Key Takeaways
- Individualised Living Options (ILO) help you live the way you choose: Rather than fitting into a standard housing model, an ILO arrangement is designed around your goals, preferences, relationships, and home and living needs, helping you build greater independence with the right mix of supports.
- ILO funding is delivered in two stages: The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) generally funds an Exploration and Design stage before ongoing implementation. This allows you to identify your ideal living arrangement and develop a sustainable support plan before your ILO package begins.
- The best ILO arrangements combine formal and informal supports: An ILO may include support workers alongside family members, friends, hosts, neighbours, or other community connections. Together, these primary and supplementary supports create a flexible support network that promotes independence while providing the assistance you need.
Moving into your own home is a significant milestone.
For many people, it’s an opportunity to make your own decisions, build confidence, develop daily living skills, and create a lifestyle that reflects who you are. Sometimes that journey happens independently, while other times it involves the right mix of personalised support, family, friends, and professional services.
That’s exactly what Individualised Living Options (ILO) are designed to achieve.
Funded through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), ILO gives you the flexibility to design a living arrangement that reflects your goals, preferences, and everyday support needs. Rather than expecting you to fit into a standard housing model, ILO focuses on creating an arrangement that works for your life.
Whether you want to live alone, share with housemates, live with a host, or combine formal and informal supports in another way, an ILO arrangement is designed around what’s important to you.
In this article, we’ll walk you through how ILO works, from funding and planning through to everyday life in your chosen home. We’ll also explore how your primary support network, formal supports, and your ILO support package work together to create a living arrangement that’s tailored to your goals, preferences, and home and living needs.
What is ILO?
ILO is an NDIS Home and Living support that helps you create an individualised way of living rather than providing a single type of accommodation.
Instead of funding a particular house or property, ILO focuses on the supports that help you live safely, confidently, and independently in your chosen home.
Your ILO arrangement is built around your individual circumstances, considering factors such as:
- Your goals and aspirations.
- Your home and living needs.
- Your relationships and informal support network.
- The level of flexible support you require.
- Your preferred living environment.
Because everyone’s circumstances are different, no two ILO arrangements look exactly the same.
Some people choose to live alone with visiting support staff throughout the week. Others may share a home with friends or housemates while receiving supplementary supports. Some participants choose to live with a host who provides companionship and everyday assistance alongside funded disability supports.
The focus is always on finding the arrangement that best supports your independence, wellbeing, and long-term goals.
How is ILO different from Supported Independent Living (SIL)?
One of the most common questions participants ask is whether ILO and SIL are the same thing.
While both are Home and Living supports funded by the NDIS, they are designed for different situations.
ILO focuses on creating a personalised living arrangement that reflects your goals, relationships, and preferred lifestyle. It often combines formal disability supports with informal supports, such as family members, friends, hosts, or other trusted people in your community.
SIL, on the other hand, is generally designed for people who require more frequent or ongoing daily support. It commonly involves scheduled assistance from support staff within a shared home or other supported accommodation environment.
Neither option is better than the other.
The right choice depends on your individual circumstances, your support needs, and how you want to live. During your planning process, your Support Coordinator, allied health team, and ILO provider can help determine which Home and Living option is most appropriate for you.
Want to know more? Read our article, ILO vs SIL: Which living option fits you?
How to apply for NDIS ILO funding
ILO funding is generally delivered in two stages:
- Exploration and Design
- ILO Supports in Place
Before funding can be considered, your NDIS goals should demonstrate that living more independently is something you want to achieve.
For example, your goals might include:
- Moving out of the family home.
- Living with friends.
- Building greater independence.
- Developing everyday life skills.
- Becoming more involved in your local community.
These goals help demonstrate how an ILO arrangement supports your longer-term aspirations and meets the NDIS funding criteria.
It’s also important to understand that your ILO package only funds the supports that relate to your home and living arrangement.
You may still receive funding for other supports, including therapy, employment supports, assistive technology, community participation, and other capacity building supports. These extra supports continue to work alongside your ILO package to create a complete and personalised support plan.
What does an ILO arrangement look like in everyday life?
Every person’s ILO arrangement is different because every person’s goals are different.
For one person, promoting independence might mean receiving support with personal care each morning before heading to work, followed by weekly assistance with grocery shopping, budgeting, and meal preparation.
Someone else may live with a host who provides companionship and everyday guidance while funded support workers assist with community participation, appointments, and household tasks.
Another participant may choose to live independently with regular visits from support staff who help maintain routines, build confidence using public transport, and strengthen social connections through local activities and community groups.
Rather than delivering the same supports to everyone, ILO services are designed around the life you want to build. As your confidence grows and your circumstances change, your tailored supports can also evolve, ensuring your arrangement continues to meet your changing home and living needs.
Working with an ILO provider
Choosing the right ILO provider is an important part of creating a living arrangement that genuinely works for you.
An experienced provider doesn’t simply organise supports. They work alongside you to understand your goals, explore different living options, and help you develop a support plan that reflects the life you want to live.
Throughout the process, your ILO provider may collaborate with your Support Coordinator, therapists, family members, and other professionals involved in your care. Together, they help identify the ideal living arrangement, consider any risks or support requirements, and ensure your supports remain sustainable over the long term.
Because ILO is highly personalised, your provider should take the time to understand what independence looks like for you. Whether that means living alone, sharing with housemates, or building an arrangement around trusted community relationships, the focus should always remain on providing tailored supports that promote choice, confidence, and long-term independence.
Stage 1 – Exploration and Design
The Exploration and Design stage is all about discovering what type of living arrangement will best support your goals.
Rather than making quick decisions, this stage gives you the opportunity to explore different options, talk through ideas with your support team, and consider what you need to live safely and independently.
You might trial different living situations through short-term accommodation (STA), spend time with potential hosts, or explore how different levels of support could work in everyday life. Taking the time to explore these options helps ensure your final arrangement feels right for you.
During this stage, you’ll typically work with people such as:
- Your Support Coordinator.
- Your ILO provider.
- Allied health professionals.
- Your Behaviour Support Practitioner (if applicable).
- Family members or trusted friends.
- Your broader support network.
Together, you’ll explore questions such as:
- Where do you want to live?
- Who would you like to live with?
- What formal and informal supports are already available?
- What supplementary supports may be needed?
- What daily supports will help you achieve your goals?
- How can your arrangement remain sustainable as your needs change?
The information gathered during this process is used to develop an ILO Service Proposal. This proposal outlines your preferred living arrangement, the supports required to make it successful, and the expected annual funding package needed to deliver those supports.
Stage 2 – ILO supports in place
Once your ILO funding has been approved, it’s time to put your plan into action.
This is when your chosen living arrangement begins, and the supports outlined in your proposal are introduced. Depending on your circumstances, this may involve coordinating support staff, establishing host arrangements, organising therapy supports, or introducing other services that form part of your overall support plan.
One of the strengths of ILO is that your supports aren’t fixed forever.
As your confidence grows, your routines change, or your goals evolve, your support plan can be reviewed to ensure it continues meeting your home and living needs. Your ILO provider, Support Coordinator, and broader support team can work with you to adjust supports over time while continuing to promote independence.
It’s also important to understand that your ILO package is a stated support within your NDIS Plan. This means the funding is specifically allocated for your Individualised Living Options services and cannot be used for unrelated supports. However, it works alongside your other NDIS funding to provide a complete package of personalised support.
If you’d like to better understand the different ways you can manage your funding, read our guide on how to manage your NDIS plan funding by choosing the right provider and NDIS Plan Manager.
Living independently in regional and remote Western Australia
Finding the right living arrangement can look a little different in regional and remote communities.
Across the Kimberley and other parts of regional Western Australia, housing availability, host arrangements, and access to support services may be more limited than in metropolitan areas. This makes careful planning even more important during the Exploration and Design stage.
In many communities, successful ILO arrangements are built around strong local relationships, existing informal support networks, and connections to Country, culture, and community. Visiting allied health professionals, telehealth services, and flexible support models may also form part of your overall support plan, helping ensure you receive the support you need while remaining connected to the place you call home.
At KCG, we understand the unique opportunities and challenges of delivering Home and Living supports in regional and remote Western Australia. Our focus is on helping you create an arrangement that reflects your goals, your community, and the supports available where you live.
Final thoughts
Choosing where and how you live is one of the most important decisions you’ll make.
ILO recognises that independence looks different for everyone. For some people, it’s living alone with regular support. For others, it’s sharing a home with trusted housemates or living with a host while receiving the right mix of formal and informal supports.
The most successful ILO arrangements are built around your goals, your relationships, and the life you want to create. By taking the time to explore different options and working with an experienced ILO provider, you can develop a living arrangement that supports your independence today while remaining flexible enough to grow with you in the future.
As a Registered NDIS Provider, KCG is here to help you navigate every stage of your ILO journey; from exploring your options to implementing tailored Home and Living supports that reflect your individual needs and aspirations.
If you’re considering ILO, or would like to learn more about the different Home and Living supports available through the NDIS, we’d love to help you explore what’s possible.
Contact the KCG team today to discuss your needs or complete a referral.
For more specific details on ILO, refer to the NDIS website or contact your NDIS representative.
References:
https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/home-and-living/individualised-living-options