People with disability can struggle to find their own accommodation, but apartments being built in the heart of the city will help Canberrans with high needs to live more ordinary lives.

Enliven Housing, a disability provider, is building 10 one- or two- bedroom Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) apartments in the SOL apartment complex in Braddon’s Founders Lane precinct.

SDA is a new type of accommodation for people with extreme functional impairment (difficulty getting out of bed, getting dressed, making meals, going out) or very high support needs (many hours every day), with 24-hour access to onsite support.

The apartments will be ready in January; a couple have already been bought. They are available through the Housing Hub, a Summer Foundation website that helps disabled people find suitable housing.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for people with significant disabilities,” said Housing Hub general manager Alecia Rathbone. “Specialist Disability Accommodation has been set up because it is recognised that under the NDIS, people should get to choose where they live and who they live with. For people with really complex disability, that hasn’t been possible. [Now, the tenants] will have the opportunity to live a more ordinary life.”

People with complex disabilities often have had no choice over where they lived or with whom, she said. Before the National Disability Insurance Scheme was introduced, many were allocated places in group homes run by communities or disability organisations, unable to live with their spouse or children.

Even today, many of the ACT’s 80,000 people with disability face challenges finding suitable housing options, an ACT government spokesperson said. They often need to custom build their own homes or be forced to live in public housing that doesn’t meet their needs (as the ABC reported this year). Some people with disability still lived in residential aged care in the ACT, and were entering nursing homes, said ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) Head of Policy Craig Wallace.

“No one under 65 with a disability should have to live in a nursing home in the ACT in order to receive disability supports,” he said. “The ACT population is getting older, and many people with disability face barriers to finding appropriate housing because of poor building design. The lack of adaptable and visitable housing results in social isolation and premature entry into nursing care for too many ageing Canberrans as well as people with a disability.”

The apartments will be ‘salt and peppered’ throughout the apartment complex, Ms Rathbone explained. The tenants will not be clustered together, but they will be in a community co-operative, sharing support workers.

The apartments are a mixture of:

• Fully Accessible: for people who use a wheelchair some or all the time – no steps, wide doorways, bathrooms, and kitchens that can be used by people sitting or standing;
• Improved Liveability: doorways, handles, and switches are easy to see; and
• High Physical Support: for people who use an electric wheelchair, need a hoist to get out of bed, and need many hours of support. These apartments have all the features of Fully Accessible SDAs, plus emergency back-up power, a ceiling strong enough for a hoist, an intercom to a support worker, and voice-controlled doors, lights, and heating.

The NDIS helps subsidise the housing for people with complex disability needs through their Plan. Tenants do not need capital to buy the property, but will pay rent (25% of Disability Support Pension and 100% of Rent Assistance), Ms Rathbone said.

“It can feel like a long process, but if you believe better is possible, you can move into your own home,” she advised people with disabilities. “Talk to us, and we’ll help.”

As of 31 March, 158 active NDIS participants in the ACT wanted SDA in their NDIS Plan.

Summer Housing has already built 20 High Physical Support SDA apartments in Belconnen and Woden in the last two years, while other SDA homes are being built in the ACT.

Research shows that people with disability living in SDA have a better quality of life, Ms Rathbone said; they are more engaged in community, work, and leaving the home.

Shanais Neilson said her life has changed since she began living in an SDA apartment in Melbourne.

“I have been able to move from my family home in NSW to my own accessible apartment in Melbourne. I now feel true independence; it means I can go to work, have friends over whenever I please, get out and about in the community independently, and so much more. SDA has changed the way I see independence, and allowed me to live the life I want to live.

“Living in SDA has provided me with independence I never even dreamt of! I have control over the support that I need, who supports me, and when I receive the support. There is also 24/7 on-site support available, so I never feel stranded or unsupported, as there is always someone in the building if something unplanned happens and I need emergency support.”

ACTCOSS said it welcomed any increase to accessible housing which enabled people to live independently as part of the community, Craig Wallace said.

“Developments like these look promising, now we just need the rest of the housing industry to step up and meet the needs of a growing market.”

People with disability have incomes, he observed, and the number of Canberra people with disability had increased from 16.2% in 2015 to 19.4% in 2018. As at 31 March 2021, the NDIA stated there were 8,503 NDIS participants in the ACT.

Mr Wallace said the ACT should work to meet the new provisions for accessible housing in the National Construction Code, and even to do better. ACTCOSS called for all new residential properties in the ACT to meet Universal Design standards so they could be adapted and accessible to all people, regardless of age, disability, or other factors. 

The ACT Government was committed to accessible, safe, and affordable housing for people with disability, a spokesperson said. They funded the Summer Foundation through the 2019 Affordable Housing Innovation Fund to help people with disability find suitable housing; data gathered illustrated the demand for housing for people with disability in the ACT, which helps SDA providers decide what to build.

The government is also renewing social housing to Liveable Gold or Adaptable Class C design standards.

For more information, visit www.housinghub.org.au or phone 1300 61 64 63.

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