026 is not a hard deadline by which unregistered SIL providers must be registered. I repeat, you do not have to complete your audit and the registration process by this date.
The Commission’s own documents are clear: providers currently delivering SIL in an unregistered capacity will not need to be registered as at 1 July 2026. 1 July 2026 is the start of the transition period, i.e. the point at which unregistered providers must begin taking action to register in order to remain in the market.
The detailed transition arrangements, including specific application deadlines and audit completion timeframes, have not been formally published as of 20 March 2026 when I’m writing this article. The Commission indicated this guidance would be released in early 2026, so watch the Commission’s Reform Hub and subscribe to their newsletters for updates.
This distinction matters, but it shouldn’t make you complacent, and the transition period is not an indefinite extension. Providers shouldn’t wait until transition arrangements are published to start preparing.
What’s still unknown
There are two significant unknowns that should inform how you plan.
The new SIL Practice Standards haven’t been published yet. The Commission is developing specific Practice Standards for SIL providers, focused on quality and safety in shared accommodation settings, worker training requirements, and how SIL audits are conducted. These are being developed and tested in early 2026 but were not publicly available at the time of writing.
If you apply for registration and get audited now, you’ll be audited against the existing Core Module. When the new SIL-specific standards are introduced, it’s not yet clear whether providers who registered under the Core Module will need to undergo a further assessment against the new standards. The Commission has not confirmed this either way.
For providers who want certainty about what they’ll be audited against before investing in the process, waiting until the new standards are published is a reasonable position, but it also carries timeline risk.
Nobody knows exactly how many unregistered SIL providers there are. The Commission does not publish this data, and estimates suggest several thousand providers could be eligible, though many will likely choose not to register and exit the market instead. What this means practically is that there will be significant demand for Certification audits from Approved Quality Auditors, and auditor capacity is already constrained. Approved auditors have limited availability at the best of times, and registration renewal cycles create peaks and troughs in demand. A surge of SIL providers seeking audits simultaneously could make audit dates difficult to secure (especially if you have a preference/need for certain dates).
Why support coordination is not in this article
You may have heard that mandatory registration was also proposed for support coordinators. That reform has been paused while the Commission considers further policy development. Support coordination mandatory registration is not proceeding at this stage. Providers delivering support coordination only are not affected by the July 2026 changes.
What you should do right now
If you’re already registered for Registration Group 0115: You don’t need to do anything right now in response to this reform. Hooray! Keep an eye on the Commission’s Reform Hub for information about the new SIL Practice Standards, as these will apply to you when finalised.
If you’re unregistered and delivering SIL: You don’t need to be registered on 1 July 2026, but you do need to take action during the transition period that begins then. As soon as the Commission publishes transition details, dates and deadlines, contact Approved Quality Auditors immediately to get quotes and secure a date. Don’t wait. Auditor availability will tighten dramatically as the deadline approaches, and the registration process from application through to Commission approval takes longer than most providers expect. Factor in six to twelve months minimum from starting preparation to holding a Certificate of Registration.
Regardless of your timeline: Start reviewing your systems against the NDIS Practice Standards Core Module now. Not to prepare for an audit, but to understand where your genuine gaps are and build the systems that will serve your participants well. The providers who find registration straightforward are the ones who already run good services and are in this sector for the right reasons.
What the audit will look at
SIL providers are assessed against the Core Module of the NDIS Practice Standards, which covers:
- Rights and responsibilities
- Provider governance and operational management
- Provision of supports
- Provision of supports environment
Given the nature of SIL (i.e. 24/7 supports, shared living environments, and participants with complex needs), auditors will likely pay close attention to incident management, worker governance and supervision, participant rights and choice and control, and how providers manage the intersection of shared living arrangements with individual participant needs.
When the new SIL-specific Practice Standards are finalised, these will add further requirements specifically tailored to the shared accommodation context. The Commission has flagged that these standards will focus on participant-centred outcomes, human rights, privacy, appropriate worker training and assessment, and participant safety as a priority.
A note on audit costs and timing
Certification audits are not cheap. Most SIL providers will have participants, staff, and potentially multiple sites, all of which increase audit duration and cost under the legislated sampling methodology. A small SIL provider with a handful of participants and staff and a single site should budget a minimum of $7-$10k for a Certification audit, and larger providers should expect significantly more.
The Commission doesn’t set audit prices and can’t control auditor availability. Getting quotes from multiple Approved Quality Auditors is essential, and doing so early, before demand peaks, is strongly advisable.
The bigger picture
Mandatory registration for SIL is a big reform and it’s time to get ready. The evidence of harm in unregulated SIL settings is not theoretical, and it’s been documented across multiple national inquiries. Participants in SIL arrangements are among the most vulnerable people in the NDIS, and the case for consistent minimum standards and independent oversight is strong, and this is what providers need to keep in mind as they go through this new process.
For providers who are already delivering quality services (e.g. who have good governance, genuine participant-centred practices, and systems that work) registration is a process of demonstrating what you already do, so don’t let it feel like a threat. The investment in preparation is an investment in the quality of your service.
This article reflects information available as of March 2026. Transition arrangements, specific deadlines, and the new SIL Practice Standards had not been formally published at time of writing. Monitor the NDIS Commission Reform Hub for updates as they are released.
