SIL Participant Compatibility Template and Example

What Is a SIL Participant Compatibility Assessment?

When a registered NDIS provider delivers Supported Independent Living (SIL) in a shared setting, they are responsible for ensuring that the people sharing that home can do so safely, respectfully, and in a way that supports each participant's individual goals. A participant compatibility assessment is the documented process and outcome of that determination.

It is not simply a matching exercise. Under the NDIS Practice Standards — and more explicitly under the strengthened framework taking effect from 2026 — providers must be able to demonstrate that every compatibility decision was evidence-based, centred on participant rights, and regularly reviewed. Auditors from NDIS-approved quality auditors will request this documentation as part of registration and re-registration audits.

Why Compatibility Documentation Is a Practice Standards Requirement

The NDIS Practice Standards (particularly the Module on SIL and the overarching core module on rights and responsibilities) require providers to:

• Respect and promote each participant's right to make decisions about their living arrangements.
• Minimise and manage risk in the support environment.
• Ensure supports are tailored to individual needs and do not compromise the safety or wellbeing of other participants.
• Maintain contemporaneous records that demonstrate these obligations are being met.

The NDIS Commission's Code of Conduct also requires workers and providers to act with respect for individual rights and to take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to harm. A poorly matched shared living arrangement is a foreseeable source of harm — psychosocial, physical, and functional — making compatibility assessment a direct compliance obligation, not an administrative nicety.

Under the strengthened Practice Standards framework, which the NDIS Commission is implementing progressively through 2026, providers will face more prescriptive requirements around evidence of person-centred active support and a heightened duty to document the reasoning behind placement decisions. Providers that cannot produce a completed compatibility assessment risk non-conformance findings during audit.

What a Compatibility Assessment Must Cover

A thorough SIL compatibility assessment should address the following domains for each participant being considered for a shared arrangement:

1. Support needs and intensity — Does the staffing ratio required for one participant affect the availability of support for another? Are there conflicting peak-support times (e.g., both participants requiring two-person manual handling at breakfast)?
2. Communication and behaviour — Are there sensory sensitivities, communication styles, or behaviours of concern that may conflict? Has a behaviour support practitioner reviewed any relevant Behaviour Support Plans?
3. Health and medical needs — Are there infection-risk considerations, noise-sensitivity from medical equipment, or medication routines that require privacy and quiet at specific times?
4. Cultural, religious, and lifestyle preferences — Diet, language spoken at home, religious observance, social preferences (e.g., one participant hosts frequent family visits; another requires a calm, low-stimulation home).
5. Daily routines and goals — Are daily schedules broadly compatible? Does one participant's NDIS goal (e.g., developing independent cooking skills with loud activity) conflict with another's needs (e.g., sleep schedule due to a health condition)?
6. History and expressed preferences — Has either participant previously lived with others? Were there difficulties? What does each participant say they want in a housemate?
7. Risk assessment outcome — A clear documented conclusion: compatible, compatible with conditions (specify), or not compatible.

Filled-In Example: SIL Participant Compatibility Assessment

The following is a realistic example of a completed compatibility record for two participants being considered for the same SIL home. Provider details and names are illustrative.

Compatibility Template: Blank Sections to Complete

Use the following structure for each shared-living pairing your organisation assesses. Complete one assessment per proposed pairing and retain in the participant's support file.

1. Participant identifiers (de-identified reference or NDIS number per your privacy policy)
2. Disability type and primary support needs
3. Current support ratios and peak-support times
4. Communication profiles (verbal, AAC, Auslan, PECS, etc.)
5. Documented behaviours of concern (reference BSP if applicable)
6. Health and medical considerations relevant to shared living
7. Cultural, religious, and lifestyle preferences
8. Daily routine summary (wake/sleep, meal times, activity preferences)
9. Individual NDIS goals that may affect shared environment
10. Expressed preference of participant (direct quote or summary from consultation)
11. Expressed preference of nominee/guardian (if applicable)
12. Identified compatibility risks
13. Mitigation and management plan
14. Outcome: Compatible / Compatible with conditions / Not compatible
15. Review trigger and date
16. Signatures: Coordinator, Service Manager, date

When to Review a Compatibility Assessment

A compatibility assessment is not a one-off document. Providers must review and, where necessary, update it when any of the following occur:

• A new participant is proposed for a vacancy in an existing shared home.
• A participant's support needs, health status, or behaviour support plan changes materially.
• A participant or their nominee raises a concern about the shared arrangement.
• An incident occurs between participants sharing the home.
• A participant's NDIS plan is reviewed and goals or funding change significantly.
• At minimum annually, as part of the provider's scheduled file review cycle.

Incident and complaint records should cross-reference the compatibility assessment so that patterns are visible to management and the service can demonstrate continuous improvement — a requirement the NDIS Commission's auditors will look for specifically under the strengthened quality indicators framework.

Common Mistakes Providers Make With Compatibility Records

• Generic or undated documents — a template saved with no participant-specific information filled in will be flagged as non-conformance immediately.
• No evidence of participant consultation — the assessment must capture what the participant said, not just what staff assumed they preferred.
• Ignoring Behaviour Support Plans — if a BSP exists and the compatibility assessment does not reference it, auditors will question whether the provider understood the risk picture.
• No review mechanism — documents with no review date or trigger criteria suggest the provider treats compatibility as a one-time tick-box.
• Outcome stated without reasoning — writing "compatible" without documenting why is insufficient; the reasoning process must be visible.

Pulling It Together: Documentation in Your Compliance Kit

A completed compatibility assessment should be held in each participant's support file and cross-referenced in the SIL house file. It should be accessible to the coordinator, service manager, and — in redacted form where required — to auditors. Link it to your incident register, your restrictive practices register (if relevant), and your complaints log so that any emerging pattern is visible across documents.

If your organisation is building or auditing its full SIL documentation suite ahead of 2026 registration requirements, the 136-document SIL compliance kit available at ndiscompliant.com.au includes a pre-formatted compatibility assessment template alongside all other Practice Standards-aligned documents.