What the NDIA's 2026 SDA Report says, and what has changed since
The NDIA has published its annual Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Report 2026, with a companion set of data tables. The report covers the period from 31 December 2024 to 31 December 2025. It is not a new quarterly dataset. The latest quarterly data on SDA Signals is still the June 2026 quarter, so this post sets out the report's main findings first, then what the quarterly data shows since December 2025.
Market data only, not financial advice.
What changed nationally in 2025
Participants with an SDA need rose by 4%, from 24,522 at 31 December 2024 to 25,502 at 31 December 2025. The number of participants using their SDA funding rose by 8.4%, from 14,688 to 15,925. Participants eligible but not yet using SDA fell from 9,834 to 9,577.
Enrolled dwellings grew faster than participant need. There were 13,297 enrolled SDA dwellings at 31 December 2025, up 2,548 (23.7%) from 10,749 a year earlier. Every quarter in 2025 recorded an increase, with the largest in the December 2025 quarter (+901). New Build dwellings rose from 6,640 to 9,244, while Existing stock eased from 3,798 to 3,714 and Legacy stock from 173 to 162.
Nationally, 62% of participants with an SDA need were using their SDA funding at December 2025.
States and territories
Participant need. NSW had the most participants with an SDA need at December 2025 (8,124), followed by Victoria (7,340) and Queensland (4,490). Compared with December 2024, Queensland added 295 participants with an SDA need, NSW 303 and Victoria 196, while Tasmania recorded 8 fewer (calculated from the state totals in the data tables).
Dwellings. Every state and territory added dwellings in 2025. Western Australia more than doubled, from 536 to 1,101 dwellings (+105.4%), and Tasmania grew 62.0% from a base of 100. Victoria added the most dwellings by volume (+757, to 3,805).
Funding. Victoria's annualised SDA funding rose 24% to $175.8 million, overtaking NSW ($173.0 million) as the largest state by dollar value. South Australia recorded the largest percentage increase (39%), followed by Western Australia (29%). National annualised SDA funding rose 21%, from $516.6 million to $626.5 million.
Utilisation. Victoria had the highest utilisation rate (73%), and Tasmania (23%) and the Northern Territory (33%) the lowest. The NDIA reports that Western Australia's utilisation rose from 23% to 40% over the year.
Regions with the biggest participant growth
The companion data tables report participants with an SDA need by SA3 region for December 2024 and December 2025. Adding participants with SDA in use and those eligible but not yet using SDA, the five SA3 regions with the largest increases were:
| SA3 region | Dec 2024 | Dec 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casey South (VIC) | 256 | 310 | +54 |
| Playford (SA) | 213 | 258 | +45 |
| Melton, Bacchus Marsh (VIC) | 185 | 216 | +31 |
| Fairfield (NSW) | 125 | 154 | +29 |
| Tullamarine, Broadmeadows (VIC) | 106 | 130 | +24 |
The largest decreases were in Mornington Peninsula (VIC), down 18 from 210 to 192, and Marion (SA), down 16 from 290 to 274.
Current region data: Casey South, Playford, Melton Bacchus Marsh, Fairfield, Tullamarine Broadmeadows.
Design categories
High Physical Support (HPS) remained the largest and fastest growing design category. Enrolled HPS dwellings rose from 4,522 to 6,439 (+1,917, +42.4%), which the NDIA reports as about 75% of all new enrolments in 2025. HPS now makes up 48% of enrolled dwellings, up from 42% in December 2024.
Robust grew by 338 dwellings (+25.5%), Improved Liveability by 294 (+17.0%) and Fully Accessible by 64 (+5.6%), while Basic fell by 80 dwellings (4.0%) as older stock exits.
On the participant side, Improved Liveability was the most common design category among participants with an SDA need (7,181), followed by Fully Accessible (6,215) and HPS (5,036). For 5,381 participants the design category was recorded as missing.
Since December 2025: the June 2026 quarter
The figures below come from a different source and date: the NDIA's quarterly SDA dataset as at 30 June 2026, as processed on SDA Signals. They use SDA Signals definitions, so they are not directly comparable with every figure in the annual report.
- Total demand (participants with SDA in use plus eligible) was 25,658 in June 2026, compared with 25,502 in December 2025. Participants with SDA in use rose from 15,925 to 16,644, and those eligible but not yet using SDA fell from 9,577 to 9,014.
- Enrolled dwellings reached 14,235 at June 2026, up from 13,297 at December 2025.
- SDA places (maximum resident capacity, as calculated by SDA Signals) were 31,065, up from 29,372 in December 2025.
- The national gap (places minus demand) widened from +3,870 to +5,407.
- Utilisation on SDA Signals (participants using SDA divided by places) was 53.6% in June 2026, compared with 54.2% in December 2025. This differs from the NDIA's 62% figure, which divides participants using SDA by participants with an SDA need.
See the updates page for the full quarter history.
Method note
All figures are sourced from NDIA data: the SDA Report 2026 and its data tables, and the NDIA's SDA Enrolled dwellings and NDIS demand data release. SA3 region figures use the NDIA's own SA3 breakdown, matched to SDA Signals region pages. Changes between December 2024 and December 2025 for SA3 regions and states are simple differences between the two published columns. Places, gap and utilisation follow the definitions in our methodology.
Explore the data
Browse national and state data on the SDA region pages, including NSW, VIC, QLD, WA and SA. For licensed or commercial use of the data, see commercial access.
Market data only, not financial advice. Source: National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), Specialist Disability Accommodation data.
Sources: NDIA, Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Report 2026 and SDA Report 2026 Data Tables.