What changed
From 19 October 2026, when the NDIA approves your NDIS plan, it includes the full Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) amount you're eligible for. This applies whether you already live in an SDA home or you're still looking for one.
Some plans used to show a $1 placeholder, or less than the full amount, until a home was found. The NDIA says the aim is to make SDA funding easier to access and to cut delays.
What hasn't changed
- How the NDIA decides whether you're eligible for SDA.
- How much SDA funding you're eligible for.
- How SDA providers claim SDA funding.
So this is about when the money appears in your plan, not about who gets SDA or how much.
Do I need to do anything?
Most people don't. If your plan shows a $1 placeholder or less than your full SDA amount, the NDIA will update it at your next plan reassessment.
If you're moving into an SDA home
If you're about to move into an SDA home, you may be able to have your plan updated sooner by telling the NDIA about a change of circumstances. You also need to tell the NDIA when you move into a new SDA home. Your support coordinator can help with both.
How do I get SDA funding?
SDA is only for participants with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs, and the NDIA decides whether you're eligible and which design category and building type you get. You ask for it the same way as other home and living supports. The NDIA's steps are:
- Think about what you need. List your disability-related support needs, your goals for where and how you'd like to live, and the help you already get from family, friends and community services.
- Talk to your my NDIS contact. They explain the home and living options, including support from state government and community services, and help you explore them.
- Give the NDIA your evidence. It should be recent and come from a relevant treating health professional. It needs to explain your daily support and housing needs, what you can and can't do because of your disability, and the other home and living options you've explored and why they don't meet your needs.
- Send it in. Use the NDIA's service hub, post it to NDIA, GPO Box 700, Canberra ACT 2601, or hand it to your my NDIS contact or local office, and say why you're sending it.
If the NDIA includes SDA, it invites you to a plan meeting, and since 19 October 2026 the full amount shows in your plan. If it doesn't, it tells you why, and you can ask for a review of the decision. A support coordinator can help you gather the evidence.
What to do next in South East Queensland
- Check your plan. Note the SDA design category and building type in it. A home has to match both, and our guide to SDA design categories explains what each one means.
- Look at vacancies. With SDA funding you can search the NDIA's SDA finder by location, building type and price. Your support coordinator can also help, and we can tell you about SDA homes available now in Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan and the Gold Coast.
- Visit before you decide. Ask who you'd live with, how support works in the home and how the rent is worked out.
- Sort out the agreements. You need a written service agreement with the SDA provider, and you record them in your plan as a my provider. You pay a reasonable rent contribution and your bills.
- Plan your support separately. Supported Independent Living (SIL) pays for the support in the home, and you can choose any registered provider for it. Living in a home never depends on who provides your support.
What it means when you look for a home
Having the full amount in your plan doesn't change which homes suit you. A home still needs to match the SDA design category and building type in your plan, so check those first. Our guide to SDA design categories explains what each one means. You keep choice and control over which matching home you apply for.
SDA approved and ready to look?
Tell us the design category and building type in your plan, and the area you want. We'll check homes available now with a registered SDA provider we work with.
Common questions
What changed with SDA funding in October 2026?
From 19 October 2026, an approved plan includes the full SDA amount you're eligible for, whether you already live in an SDA home or are still looking. Some plans used to show a $1 placeholder until a home was found.
Do I need to do anything about the change?
Most people don't. If your plan shows a $1 placeholder or less than your full SDA amount, the NDIA will update it at your next plan reassessment.
Did the rules on who gets SDA change?
No. How the NDIA decides eligibility, how much SDA funding you're eligible for and how SDA providers claim it have not changed.
What if I'm about to move into an SDA home?
You may be able to have your plan updated sooner by telling the NDIA about a change of circumstances, and you need to tell the NDIA when you move into a new SDA home. Your support coordinator can help with both.
Sources
- NDIA news, Changes to how SDA funding appears in NDIS plans (22 Oct 2026). www.ndis.gov.au (checked 7 Nov 2026)
- NDIS, How to ask for home and living supports. www.ndis.gov.au (checked 8 Nov 2026)
- NDIS, What is specialist disability accommodation (SDA). www.ndis.gov.au (checked 7 Nov 2026)