For you if · The 1 October window
You deliver SIL and you are not registered yet
Supported independent living became its own registration class, 0138, on 1 July 2026. Unregistered providers delivering SIL are required to lodge a registration application by 1 October 2026. Providers who do not complete registration cannot continue delivering NDIS-funded SIL, and their participants are transitioned to registered providers.
SIL sits on the certification pathway: a two-stage audit, with stage two taking place within three months of stage one, assessed against the Practice Standards including the SIL-specific standards, and requiring at least two auditors.
Transition arrangements after the 1 July commencement had not been fully finalised when this was written. Treat every date here as a prompt to check the NDIS Commission's own guidance, not as a substitute for it. This page is general information, not registration advice.
The first honest thing
If your deadline is nine weeks away, I am not who you need right now. You need a compliance consultant who works with approved auditors daily and can get policies, worker screening and evidence assembled to a lodgeable standard inside the window. That is a different job from mine and there are people who do it well.
I build the systems that make the next audit cheaper. That is a real problem and it is not this week's problem. Saying so now is more useful to you than a discovery call.
What follows is what I know about the pathway, written because the information is scattered and most of what exists is a sales page.
What the certification audit actually involves
Certification is the heavier of the two NDIS audit pathways, and SIL takes it because it is classified high-risk. It is not a document review.
- Two stages. A first-stage assessment, then a second-stage audit, which takes place within three months of the first. Certification audits require at least two auditors.
- Assessment against the Practice Standards, including the SIL-specific standards that commenced with class 0138.
- Mandatory site visits. An auditor attends.
- Interviews with management, staff and participants. This is the part providers underestimate. The auditor asks your staff and your participants what actually happens, and compares it to what your documents say happens.
- You engage and pay the auditor, from the Commission's approved list.
Unregistered SIL providers who do not apply by 1 October 2026 can only claim for services delivered up to 30 September 2026. Delivering supported independent living without being registered is a serious offence under the NDIS Act, carrying a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment, a fine of 120 penalty units, or both.
A document review can be passed with well-written documents. An audit that includes participant interviews tests the distance between the documented process and the lived one. If your policy says something happens weekly and a participant describes something else, the document is now evidence against you.
How long it takes, and what decides that
The registration application process commonly runs up to six months end to end. The single largest influence on that timeline is how prepared the provider was before applying, which is worth reading twice: the audit does not slow you down, being unready does.
Lodging by 1 October is the requirement. Completing registration is a longer process that continues after lodgement, so the practical read is that lodging late compresses everything downstream, not that it buys you time.
What preparation actually means
The published guidance is consistent on where providers fall down, and it is not where most expect.
- Worker screening. Every worker holding a current NDIS Worker Screening Check, and being able to show it was current for every day they delivered support.
- Incident management that records and reports to the Commission, with the timeline evidenced.
- Policies aligned to the Practice Standards across every operational area. Necessary, and the easiest part.
- Complaints management with the loop demonstrably closed, not just received.
- Pricing controls within approved support limits.
- Evidence generated daily, in the ordinary course of work.
The most commonly cited failure is not missing policies. It is inadequate documentation evidence showing the policies were actually followed in practice. The hardest challenge is demonstrating real-world compliance rather than documented procedure. If you take one thing from this page, take that.
Where I would actually be useful
Not before October. After.
Certification runs on a cycle with a mid-term review, so the audit you are preparing for is the first of a repeating series. Providers who pass by assembling evidence manually under pressure discover that they have to do it again, and that nothing about the second time is easier.
The alternative is that evidence is produced as a by-product of the work rather than as a project before an audit. That is a build decision, it takes time you do not have this quarter, and it is the right conversation for November.
Common questions
When do unregistered SIL providers have to register?
Unregistered providers delivering supported independent living are required to lodge a registration application by 1 October 2026. Mandatory registration for SIL commenced on 1 July 2026 with the new registration class 0138. Confirm current dates with the NDIS Commission, as transition arrangements were still being finalised.
What happens if we miss the deadline?
Providers who have not completed registration are not permitted to deliver NDIS-funded SIL supports, and participants are transitioned to registered providers.
What kind of audit does SIL require?
Certification, the heavier pathway. It involves a two-stage audit, with stage two taking place within three months of stage one, assessed against the Practice Standards including the SIL-specific standards, and requiring at least two auditors.
How long does SIL registration take?
The process commonly runs up to six months end to end. The largest influence on that timeline is how prepared the provider was before applying.
Can you help us register?
No. Registration preparation is compliance consulting and it is not what I do. I build the systems that make the following audits cheaper, which is a conversation for after you are through this one.
This guide is general information about how Australian regulatory obligations apply in practice. It is not legal advice, and requirements vary by registration group, jurisdiction and the supports you deliver.