Applied for SIL registration before 1 October 2026? Your certification audit is next.

If you delivered SIL before 1 July 2026 and applied for registration before 1 October 2026, you can keep delivering SIL until the NDIS Commissioner decides.¹ Before that decision you need a certification audit against the Core module and the SIL module, Module 5A.^1,2

What the auditor checks

The Core module. 24 standards in 4 parts.⁴

• Rights of participants and responsibilities of providers: 5 standards
• Provider governance and operational management: 9 standards
• Provision of supports: 5 standards
• Support provision environment: 5 standards

Module 5A: Assistance with supported independent living. These standards apply from 1 July 2026.^5,6 The outcome each one asks for, from the Rules:¹

Supported decision-making

(1) Each participant is supported to understand and make genuine decisions for themselves. (2) Each participant is provided with accessible information, and decision-making support, about: (a) the supports and services delivered in their home; and (b) the supports and services delivered to enable them to access their community.

Safeguarding

(1) Each participant is supported to live in a safe, respectful and supportive home environment. (2) Each participant is supported to have adequate safeguards in place to mitigate harm at home and when participants access their community.

Practice governance

(1) Each participant is supported in their home by workers that have the necessary training, knowledge and skills to support them. (2) Each participant is supported by workers that have the knowledge of, and guidance to use, evidence-informed practices that: (a) are tailored to the participant’s needs; and (b) enable the provision of safe and high quality supports.

Agreements about tenancy, housing and support arrangements

(1) Each participant who has a tenancy agreement with the provider is supported to understand how the terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement interact with their service agreement with the provider. (2) Each such participant is supported by effective tenancy management and is able to exercise choice and control and their tenancy rights.

If you use, or are likely to use, a regulated restrictive practice, Module 2A: Implementing behaviour support plans is also audited.¹ If you were registered for group 0115 and are moving to 0138, you must meet Module 5A during the move.⁶

At Stage 2: the audit can include site visits to your head office and the places you deliver supports, inspection of sites and equipment, participant interviews, worker interviews, a review of your documents, and requests for more information.³ Auditors speak privately with some participants, for example about whether they feel safe and know how to make a complaint. Participants are enrolled in the audit unless they opt out, and you need to tell them this.³

From application to registration

1. Your applicationApplications go through the NDIS Commission portal. From 12 October 2026 that is the new portal: Part 1 checks suitability, Part 2 covers your supports, a self-assessment and evidence. An application must be finished within 60 days.⁷
2. Choose your auditorYou pick an approved quality auditor in the portal. You send your audit pack straight to the auditor.⁷ Confirm the scope and dates with them.³
3. Stage 1: desktop auditThe auditor asks for information and evidence, usually off-site.³
4. Stage 2: onsite auditThe auditor checks how your policies work in practice in your houses. The Stage 2 onsite audit should take place within 3 months after Stage 1 is complete.³
5. Fix any findingsA major non-conformity must be fixed within 3 months. Registration does not progress until it is fixed and the audit is complete. A minor non-conformity has a longer period, and registration can continue.³
6. Audit report and decisionThe auditor sends the report to the Commission up to 28 days after a certification audit. The Commissioner then decides your application.³
7. After registrationProviders registered after a certification audit have a mid-term audit. It covers governance and operational management, any standard that needed a corrective action plan, and any other standard the Commission asks for. The Commission says to start preparing 12 months after your registration date; the auditor's final report must reach the Commission within 18 months.³ Registration lasts 3 years. You can apply to renew in the 6 months before it ends.⁸

Documents to prepare

A checklist built from Module 5A and the Core module. The auditor decides what to sample, so keep records for every house.

Agreements and tenancy

• A separate SIL service agreement and tenancy agreement for each participant who gets both from you⁶
• Each participant's signed copy of their agreement, or a note of why they could not get one⁶
• Written service agreements that cover concerns about the home, co-tenant conflict, changes in needs, filling vacancies and visitors⁶
• A conflict of interest procedure for when you provide both SIL and housing⁶
• A way for participants to raise concerns about supports or tenancy, with help to reach advocacy⁶

Decisions and safeguarding

• A supported decision-making procedure, and records of training and refresher training for workers⁶
• A safeguarding procedure that covers bullying, abuse, neglect and conflict between co-residents⁶
• Records showing you review safeguards with participants and change practice as a result⁶

Each house

• Records of consulting current residents before a new resident moves in⁶
• An emergency plan for each shared home, made with the residents and rehearsed^1,6
• A written vision, values and approach for supports in the home⁶

Workers

• Training and competency records for trauma-informed practice, active support and supported decision-making⁶
• For every worker in a risk assessed role, a checked NDIS worker screening clearance, and a written list of risk assessed roles^1,9
• Qualifications, induction, supervision and training records in each staff file^1,3

Registers and reports

• An incident register with records of reportable incidents¹
• A complaints register showing how each complaint was handled¹
• A risk register¹
• If you use regulated restrictive practices, behaviour support plans and monthly reports to the Commission^1,10

Gaps to check for

These requirements are easy to miss. Check each one before Stage 1.

• One combined document for SIL and housing. The QI Guidelines ask for separate service and tenancy agreements.⁶
• A new resident placed without asking the people who already live there.⁶
• An emergency plan that was never practised in the house, or that was written without the residents.⁶
• Training records that show a course was booked, without a record that the worker was assessed as competent.⁶
• Policies that exist on paper with no records showing they are used, such as incident reports, complaint records or supervision notes.³
• Expired worker screening clearances, or workers not linked to your organisation in the Commission's portal.^1,9

How CareHelm helps

• A gap assessment that shows the Core and Module 5A requirements, and what is ready for the auditor.
• Policy templates for the Core module and Module 5A, filled from your answers. Each section stays a draft until you approve it.
• Houses and sites: each house with its workers, evidence, incidents and complaints.
• Staff files with worker screening details, and staff sign-off by email link for every worker.
• A tick list for each participant file the auditor may sample, using your own participant IDs.
• Incident, complaint, risk and improvement registers, and a restrictive practice register with the monthly report.
• Evidence with expiry dates, and an email before a certificate expires.
• An auditor findings page for non-conformities and your plan to fix them.
• An audit pack sorted by requirement, and a read-only link for your auditor.

Missed 1 October?

If you delivered SIL before 1 July 2026 and did not apply before 1 October 2026, the registration requirement applies to you from 1 October 2026.¹ Contact the NDIS Commission about your situation.

Questions

Sources

1. NDIS (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018, as at 1 July 2026, legislation.gov.au
2. Registration groups or classes of support, NDIS Commission
3. The quality audit process, NDIS Commission
4. Core module, NDIS Commission
5. Module 5A: Assistance with supported independent living, NDIS Commission
6. NDIS (Quality Indicators for NDIS Practice Standards) Guidelines 2018, as at 1 July 2026, legislation.gov.au
7. NDIS Commission portal (new), NDIS Commission
8. Renew your registration, NDIS Commission
9. NDIS (Practice Standards: Worker Screening) Rules 2018, legislation.gov.au
10. NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018, legislation.gov.au

Last reviewed 3 October 2026. Rules change: check the sources before you act.

Based on content from the Federal Register of Legislation and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission website, © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0. CareHelm summarised it in plain English. Check the linked sources for the official text. For the latest legislation go to legislation.gov.au.