Skip to content
SDA Atlas

The housing stock

14,235 dwellings are enrolled as Specialist Disability Accommodation, built for roughly 31,065 residents. Almost exactly half of that stock is High Physical Support.

Enrolled dwellings

14,235

Enrolled resident places

31,065 est

Average maximum residents

2.18 est

How the stock breaks down

By design category

Supplement P Table P.5

  • High Physical Support 7,173 50%
  • Improved Liveability 2,066 15%
  • Basic 1,862 13%
  • Robust 1,838 13%
  • Fully Accessible 1,231 9%
  • Multi-Design Category 65 0%

By SDA type

Supplement P Table P.4

  • New Build 10,242 72%
  • Existing 3,670 26%
  • New Build (refurbished) 172 1%
  • Legacy 151 1%

Legacy dwellings house more than five residents. The NDIA is progressively withdrawing SDA payments for them.

By maximum residents

Supplement P Table P.6

  • 1 resident 5,705 40%
  • 2 residents 4,112 29%
  • 3 residents 2,169 15%
  • 4 residents 767 5%
  • 5 residents 1,331 9%
  • 6+ residents 151 1%

These are maximums a dwelling is enrolled for, not how many people live in it. Multiplied out, they give the 31,065 resident places above.

How resident places are counted

Resident places is the only headline figure on this site the NDIA does not publish directly, and it is the denominator of implied occupancy. The arithmetic is shown in full so it can be checked.

The NDIA publishes dwellings grouped by the maximum number of residents each is enrolled for. Multiplying each group by that maximum gives the total number of people the enrolled stock is built to hold.

Enrolled dwellings by maximum residents, multiplied to give resident places
Enrolled for Dwellings Places
1 resident 5,705 5,705 × 1 = 5,705
2 residents 4,112 4,112 × 2 = 8,224
3 residents 2,169 2,169 × 3 = 6,507
4 residents 767 767 × 4 = 3,068
5 residents 1,331 1,331 × 5 = 6,655
6 or more residents * 151 151 × 6 = 906
Total 14,235 31,065

* The top band is open ended, so counting it as six makes the total a floor rather than an exact figure. Source: Supplement P Table P.6. Capacity is what a dwelling is enrolled to hold, not how many people live in it.

What the design categories mean

Every SDA dwelling is enrolled in one of these, and every participant approved for SDA is assessed for one. Whether those two line up is the question this site keeps returning to, so it is worth knowing what the names mean.

High Physical Support

50% of stock

Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision for people with significant physical impairment and requiring very high levels of support.

Improved Liveability

15% of stock

Housing that has been designed to improve 'liveability' by incorporating a reasonable level of physical access and enhanced provision for people with sensory, intellectual or cognitive impairment.

Basic

13% of stock

Housing without specialist design features but with a location or other features that cater for the needs of people with disability and assist with the delivery of support services.

Robust

13% of stock

Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision and be very resilient, while reducing the likelihood of reactive maintenance and reducing the risk to the participant and the community.

Fully Accessible

9% of stock

Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision for people with significant physical impairment.

Definitions are the NDIA's own, from Table 4 of the Pricing Arrangements for SDA. Each category also carries minimum build requirements, which the source document sets out in full. Basic applies only to existing and legacy stock and cannot be newly built.

Stock mix against assessed need

SHARE OF HOUSING, SHARE OF NEED HOUSING VS NEED 0% 15% 30% 45% 60% High Physical Support Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision for people with significant physical impairment and requiring very high levels of support. 7,173 dwellings 5,116 people 58.3% 24.8% 2.4× more High Physical Support: 58.3% of the housing stock, 24.8% of assessed need housing than need Robust Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision and be very resilient, while reducing the likelihood of reactive maintenance and reducing the risk to the participant and the community. 1,838 dwellings 1,754 people 14.9% 8.5% 1.8× more Robust: 14.9% of the housing stock, 8.5% of assessed need housing than need Improved Liveability Housing that has been designed to improve 'liveability' by incorporating a reasonable level of physical access and enhanced provision for people with sensory, intellectual or cognitive impairment. 2,066 dwellings 7,326 people 16.8% 35.4% 2.1× less Improved Liveability: 16.8% of the housing stock, 35.4% of assessed need housing than need Fully Accessible Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision for people with significant physical impairment. 1,231 dwellings 6,471 people 10.0% 31.3% 3.1× less Fully Accessible: 10.0% of the housing stock, 31.3% of assessed need housing than need
Share of enrolled dwellings Share of participants with an SDA need

Shares are renormalised over the four design categories the NDIA reports on both sides. Excluded: 13.5% of dwellings (Basic and Multi-Design Category, which the demand tables do not use) and 19.4% of participants (design category not recorded). Supply from Supplement P Table P.5, need from Table P.10.

By state and territory

The last two columns sound alike and measure different things. Utilisation divides people by people: of everyone assessed as needing SDA, how many are living in it. Implied occupancy divides people by places: of all the room the housing has, how much has a recorded resident. A state can score well on one and poorly on the other. Implied occupancy is an SDA Atlas estimate built from two different NDIA tables, and is not a published vacancy figure.

State Dwellings Resident places Living in SDA Eligible, waiting Utilisation Implied occupancy
VIC 4,190 10,015 5,576 1,791 76% 56%
NSW 3,395 8,078 5,205 2,897 64% 64%
QLD 2,978 5,507 2,856 1,710 63% 52%
SA 1,873 4,058 1,669 888 65% 41%
WA 1,254 2,292 857 1,024 46% 37%
ACT 213 444 214 140 60% 48%
TAS 183 353 147 369 28% 42%
NT 149 318 120 195 38% 38%
Australia 14,235 31,065 16,644 9,014 65% 54%

What shape the housing is

Design category says how accessible a dwelling is. It says nothing about whether someone lives alone or with four other people. Crossing the two shows what has actually changed in this market — and it is the sharpest break in the whole dataset.

Group homes of four or five residents are 45% of the older stock and 2% of the pipeline. The average dwelling has gone from 3.28 residents to 1.76.

Existing and legacy stock

39%

built for one or two residents

New build and refurbished

80%

built for one or two residents

Pipeline, unenrolled

84%

built for one or two residents

Existing and legacy stock

3,821 dwellings · Supplement P Table P.12 ✓ reconciles

Existing and legacy stock: dwellings by building type and design category
Building type Basic Fully Accessible High Physical Support Improved Liveability Robust All
Apartment, 1 bedroom, 1 resident 14 9 20 20 — 63
Apartment, 2 bedrooms, 1 resident 19 1 8 4 — 32
Apartment, 2 bedrooms, 2 residents 34 4 4 9 — 51
Apartment, 3 bedrooms, 2 residents 1 — — — — 1
Villa/Duplex/Townhouse, 1 resident 351 62 55 112 60 640
Villa/Duplex/Townhouse, 2 residents 238 61 50 153 20 522
Villa/Duplex/Townhouse, 3 residents 74 40 9 41 12 176
House, 2 residents 112 21 10 44 6 193
House, 3 residents 146 38 4 89 14 291
Group home, 4 residents 301 80 41 108 24 554
Group home, 5 residents 509 237 134 211 56 1,147
Legacy Stock, 6+ residents 63 20 19 33 16 151
All 1,862 49% 573 15% 354 9% 824 22% 208 5% 3,821

New build and refurbished

10,414 dwellings · Supplement P Table P.11 ✓ reconciles

New build and refurbished: dwellings by building type and design category
Building type Fully Accessible High Physical Support Improved Liveability Multi-Design Category Robust All
Apartment, 1 bedroom, 1 resident 74 1,070 173 — — 1,317
Apartment, 2 bedrooms, 1 resident 58 1,281 141 — — 1,480
Apartment, 2 bedrooms, 2 residents 30 128 25 5 — 188
Apartment, 3 bedrooms, 2 residents 6 8 2 — — 16
Villa/Duplex/Townhouse, 1 resident 153 1,054 280 — 666 2,153
Villa/Duplex/Townhouse, 2 residents 51 221 79 9 58 418
Villa/Duplex/Townhouse, 3 residents 19 50 38 7 14 128
House, 2 residents 80 1,589 244 19 808 2,740
House, 3 residents 112 1,217 173 14 59 1,575
Group home, 4 residents 41 123 29 5 12 210
Group home, 5 residents 34 78 58 6 13 189
All 658 6% 6,819 65% 1,242 12% 65 1% 1,630 16% 10,414

Pipeline, unenrolled

6,544 dwellings · Supplement P Table P.16 ✓ reconciles

Pipeline, unenrolled: dwellings by building type and design category
Building type Fully Accessible High Physical Support Improved Liveability Multi-Design Category Robust All
Apartment, 1 bedroom, 1 resident 16 518 71 7 5 617
Apartment, 2 bedrooms, 1 resident 31 596 123 62 1 813
Apartment, 2 bedrooms, 2 residents 25 150 20 6 — 201
Apartment, 3 bedrooms, 2 residents — 2 1 — — 3
Villa/Duplex/Townhouse, 1 resident 39 635 113 74 530 1,391
Villa/Duplex/Townhouse, 2 residents 28 148 50 18 65 309
Villa/Duplex/Townhouse, 3 residents 7 36 20 4 4 71
House, 2 residents 67 1,273 165 151 480 2,136
House, 3 residents 29 622 107 64 66 888
Group home, 4 residents 4 59 16 2 3 84
Group home, 5 residents 1 21 3 2 4 31
All 247 4% 4,060 62% 689 11% 390 6% 1,158 18% 6,544

Enrolled stock is the first two tables combined; the pipeline is counted separately and is not part of it. Cell shading is relative to the largest cell within each table. Enrolled stock is P.11 plus P.12. The pipeline is counted separately and must not be added to it.

Largest regional markets

SA4 regions by enrolled dwellings.

  • Melbourne - West VIC · 624 living in SDA · 38% implied occupancy 775
  • Adelaide - North SA · 607 living in SDA · 38% implied occupancy 700
  • Melbourne - South East VIC · 682 living in SDA · 51% implied occupancy 585
  • Adelaide - South SA · 468 living in SDA · 46% implied occupancy 465
  • Melbourne - North East VIC · 613 living in SDA · 57% implied occupancy 409
  • Perth - South East WA · 251 living in SDA · 36% implied occupancy 375
  • Sydney - Parramatta NSW · 365 living in SDA · 61% implied occupancy 341
  • Logan - Beaudesert QLD · 254 living in SDA · 42% implied occupancy 339
  • Sydney - Outer West and Blue Mountains NSW · 382 living in SDA · 57% implied occupancy 323
  • Ipswich QLD · 277 living in SDA · 43% implied occupancy 322
  • Geelong VIC · 362 living in SDA · 54% implied occupancy 311
  • Melbourne - Inner VIC · 268 living in SDA · 56% implied occupancy 307
  • Gold Coast QLD · 317 living in SDA · 70% implied occupancy 297
  • Ballarat VIC · 284 living in SDA · 50% implied occupancy 284
  • Perth - South West WA · 157 living in SDA · 33% implied occupancy 279