NDIS SIL Report Template and Example for OTs
Looking for an NDIS SIL report template or a completed example? View the free Carearoo SIL sample report (PDF), then use the section-by-section outline below to organise your own home and living assessment. The PDF is a completed sample, not a blank Word template. No account is needed to read it.
This guide is for Australian occupational therapists documenting Supported Independent Living support needs. It is a writing aid, not an assessment service or a guarantee of NDIS funding. Your report must reflect the participant's preferences, your assessment and the evidence you can substantiate.
Contents
- SIL report template: a section-by-section outline
- SIL assessment, FCA, SDA and roster of care: different documents
- SIL report example and official roster of care resources
- Gather evidence before drafting the SIL report
- Build a safety and risk picture
- Document support needs without inventing hours
- Address the dwelling and shared supports
- Connect everything to goals and reasonable and necessary
SIL report template: a section-by-section outline
Use these headings as a starting point, not a compulsory format. Adjust them to the referral question, your scope and the evidence available. Put source references beside findings so a reader can tell what you observed, what the participant said and what came from another document.
| Report section | Information to organise | Check before signing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Participant and practitioner details | Participant identifiers, assessment and report dates, author and practice contact details. | Use current details and identify the signing practitioner. |
| 2. Referral, consent and participant preferences | Why home and living evidence was requested, who contributed and how the participant wants to live. | Separate the participant's preferences from the views of other people. |
| 3. Current living arrangement and supports | Household, existing paid and informal assistance, and the concerns prompting reassessment. | Describe what is working as well as gaps. Do not assume family will provide unlimited support. |
| 4. Assessment methods and sources | Observation settings, interviews, documents, tools actually administered and any limitations. | Name the source and date; do not invent tests or scores. |
| 5. Functional findings | What the person does independently and where assistance is needed in home routines. | Explain the link between impairment, task performance and the support need. |
| 6. Daily and overnight support pattern | Tasks, frequency, duration evidence, assistance type and proposed individual or shared arrangements. | State assumptions and do not count overlapping support twice. |
| 7. Safety and current safeguards | Relevant events, their sources, current controls and remaining concerns. | Distinguish an observed incident from a possible risk. |
| 8. Options considered | Relevant home and living options, participant preferences, alternatives and the reasoning for your recommendation. | Do not treat SIL as the automatic answer to every request for help at home. |
| 9. Recommendations and rationale | Recommended supports linked to findings, goals, alternatives and expected outcomes. | Make the evidence and any limits clear; approval is an NDIA decision. |
| 10. Review, sign-off and attachments | Review considerations, practitioner sign-off and an index of evidence relied on. | Check totals, names, sources and consistency across the report and attachments. |
SIL assessment, FCA, SDA and roster of care: different documents
An FCA report describes functional capacity across everyday life. A SIL assessment focuses that evidence on the support a person needs in their living arrangement. Neither the report title nor the use of a template establishes eligibility.
SDA concerns specialised housing, while SIL concerns support delivered to the person. The NDIA's SDA explanation distinguishes the dwelling from services such as personal care. Evidence for one should not be presented as automatic evidence for the other.
The NDIA home and living options guide describes SIL as around-the-clock assistance or supervision and lists other options, including assistance with daily life and individualised living options. Do not label every daytime support request as SIL. Ordinary rent and household bills are different from disability-related assistance.
SIL report example and official roster of care resources
View the Carearoo SIL sample report (PDF) to see a completed example. It is a sample, not a blank form or an approval of any individual support recommendation.
A roster of care describes weekly support delivery. It is not an OT assessment report. The NDIA’s current SIL provider guidance says a roster is optional and does not need to be submitted to the NDIA. Use the current guidance rather than an old submission checklist.
Download the official NDIA roster of care workbook (Excel) and its instructions (PDF). These belong to the NDIA and are separate from Carearoo’s report templates.
Gather evidence before drafting the SIL report
The NDIA guidance on functional evidence asks for task abilities, the kind and frequency of assistance, and whether findings were observed, assessed or reported. Use this distinction when organising information for a home and living report.
Keep a simple evidence index while writing: document or interview, date, relevant finding, and where you used it. If sources disagree, describe the disagreement and its implications instead of merging them into a confident statement. A previous report is background evidence, not proof that function is unchanged today.
- Participant account and goals, with the communication supports used to gather their views.
- Your observation notes, dates and settings, including what was not assessed.
- Current routines and support information, distinguishing provider records from family accounts.
- Relevant assessments, incident records and trial outcomes, with permission to use them.
- A list of unresolved evidence gaps to address before finalising recommendations.
Build a safety and risk picture
Describe relevant safety concerns without making risk the whole story. Include what the person can do, the choices they want to make, current safeguards and the evidence behind each concern. Identify whether an incident was observed, documented by a provider or reported in an interview.
For each concern, record the situation, what happened or could happen, the existing response and the remaining uncertainty. Keep recommendations within your scope and seek relevant professional input where needed. Avoid copying a generic list of severe risks into every report.
Document support needs without inventing hours
A total by itself does not explain a support request. Show the task, when assistance is needed, what the worker does and the evidence for frequency and duration. Keep participant time, worker time and shared arrangements distinct. Do not fill gaps by copying hours or ratios from the sample report.
The table below contains documentation prompts, not a staffing recommendation or a funding calculator. Overnight records, for example, should distinguish what was recorded from what remains uncertain. A reported concern alone does not establish a particular overnight support model.
| Part of the day | Evidence to record | Reasoning to make explicit |
|---|---|---|
| Morning or evening routines | Task steps, assistance given, observed duration and repeated observations or records. | What the person does independently; why help is required; how typical the recorded occasion is. |
| Shared household activities | Activity, people supported, worker involvement and any simultaneous needs. | Which support can actually be shared and the evidence for any individual assistance. |
| Overnight | Dated records of assistance, timing, duration, sources and existing arrangements. | What the records establish, what they do not, and the basis for the proposed response. |
| Time away from the home | Regular activities and the services providing support during those periods. | How the proposed home support schedule fits alongside other services without overlap. |
Address the dwelling and shared supports
Describe the actual or proposed environment and whether a recommendation depends on a particular arrangement. A statement that support could be shared is not evidence that every task can be shared safely or at the same time. Explain assumptions and any assessment limits.
The NDIA SIL provider guide explains how SIL interacts with other supports and says only one support can be claimed for a period of time. Use that distinction to check the consistency of proposed schedules; this report-writing outline is not billing advice.
Connect everything to goals and reasonable and necessary
For each recommendation, connect the requested support to a finding, the participant's goal, the alternatives considered and the expected outcome. Explain limits in the evidence. Use the reasonable and necessary documentation guide alongside current NDIA guidance; no sentence formula guarantees approval.
Before signing, check that recommendations, schedules and the summary say the same thing. Remove copied participant details, unsupported scores and template instructions. Check whether the report answers the original referral rather than merely filling headings.
If you want drafting assistance, Carearoo's NDIS report-writing software can organise supplied assessment notes into an editable draft. The clinician checks the evidence, edits the document and signs off. The sample PDF and this public guide do not replace that review.
Frequently asked questions
Is this an official NDIS SIL report template?
No. This is Carearoo's educational OT report outline, not an NDIA-issued assessment form. The official roster of care workbook linked above serves a different purpose: organising a provider's weekly supports.
Can I download a SIL report example for free?
Yes. Open the Carearoo SIL sample PDF without signing in. It is a completed example to read, not a blank Word template or a recommendation for another participant.
Is a SIL report the same as a functional capacity assessment?
They overlap but answer different questions. An FCA describes everyday function broadly. A SIL report uses functional evidence to explain the proposed home support arrangement. Use the FCA template guide for the broader structure.
Do I have to submit a roster of care with the OT report?
The NDIA SIL provider guidance checked on 22 October 2026 says a roster of care is optional and does not need to be submitted to the NDIA. It is separate from clinical evidence. Check current guidance and any specific request relevant to the participant.
Can I copy support hours from the SIL sample report?
No. Hours, assistance levels and shared or overnight arrangements must be supported by the participant's own evidence and clinical reasoning. The example is for learning how a report is presented, not setting another person's support allocation.
Can Carearoo draft the report on my practice template?
Carearoo offers AI-assisted report drafting from the information you supply, including an own-Word-template workflow. The treating clinician still reviews, edits and signs the final report. This public article does not create a report or change the generation workflow.
How this guide was written
Carearoo editorial guide, prepared with AI assistance. NDIA source guidance checked on 22 October 2026. The outline and documentation prompts are educational, not an NDIA-issued form, an independently clinically reviewed assessment or a funding decision.
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