NDIS Guides

24 Hour Disability Care: How the NDIS Funds Support Around the Clock

Name: 1 Care Connect
Address: Rosehill, NSW, 2142, AU
Telephone: 1300 264 942

November 6, 2026

24 hour disability care means having support available through the day and night, including overnight, because of your disability. Under the NDIS, the support designed for this is supported independent living, or SIL. However, it is not the only option, and it does not pay for everything. This guide explains who SIL suits, how overnight support works, what other options exist, and what sits outside the funding.

Quick summary

SIL is NDIS funding for a support worker to help or supervise you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The NDIS guideline says it may suit you if you need active help for more than 8 hours a day and some support at all other times.
Most people share support with housemates. Individual support is for limited situations.
Up to 2 hours of awake support a night means a sleepover. Regularly more means active overnight support.
Individualised living options and onsite shared support can also provide help at home.
SIL does not cover rent, groceries, bills, or nursing and medical care.

What 24 hour disability care means under the NDIS

According to the NDIS page on supported independent living, SIL is funding for a support worker to help or supervise you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You may share a support worker or have an individual one, depending on how much help you need.

In particular, the NDIS page on SIL says it may suit you if you need a support worker to:

stay with you 24 hours a day, including overnight
help you with daily activities for at least 8 of those hours
give you some level of help or supervision for the other hours.

The NDIS guideline puts it slightly differently: active disability support for more than 8 hours a day, plus some level of support for the other hours. Active disability support means help in your home with daily activities, like personal care, cooking, eating and cleaning. It includes direct support, where a worker helps you or does something for you. It also includes monitoring, where a worker supervises you and can step in if needed. The NDIS then works out overnight support separately.

At the same time, SIL has limits. It is generally only for people aged 18 or older. In addition, it is not for people who only need a few hours of support each day or week, or who manage their own supports, such as rostering their own workers. In those cases, personal care support through assistance with daily life may meet your needs. For the basics, start with our guide to what SIL is, then see how 1 Care Connect delivers supported independent living in Western Sydney.

Shared support or one-to-one

24 hour disability care does not have to mean one worker for one person. In fact, the NDIS guideline says most people do not need 24-hour individual supports, and share supports with others instead. For example, if you live with more than 2 other participants, one support worker might support 2 participants. Alternatively, 2 support workers might support 4 participants.

In some situations, the NDIS may fund individual SIL, with one-to-one or greater support 24 hours a day. The guideline gives three examples:

disability-related health needs that are life-threatening or need constant monitoring
behaviours of concern that you cannot manage, that happen often and over a long time, and that put you or others at risk
a condition that is changing quickly, so your support needs are increasing.

In that case, the NDIS also looks at your whole plan. For instance, most funding might sit in your home and living budget for SIL. Some might also sit in your assistance with social and community participation budget, so you can get support to go out. Together, these budgets fund 24-hour individual support.

How overnight support works

Nights are where the details matter most. The NDIS guideline sets out three situations:

If you need up to 2 hours of awake support overnight, the NDIS funds sleepover support.
When you need more than that every now and again, your provider can claim extra hours, but only with your agreement first.
However, if you regularly need more than 2 hours of awake support, the NDIS funds active overnight support, where your worker stays awake during normal sleeping hours.

The NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 defines a night-time sleepover. It starts before midnight and finishes after midnight, lasts a continuous 8 hours or more, and the worker may sleep when not providing support. If your needs change and your worker is awake for more than 2 hours a night, talk to the NDIS about whether your plan needs to change.

Two more details help with planning. SIL funding includes an average of 12 public holidays a year. The NDIS also generally funds an initial maximum of 10 irregular support days a year for standard needs, or 15 for high intensity needs, for times like being sick at home.

Other home and living supports that may help

SIL is one of several home and living supports. Depending on your needs, two others may also help:

Individualised living options (ILO). An individualised living option might be right if you need support at home, formal or informal, for at least 6 hours each day. You might live with a host or a housemate, with extra paid support such as a support worker staying over.
Onsite shared support (OSS). Onsite shared support is unplanned help that may be available if you live alone in a specialist disability accommodation apartment. It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is usually shared between 10 people in the same building.

However, OSS has clear limits. The NDIS says to consider whether an average of 2.5 hours of unplanned support a day is enough, and whether you can safely wait up to 60 minutes for help. You cannot get OSS if your plan includes SIL. It also does not replace emergency services, so call triple zero (000) if you are at immediate risk of harm.

What 24 hour care does not cover

Above all, SIL pays for the people who support you, not your living costs. According to the NDIS guideline, it does not include:

rent, board or lodging, groceries, utilities and vehicle costs
expenses related to holidays, including travel
paid personal support while you are admitted to hospital
nursing, medical, palliative care and other health-related supports.

Some support can still sit beside SIL in your plan. For example, the NDIS lists community nursing care as a separate support, for disability-related nursing care for participants with high care needs. The guideline also says you might get funding for day activities separately, such as disability day programs. Food is another cost outside SIL, and our guide to NDIS meal preparation and delivery explains why food stays your own expense.

Agreements and your roster of care

SIL can now only be delivered by providers that are registered, or that applied to register before 1 October 2026. Your registered SIL provider must give you a tenancy agreement. You should also make a service agreement that covers the ratio, amount and intensity of your support.

Your provider may also create a roster of care with you. It lists the hours of support you need, your ratio of support, and the type of support you need overnight. Our guide to the SIL house explains tenancy agreements and vacancies in more detail.

Frequently asked questions

Does the NDIS pay for 24 hour care?

It can, through supported independent living. The NDIS describes SIL as funding for a support worker to help or supervise you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You need to meet the NDIS funding criteria, and SIL is generally for people aged 18 or older.

What is a sleepover shift?

It is overnight support where the worker can sleep when not helping you. The NDIS funds sleepover support if you need up to 2 hours of awake support a night. The pricing schedule defines a sleepover as a continuous period of 8 hours or more that crosses midnight.

What is active overnight support?

In short, active overnight support means your support worker stays awake during normal sleeping hours. The NDIS funds it if you regularly need more than 2 hours of awake support overnight.

Can I get 24 hour support if I live alone?

Possibly. The NDIS guideline says you can get SIL if you live on your own, although most people share supports with others. If you live alone in an SDA apartment and do not have SIL, onsite shared support may be an option.

Does 24 hour care include nursing?

Not within SIL. The guideline says SIL does not include nursing, medical, palliative care and other health-related supports. Community nursing care is a separate NDIS support for disability-related nursing for people with high care needs.

Can a child get 24 hour disability care through the NDIS?

SIL is generally only for people aged 18 or older, because the NDIS would usually expect parents to support a child to live at home. Where a child needs much more support than other children of the same age, the NDIS may fund personal care or other supports.

Do I have to share my support worker?

Not always. Most people share supports, but the NDIS may fund individual support in limited situations, such as life-threatening health needs that need constant monitoring.

How 1 Care Connect can help

1 Care Connect is a registered SIL provider, and Supported Independent Living is one of our approved NDIS registration groups. A nurse-led team runs our SIL homes, with consistent support workers who know the people they support. We specialise in SIL for participants with physical disabilities and low behavioural complexity.

Our in home care includes regular scheduled visits, drop-in support, and after-hours and weekend support. If you need someone with you around the clock, including overnight, supported independent living may suit you better. You can see our current SIL and SDA homes, or call 1300 264 942, email contact@1careconnect.com.au or send us an enquiry.