The Support Model
Support that's there when you need it. Out of the way when you don't.
AHA's Onsite Shared Support model provides 24/7 peace of mind, without someone living in your home or drawing from your existing NDIS supports budget.
What is OSS?
How It Works
What OSS Can Do
AHA vs Other Providers
Key Benefits
24/7
~15min
24/7
What is Onsite Shared Support?
Onsite Shared Support (OSS) is a 24/7 on-call support service located within your AHA community.. A dedicated support worker is always onsite and nearby, ready to help when something comes up, day or night.
Unlike traditional care models, OSS doesn’t require a support worker to be inside your home. You call when you need help. They come, they assist, and they return to the on-site hub. Your home stays yours.
OSS is a relatively new support type and AHA is one of the pioneering providers in Australia implementing it. It was designed specifically to address the shortcomings of older models like group homes, and is an alternative 24/7 care model to Supported Independent Living (SIL), where people often had less choice, less privacy, and less control over their own care.
It directly responds to the recommendations of both the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability and the Independent NDIS Review, both of which called for a move away from group home settings and toward models that centre independence, dignity and choice.
OSS is funded through a stated line item, granted to eligible tenants when they receive their SDA fundingt. The AHA team will help you apply for this additional funding as part of your NDIS plan. Find out more
How It Works
Simple, responsive, always there.
The OSS model is built around one idea: support should fit around your life, not the other way around. Here’s how it works day to day.
A dedicated hub on your doorstep
Each AHA community precinct has a dedicated on-site space where OSS staff are based. At least one staff member is present 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Always close by, never in your way.
You call, they come
Every AHA home has a discreet communication system linked directly to the OSS hub. When you need help, day or night, expected or not, you call. They’re with you as you need them..
They help, then they go
Most OSS visits take around 15 minutes. The team assists with whatever you need, then returns to the hub. No lingering, no unnecessary presence. Your home is your space.
Your primary team stays in place
OSS is a secondary support, it works alongside your existing care providers, not instead of them. Your scheduled support workers continue as normal. OSS fills the gaps when they’re not with you.
What OSS Can Help With
The small moments that matter most.
OSS covers the unplanned, the after-hours, and the quick tasks that are hard to schedule. Here are examples of what the team can assist with. Any time you need it.
After-hours care
When your regular support team has gone home for the day and something comes up unexpectedly.
A second pair of hands
Transfers, positioning, or any task that’s safer or easier with two people, no advance scheduling needed.
Quick daily tasks
A cup of tea before bed, help with something around the home, the small things that don’t fit a booked shift.
Letting people in
Accepting deliveries, letting in tradespeople or guests, managing access to your secure community.
Emergencies
A safety net for unexpected situations, medical or otherwise, when you need someone there immediately.
Ad hoc assistance
Personal care, meal prep, cleaning, tasks that are hard to schedule as drop-in shifts but come up anyway.
Regular, schedulable tasks stay with your primary provider. OSS is there for the rest. The gaps, the unexpected, the after-hours moments that would otherwise leave you without support.
AHA vs Other Providers
Why the AHA model is different.
Most SDA providers offer housing. AHA offers a complete model, where the home and the support are designed together, around you.
“The sector needs to move away from group homes and toward more individualised housing options, to reduce instances of neglect, abuse and lack of choice, while reducing care costs.”
— Royal Commission into Disability & Independent NDIS Review, September 2023
Key Benefits
What this means for your everyday life.
The OSS model isn’t just a support arrangement, it’s a philosophy. Here’s what living in an AHA home with OSS actually means for you.
Your home is genuinely yours
In a group home or SIL arrangement, support workers are a constant presence. In an AHA home, your space belongs to you. The OSS team is nearby, not inside. You decide when someone comes in and when they leave.
You're in control of your support
Every year, tenants vote on who provides their OSS. If the service isn’t working, you have the collective power to change it. This kind of democratic control over your care is rare in the sector, and fundamental to how AHA operates.
Designed with you, not for you
AHA works closely with each tenant community to co-design the support services at their site. Your needs, your routines and your preferences shape how the OSS model operates. Not the other way around.
Your CORE budget stays intact
OSS is funded as a separate, additional line item in your NDIS plan. It sits outside your existing CORE budget, which means your regular support providers aren’t affected. AHA will help you apply for this funding.
Part of a community, not apart from it
AHA precincts are built within everyday neighbourhoods, close to shops, transport, allied health services, and community life. You’re not placed in a facility or an isolated complex, you’re a neighbour, living your life alongside everyone else, with access to your community.
Safety without compromise
Every AHA home has discreet communication and safety systems linked to the OSS hub. You have immediate access to support at any hour. Giving you, and your family, genuine peace of mind without anyone sleeping in your home.
