Specialist Disability Accommodation design standards: an FAQ
Common questions on the NDIS SDA Design Standard (Edition 1.1, October 2019, applicable from 1 July 2021), and the four design categories it defines.
What are the four SDA design categories?
Improved Liveability supports people with sensory, intellectual or cognitive impairment, with features such as 820mm clear door openings and 1000mm corridors.
Robust is built for participants with behavioural support needs: high-impact wall linings to 2.4m, vandal-resistant fixtures, and reinforced doors.
Fully Accessible gives wheelchair users barrier-free movement, with 900mm minimum clear door openings and 1200mm corridors.
High Physical Support is the most intensive category, combining Fully Accessible requirements with structural and technical provisions such as ceiling hoist readiness.
Do these standards only help NDIS participants?
No. The underlying universal design principles, wide doors, clear circulation, accessible bathrooms, benefit a much broader group: older residents, people with a temporary injury, and anyone with young kids or heavy shopping.
Who certifies an SDA design?
Certification against the SDA Design Standard has to be independent: it can't be done by the firm that designed the dwelling, to avoid a conflict of interest. That's a specific NDIS requirement, separate from ordinary building certification.