Home and Living Exploration: Exploring Your Options First
Home and living exploration explained: why the NDIS asks you to explore housing options first, who helps, what it covers, and how it is funded.
Before the NDIS funds a big housing support like SDA or SIL, it wants to know you have genuinely explored what would work for you. That stage is called home and living exploration, and far from being a hurdle, it can help you land on an arrangement that truly fits. This guide explains what exploration is, who helps, and how it is funded.
What home and living exploration is
Why explore first
Who helps you explore
What exploration covers
How exploration is funded
What you produce at the end
Exploration versus applying
Where this fits in the bigger picture
Frequently asked questions
What is home and living exploration?
It is a funded stage where you work out where and how you want to live, and what support you would need, before committing to an arrangement like SDA or SIL. Done with a support coordinator or exploration provider, it helps you make a considered decision and produces the groundwork for a strong…
Why does the NDIS want me to explore options first?
Exploring first leads to better decisions, gives less intensive options a fair look, and makes your funding request more convincing by showing you considered the alternatives. It also reduces the chance of ending up in an unsuitable arrangement and having to move again. It usually makes the rest of…
How is home and living exploration funded?
It is generally funded through Capacity Building support, often via support coordination or a dedicated exploration budget, rather than from the ongoing supports you are exploring. In an ILO arrangement, the Exploration and Design stage does this work as part of ILO. Raise it at planning if home and…
What is the difference between exploration and applying?
Exploration is working out what you want and need. Applying is requesting the funding for it, backed by evidence. You explore first, then apply. Skipping exploration and jumping straight to a request often backfires, because the NDIA wants to see that the thinking was done.