If your team work in Supported Independent Living environments, the new SIL Practice Standards (Module 5A) have applied since 1 July 2026. That’s almost four months ago. When your next audit comes around, whether it’s mid-term, renewal or certification, the auditor will want to see how your team has been working to those standards since that date.
Just having the policies written isn’t enough. Auditors look for what actually happens in the house: participant records, shift notes, supervision, how incidents were handled, and how people were supported to make their own decisions. They’ll check training records too, but a completion certificate only shows someone completed the course. What they want to see is that workers can show how they’ve used what they learnt, and that someone has watched, guided and signed off on that practice.
If your workers haven’t yet been trained in things like supported decision-making, safeguarding in shared living, practice governance, and how tenancy and support agreements work, those records will show a gap. Leave it until the audit is close, and it gets harder to fill, because training completed in February can’t show what your team knew (or didn’t know – which may be assumed) in August. Gaps tend to become findings, and findings mean corrective actions, extra cost and a lot of stress.
Some providers are holding off because they’re waiting for new required training material to be ready.
That’s understandable, but it carries its own risk.
Every week the training isn’t ready is another week without records, and the longer that runs, the more likely it is to show up as a non-conformity, a corrective action and costs you didn’t plan for.
If your current training is still some way off, it’s worth looking at what’s already available now.
What the standards cover
The four SIL Practice Standards are:
- Supported decision-making: participants make real choices about their home and daily life, with information they can understand and the support to use it.
- Safeguarding: participants are protected from harm without losing their choice, dignity or dignity of risk.
- Practice governance: workers are trained, supervised and guided by good practice, so support is safe and consistent.
- Agreements about tenancy, housing and support: housing and support arrangements are kept clearly separate, and participants understand their rights.
Meeting them is part of your registration, so your audit will test whether you’ve been doing so since they started.
Evidence of learning is only half the picture. For each standard, think about what your team can show in practice. A worker who’s completed the supported decision-making course should be able to point to a shift note where they offered a participant real choices and accessible information. A supervisor should have a record of observing that worker, giving feedback and following up. Those hands-on examples, backed by regular supervision, are what turn a training record into proof that the standards are being met.
Where we can help
NGO Training Centre has courses mapped directly to these standards. You can deliver and track training through our LMS and mobile app, so your team can learn on shift breaks or between houses, and you can pull completion reports with the click of a button whenever an auditor asks.
You can choose from:
- The SIL Master Course collection, which covers all the relevant SIL topics in a single enrolment.
- Our new Supported Decision-Making course, written specifically for Module 5A.
- Full Disability Support and Combined Sector packages, which include every SIL course plus wider NDIS Practice Standards training, audit-ready reporting and the LMS/mobile app.
The full course-to-standard mapping, package details and enrolment options are on our SIL Standards page.
Starting now still counts
You can’t go back and train people in July, but you can start building the record today. Every week of completed training is a week you can show an auditor, and the sooner you begin, the shorter the stretch you’ll have to explain.
By the time of your next audit, you may wish you had done something about this today!
If you’re registered for SIL (or registering now), get in touch ASAP, and we’ll help you work out which courses your team needs, get learners started quickly and set up reporting so the evidence is there when it’s asked for.
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Author: Matthew Crawford, PGCert(Bus)
Matt has over a decade of experience in B2B sales and business development and with a passion for human services, is deeply committed to driving meaningful solutions within the disability and aged care sectors. His commitment to improving service quality and his deep understanding of client needs make him a trusted partner in advancing the capabilities of organisations that support ageing individuals and people with disability across Australia.
