Chief executive officer Dee McGrath said new options for funding had to be identified because the government could not be expected to meet all of the costs.

''There's no easy answers, we want to have high-level strategy discussion about what we as a community are going to do to support people with complex needs [to] live independently,'' she said. ''We want to talk about the economics and ask the hard questions, like who pays? It can't be the government all the time.''

Carers ACT will hold a summit at the ACT Legislative Assembly on Wednesday to bring together government representatives, service providers and carers to talk about how families can better access supported living.

''We have people on our books in their 80s and 90s who are looking after adult dependents and the question is - what happens when they die?'' Ms McGrath asked.

''And there are people saying to us 'I can't do this anymore' - and that's what we need to talk about.''

Ms McGrath said the summit's immediate objective was to guide terms of reference for an economic and social analysis of supported living options in the ACT.

''Because one model of supported living will be ideal for one family and no use at all to another family. That's why it's a difficult policy area. It's so complex,'' she said.

Ms McGrath said the summit would also highlight the different options currently available.

''There are people in supported accommodation who are really happy with what they have got, so that's important to recognise as well. It's just that a lot of people can't get access to that because there's so few places.''