Most families wait until SIL funding is approved before thinking about skill-building. By then, move-in day can feel closer than it is, and the preparation window gets squeezed.

This guide is not a readiness test. If you're looking for signs your family member is ready for a move, our SIL Readiness Checklist covers that question. This guide answers a different one: once the direction is clear, what do you actually work on?

Supported independent living, or SIL, is NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) funded support for people with disability to live as independently as possible. The NDIS website explains SIL as support that builds skills over time, not just care that fills gaps. That distinction matters a lot when you're preparing.

The 25 skills below are grouped into five practical domains. Not every skill applies to every person. If you already have your SIL funding approved or a plan review coming up, this list is where to focus your energy.

What Skill-Building Before SIL Actually Looks Like

Skill-building is not about reaching a point of full independence before you move. It is about reducing the gap between your family member's current capacity and what day-to-day life in an SIL home will require.

This part is sometimes harder than families expect. Progress is not always linear. Some skills develop quickly with practice at home. Others take months, or need to be introduced gradually with support. That is completely normal, and it does not mean the move cannot happen.

Your family member's occupational therapist (OT) and support coordinator are the right people to prioritise which skills matter most for their specific living arrangement and disability. The NDIS funds skill development as part of SIL, so supported independent living skills continue to be built after the move as well. The 25 skills here are a guide, not a minimum standard your family member must reach before they're allowed to leave home.

For a broader overview of how SIL works, see our Supported Independent Living: Your Complete Introduction.

Personal Care and Daily Routine

Skills 1-5

1. Morning routine management. Getting through a morning with reduced prompting, including showering, dressing, and grooming, is a core SIL skill. Practise the routine at home with the same sequence each day. Consistency builds independence faster than varying the approach.

2. Medication management. Knowing what medication to take, when, and how is different from taking it when handed to you. In SIL, support workers prompt rather than manage. Your family member benefits from understanding their own medication regime, even at a basic level.

3. Managing personal hygiene and continence needs. The goal is being able to manage hygiene needs independently or with minimal prompting, not without any support. Work on the specific steps that still require family intervention, and see which ones can be transferred to self-initiation.

4. Basic first aid awareness. Knowing when something needs urgent attention versus when it can wait is a practical daily living skill for people with disability. What counts as urgent? When do you tell a support worker? These are conversations worth having before move-in.

5. Managing fatigue and energy levels across a day. This one is often overlooked. At home, families often absorb the consequences of a family member pushing through fatigue. In SIL, understanding personal limits and when to rest becomes the participant's responsibility to recognise and communicate.

Household Management

Skills 6-10

6. Meal preparation at a basic level. Making simple meals, using a microwave safely, understanding which foods need refrigeration. This does not have to mean cooking full meals independently. It means having some functional knowledge of food safety and basic preparation.

7. Grocery shopping with support. Using a shopping list, managing a budget at the supermarket, and understanding when you've run out of something before the support worker brings it up. These are skills families can practise on regular shopping trips in the months before a move.

8. Laundry and clothing care. Sorting clothes, loading a machine, moving washing to the dryer, and folding. Even partial participation in these tasks builds familiarity with shared household rhythms that communal SIL living depends on.

9. Keeping shared spaces tidy. Communal living has unwritten rules. Understanding that shared spaces like kitchens and lounges are everyone's responsibility is a social and household skill, not just a domestic one. Practise this at home as part of daily routine.

10. Knowing how to report a maintenance problem. In SIL housing, there is a clear distinction between who handles what. Housing providers like Paramount handle property maintenance and structural issues. SIL providers handle daily support. Your family member benefits from knowing which number to call for which problem. Our SDA vs SIL comparison guide explains this distinction if it's still unclear.

Community Access and Transport

Skills 11-16

11. Using public transport independently or with a support worker. Melbourne's accessible public transport network, including Metro Trains, trams, and bus routes, requires practice. Myki cards, accessible stops, and journey planning are learnable skills. Start with familiar routes before tackling new ones.

12. Navigating familiar local areas on foot or in a wheelchair. Knowing the neighbourhood means knowing where things are, not just being driven there. Build this over time with regular outings in the area around the planned SIL home.

13. Accessing shops, services, and appointments without family escort. The goal is not solo independence immediately. It is practising these outings with support workers or a trusted person, so the family is not the default escort for every task.

14. Using a mobile phone for navigation, communication, and accessing help. A phone is a safety tool. Knowing how to navigate to a destination, call for help, or contact a support worker is an independent living skill with genuine safety implications.

15. Understanding how to access healthcare appointments. Knowing when to call a GP, how to get there, and what to bring is a daily living skill for people with disability that families often manage on their loved one's behalf. Begin practising the steps your family member can own.

16. Building familiarity with the new neighbourhood before moving in. This is one of the most practical things families can do together. Visit the area several times before move-in. Walk or wheel the local streets. Find the nearest supermarket, the GP, the parks. Familiarity significantly reduces anxiety for both participants and families on move-in day, and it's something you can do as a family right now.

Social and Communication Skills

Skills 17-20

17. Communicating preferences and concerns to support workers clearly. This is the skill most families do not think about until it is too late. Many participants who have lived with family have never had to direct their own care. Family members anticipate needs. Support workers need to be told. Learning to direct rather than wait for help is often harder than any household task, and it takes genuine practice.

18. Managing conflict or discomfort with housemates or staff constructively. Disagreements happen in shared living. Having some language and strategies for raising concerns, rather than going silent or escalating, is worth building before the move.

19. Maintaining relationships with family and friends from a new home. Calling, planning visits, and organising catch-ups independently keeps connections strong. This is a skill, and it needs attention. Families can help by encouraging their family member to initiate contact rather than always reaching out first.

20. Asking for help appropriately. Knowing what falls within a support worker's role, and what needs to go to a different support, is a practical daily living skill. Your family member's support coordinator can help map this out before move-in day.

Financial and Administrative Basics

Skills 21-25

21. Understanding the Reasonable Rent Contribution. There will be a set rent contribution calculated from the Disability Support Pension. There should be no surprises on move-in day. Your support coordinator can confirm the current figure. The important preparation here is that your family member understands this is coming and knows roughly what to expect.

22. Managing personal spending money. Budgeting for discretionary items, tracking what has been spent, and avoiding overspending in the first weeks of a new routine are skills worth building now. Even simple budgeting practice at home makes a difference.

23. Understanding NDIS plan basics. What does the plan fund? Who is the support coordinator? How do you request a change? Your family member does not need to be a funding expert. But basic plan literacy gives them agency in their own life.

24. Organising personal documents. Medicare card, NDIS plan, identification documents. Knowing where they are and how to use them is an independence skill with real daily consequences.

25. Knowing who to contact for what. Housing provider for property issues. SIL provider for support questions. Support coordinator for plan questions. Getting this clarity into your family member's head before move-in is one of the most empowering preparation steps on this list. It means they can advocate for themselves from day one, without having to route everything through family first.

How to Use This List With Your Support Team

This list is not a checklist to complete before you can move. It is a preparation guide to work through with your OT, support coordinator, and SIL provider.

Pick 5 to 8 skills that are most relevant to your family member's living arrangement and disability. Many of these skills can be practised at home in the months before the move date. Progress does not need to be perfect. Support workers in SIL continue developing these skills after the move, which is the point. The NDIS guidelines on supported independent living are clear that skill development is built into the SIL support model, not a prerequisite to entering it.

If you are still working out whether SIL is the right fit for your family member, start with our SIL Readiness Checklist first. When you are ready to evaluate providers, our SIL Provider Selection Checklist: 30 Questions walks you through what to ask.

Conclusion

The families who invest in this preparation period find the transition to supported independent living goes more smoothly. That is not a guarantee, and the move itself will involve adjustments that no amount of preparation fully eliminates. The goal is confidence, not perfection.

Paramount provides SDA (Specialist Disability Accommodation) housing, not SIL services. But we see families navigate this transition regularly, and the preparation period matters more than most people realise. If your family member's SIL plan also involves accessible housing, we are happy to talk through what is available. Many families exploring SIL find that SDA eligibility is also part of the picture.

Got questions about SDA housing in Melbourne? Call us on (03) 9999 7418 or email admin@paramounthomes.com.au. We're happy to talk through your situation.