Hospital Discharge Pathways
Housing Match helps hospital discharge coordinators, social workers and allied health teams find appropriate disability accommodation for NDIS participants ready to transition from acute care.
The Discharge Delay Challenge
One of the most significant challenges in Australia's health system is the number of NDIS participants remaining in hospital well beyond their clinical discharge date — simply because suitable disability accommodation cannot be found in time. These delayed discharges consume acute hospital beds, increase healthcare costs and prevent patients from living in the community with appropriate support.
The root cause is often a lack of visibility: hospital teams don't have a clear picture of available SIL vacancies or SDA properties, providers don't have timely access to clinical and support need information, and support coordinators are working across multiple systems without a coordinated view.
Housing Match addresses this by creating a shared, structured platform where hospital teams, support coordinators and NDIS housing providers can collaborate on discharge planning — from the first housing search through to confirmed placement.
How Housing Match Supports Hospital Discharge
Structured Discharge Referrals
Create detailed discharge referral packs that capture clinical needs, functional capacity, NDIS funding, and housing preferences — all in a structured, shareable format.
Provider Matching
Search SIL and SDA providers across Australia by clinical capability, disability expertise, location and support capacity. Filter for providers experienced in hospital transitions.
Faster Placement Timelines
By giving providers immediate access to pre-structured referral information, Housing Match reduces the back-and-forth that slows down the discharge process.
Multi-Team Collaboration
Social workers, discharge planners, support coordinators and allied health professionals can all work within the same platform — reducing duplication and improving communication.
The Discharge Referral Process
Housing Match provides a structured discharge referral workflow that guides hospital teams through the process of finding and securing appropriate disability housing for patients.
Create Patient Profile
Build a detailed participant profile capturing disability type, functional capacity, support needs, NDIS plan details and clinical requirements. OT assessments, functional assessments and behaviour support plans can be uploaded.
Search Compatible Housing
Use Housing Match to search available SIL vacancies and SDA properties across Australia, filtered by location, support capacity, clinical capability and design category.
Generate Referral Pack
Create a structured digital referral pack that captures the full clinical and support picture, ready to share with shortlisted providers.
Contact Providers
Send the referral pack to compatible providers through Housing Match. Providers receive the information directly in their dashboard and can respond with availability and interest.
AI Compatibility Assessment
Housing Match generates an AI compatibility assessment comparing the patient's profile with each property, identifying compatibility scores and any clinical or household risks.
Confirm Placement
Work with the provider, patient and support coordinator to finalise the placement, including service agreements, support plans and move-in logistics.
Who Can Use Housing Match in a Hospital Setting?
Social Workers
Search disability housing options, create referral packs and connect with providers on behalf of patients preparing for discharge.
Discharge Planners
Manage the end-to-end discharge process, track application status and coordinate between clinical teams, support coordinators and housing providers.
Allied Health Professionals
Upload OT reports, functional assessments and behaviour support plans directly into patient profiles to strengthen referral packs.
Transition Support Coordinators
Support coordinators embedded in hospitals or working with discharged patients can use Housing Match to search, apply and track housing outcomes.
Nursing Staff
Clinical nurses can contribute to patient profiles by documenting clinical care requirements, medication needs and overnight support considerations.
Hospital Administrators
Track delayed discharges, bed blockages and placement outcomes with Housing Match's reporting suite to identify systemic patterns and improvement opportunities.
Benefits of Using Housing Match for Hospital Discharge
- Reduce delayed discharge by improving access to real-time SIL and SDA vacancy information
- Improve the quality of referral information reaching providers — reducing rejections and delays
- Enable multi-disciplinary teams to collaborate on discharge planning in one platform
- AI compatibility assessments help identify the best-fit housing options faster
- Centralise discharge referral records for audit, reporting and quality improvement
- Connect patients to support coordinators who can assist with NDIS plan review and housing applications
- Track discharge outcomes and placement timelines for reporting to board and funding bodies
- Support patients transitioning from acute, subacute, rehabilitation and mental health wards
Frequently Asked Questions
How can hospitals support NDIS participant discharge into appropriate housing?
Hospitals can use Housing Match to search available SIL and SDA vacancies across Australia for patients who are ready to discharge but lack suitable accommodation. By creating a discharge referral pack within Housing Match, clinical teams can share functional assessments, support needs summaries and housing preferences directly with NDIS housing providers — accelerating the search and placement process.
What is a hospital-initiated discharge referral?
A hospital-initiated discharge referral is a structured referral package created within Housing Match that captures a patient's disability support needs, functional capacity, clinical requirements, NDIS funding details and housing preferences. The referral pack is shared with relevant SIL and SDA providers, who can review the information and indicate interest in providing housing and supports.
What is 'delayed discharge' in the context of disability housing?
Delayed discharge refers to situations where a patient is clinically ready to leave hospital but cannot do so because suitable disability accommodation has not been found. This is a significant issue in Australian hospitals, where NDIS participants may remain in acute or subacute beds for weeks or months awaiting SIL or SDA placement. Housing Match helps address this by improving the visibility of available vacancies and streamlining the referral process.
What information should be included in a hospital discharge referral?
An effective discharge referral should include the participant's disability type and diagnosis, functional capacity assessment, current ADL (activities of daily living) support needs, clinical care requirements (medication, nursing, wound care), NDIS plan details including SIL and SDA funding, behaviour support plan (if applicable), location preferences, and any specific housemate or accessibility requirements.
Can a hospital social worker or discharge planner use Housing Match?
Yes. Hospital social workers, discharge planners, transition coordinators and allied health professionals can register on Housing Match and use the platform to search available disability accommodation, create discharge referral packs, contact providers and track the progress of housing applications for patients under their care.
How does Housing Match support patients without NDIS plans who need housing?
For patients who are not yet NDIS participants, Housing Match can still assist by connecting them with support coordinators, allied health professionals and community housing providers who can help them access appropriate accommodation and, where eligible, support their NDIS access request.
What types of disability housing are available for hospital discharge?
Housing Match lists a range of disability accommodation options relevant to hospital discharge, including Supported Independent Living (SIL) vacancies, Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), medium-term accommodation (MTA), community housing and specialist community options. Each listing includes details about support capacity, clinical capability and any specific requirements.
How do hospitals work with support coordinators through Housing Match?
Hospitals can invite a patient's support coordinator into Housing Match to collaborate on the housing search and referral process. The support coordinator can access the patient's referral pack, search compatible properties, submit applications, and coordinate directly with SIL and SDA providers — all within a single platform.
How is patient data protected when shared through Housing Match?
Participant profiles containing sensitive health, disability and personal information are protected by server-enforced Row-Level Security at the database level — not just application-layer filtering. Access is restricted to platform administrators, the participant themselves, their managing professional, the profile creator, or participants who have consented to sharing. Consent is a database-level security boundary: when consent_to_share or matching_consent is false, the profile is invisible at the query level. Clinical documents are stored privately in AWS S3 (Sydney) and accessed only through authorised, time-limited signed links. AI compatibility assessments use de-identified data with names, NDIS numbers and contact details stripped before processing. This was validated in August 2026 with 13 production-like scenarios confirming zero regressions across hospital, support coordinator, document, audit and AI workflows.
Related resources
Support better discharge outcomes for your patients
Register your hospital or health service on Housing Match to access the full suite of discharge planning, referral and housing search tools.