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Explore the tools →The 1 October 2026 SIL Registration Deadline: What It Means if You're Unregistered
by Penny Halpin |
If you currently deliver SIL without registration, you have until 1 October 2026 to submit your registration application with the NDIS Commission.
The following outlines information for providers who were already delivering SIL before 1 July 2026 without being registered. If that's not you, the full transition pathways article covers the other situations, including providers already registered with 0115 and new entrants.
The deadline is to apply
Mandatory registration for SIL commenced on 1 July 2026. If you were already delivering SIL when it commenced, you can keep delivering while your application is assessed, as long as you submit a valid application by 1 October 2026. The transition arrangements are set out on the Commission's mandatory registration page.
As long as you've submitted by this date, you can keep delivering SIL supports throughout the application assessment and audit process. From 1 October, delivering SIL without a lodged application means delivering unregistered, and the Commission has stated that this may breach the NDIS Act (with a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment, a fine of 120 penalty units, or both).
What is a valid application?
A valid application is a complete one, so not a quick placeholder form submitted just to beat the deadline. You'll need to apply through the Commission's online portal against the new registration group 0138 Assistance with Supported Independent Living, provide your organisation and key personnel details, and complete a full self-assessment against the standards you'll be audited on (the Core Module and the new SIL supplementary module). Once the Commission accepts the application, it issues your scope of audit and you can engage an Approved Quality Auditor.
If you're unsure whether what you've prepared meets the threshold, I'd suggest double checking with the Commission before 1 October rather than assuming a partial lodgement meets the requirements.
Auditors may become a bottleneck
Applying starts the process but there are quite a few steps after this. After you submit your application, you'll receive your scope of audit, engage an auditor, and go through a two-stage certification audit before the Commission decides on your registration. From start to finish, NDIS registration realistically can take several months if not longer.
Something to note. Potentially thousands of unregistered SIL providers around Australia are working to the same deadline, and there's only a finite number of Approved Quality Auditors. Auditor availability is almost certainly going to tighten as providers start looking at confirming audit dates. The Commission doesn't set audit prices and can't manufacture auditor capacity, so start contacting auditors for quotes as soon as you submit your application (you don't need to wait until the 1 October date to do this, and probably shouldn't).
What happens if you don't apply in time
If you haven't lodged a valid application by 1 October 2026, you need to stop delivering SIL. Your participants need to move to a registered provider, and you'll have notification and transition obligations to meet when you stop providing this support.
Continuing to deliver anyway, as noted above, may be subject to steep penalties. The transition arrangements protect providers who are in the process, but not for those who don't meet the 1 October deadline.
What to do now
Confirm first that what you deliver is SIL under the new definition, because not everyone currently claiming in this space will need to get registered.
If you do, work through the free SIL Self-Assessment. It walks you through each indicator of the SIL Practice Standards so you can see where your systems already meet the bar and where the gaps are. It's the same self-assessment you'll need for the application, and it tells you how much work stands between you and being audit-ready.
Finally, submit your application, and start getting your auditor quotes.
This article reflects information available as of July 2026. SIL registration requirements are set by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; check the Commission's mandatory registration page for the current detail before you act.
About the author
Penny Halpin
Penny is an NDIS Lead Auditor who has worked in certification since the first audits in 2018, and was previously a Senior Manager at an Approved Quality Auditor with technical review across thousands of audit reports. She built the Paperbark tools to help providers create documentation that reflects how they actually work.
More about Penny →