When families first hear the words restrictive practices, it can feel worrying. You may wonder what the term means, why it is being discussed and whether your loved one’s rights, dignity and safety are being protected.
Restrictive practices and NDIS Positive Behaviour Support are closely connected because both relate to how a person living with disability is supported when behaviours of concern, safety risks or complex support needs are present.
Furthermore, these topics can feel difficult at first, especially when families are trying to understand behaviour support language, provider responsibilities and NDIS rules.
The most important thing to know is this: restrictive practices should never replace respectful, person-centred support.
Under the NDIS, regulated restrictive practices must follow strict rules and safeguards.
They should only be used where required to reduce risk, and there should always be a clear focus on reducing and eliminating restrictive practices wherever possible.
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is different from punishment or control. It is a person-centred behaviour support approach that aims to understand why behaviours of concern happen and what supports may help the person feel safer, calmer and more understood.
This guide explains restrictive practices, NDIS Positive Behaviour Support, behaviour support plans and the role of families in plain language.
Quick Answer: Restrictive Practices and NDIS Positive Behaviour Support
Restrictive practices are actions that limit a person’s rights or freedom of movement.
Under the NDIS, regulated restrictive practices must follow strict rules, be included in a behaviour support plan where required and be reviewed with the goal of reducing or eliminating their use.
Moreover, NDIS Positive Behaviour Support focuses on understanding the reasons behind behaviours of concern and building safer, more respectful supports that improve quality of life.
For families, the key message is simple: restrictive practices should be treated seriously, explained clearly and reviewed carefully.
A positive behaviour support plan should protect rights, dignity and safety while helping the person receive support that fits their real needs.
What Are Restrictive Practices?
A restrictive practice is an action or practice that limits a person’s rights, choices or freedom of movement.
It may be used in limited situations to reduce immediate risk, but it should never be used for convenience, punishment or control.
Restrictive practices can include actions that stop a person from accessing a space, item, activity or movement.
They may also include the use of medication, equipment or physical force in certain situations.
For example, locking a cupboard to stop a participant accessing something unsafe may be considered an environmental restraint if it restricts the person’s access.
Holding a person to stop them moving may be considered physical restraint. Using medication mainly to influence behaviour, rather than to treat a diagnosed medical condition, may be considered chemical restraint.
Whether something is a restrictive practice can depend on the situation, purpose and effect.
This is why families should ask for clear explanations from the behaviour support practitioner or provider.
Therefore, Restrictive practices should always be considered carefully. Before a restrictive practice is used, the support team should ask what is happening for the person.
Behaviour may be connected to pain, fear, communication difficulties, sensory distress, trauma, changes in routine, unmet needs or an environment that does not feel safe.
Families should never feel that a restrictive practice has been introduced without explanation.
If one is being discussed, families have the right to ask why it is being considered, what alternatives have been tried and how it will be reduced over time.
What Are Regulated Restrictive Practices Under the NDIS?
Under the NDIS, there are five types of regulated restrictive practices.
These are important because they are connected to participant rights, safety and provider responsibilities.
|
Type of Restrictive Practice |
Simple Meaning |
Example |
|
Chemical restraint |
Medication used mainly to influence behaviour, not to treat a medical condition |
Medication used mainly to make a person easier to manage |
|
Environmental restraint |
Restricting access to places, items or activities |
Locking doors, cupboards or certain spaces |
|
Mechanical restraint |
Using a device to restrict movement |
Equipment used to stop or limit movement |
|
Physical restraint |
Using physical force to restrict movement |
Holding a person to stop them moving |
|
Seclusion |
Keeping a person alone in a space they cannot freely leave |
Locking a person alone in a room |
These examples are general. The details matter. A behaviour support practitioner or relevant provider should explain whether a practice is regulated, why it is being used and what safeguards apply.
Regulated restrictive practices NDIS requirements exist because these practices can affect a person’s human rights and dignity.
If a regulated restrictive practice is used, it should be clearly documented, monitored and reviewed.
The goal should never be to keep restrictive practices in place without change.
The goal should be to reduce and eliminate restrictive practices by building better supports around the person.
Why Restrictive Practices Can Be Concerning for Families
Restrictive practices can feel concerning because they involve limiting a person’s choices, movement or rights.
Families may worry about emotional safety, trauma, trust and whether their loved one is being treated with respect.
These concerns are valid.
A restrictive practice can affect more than immediate behaviour. It can affect how safe a person feels with support workers, providers and daily routines.
It can also hide the real reason a behaviour is happening if the focus becomes stopping behaviour instead of understanding it.
For example, a person may become distressed because they cannot communicate pain. Another person may resist support because a routine feels rushed or frightening.
Someone else may try to leave a space because it is too noisy, crowded or confusing.
If the response is only restriction, the underlying need may stay unmet.
This is why restrictive practices and participant rights must be considered together. Families have every reason to ask:
- Why is this being used?
- What risk is it trying to reduce?
- Is it the least restrictive option?
- What positive behaviour support strategies have been tried first?
- How will this practice be reduced?
- How is my loved one’s dignity being protected?
Restrictive practices should not replace proper support, communication strategies, environmental changes, therapy input or staff training.
A positive behaviour support framework should look deeper and ask what the person is communicating through behaviour.
What is NDIS Positive Behaviour Support?
NDIS Positive Behaviour Support refers to behaviour support provided within the NDIS context.
It may be used when a participant has behaviours of concern, complex support needs or risks that require a structured behaviour support plan.
Positive behaviour support NDIS services should be person-centred, evidence-informed and focused on the participant’s quality of life.
Moreover, if you are unsure which approach is right, our guide to NDIS Positive Behaviour Support vs Positive Behaviour Therapy explains the key differences in purpose, funding, planning and support delivery.
An NDIS positive behaviour support approach may involve:
- Understanding the function of behaviours of concern
- Developing positive behaviour support strategies
- Creating a behaviour support plan
- Supporting families and carers
- Training support workers
- Reducing restrictive practices
- Reviewing progress over time
- Improving communication and daily routines
For families, this means the focus should not only be on “managing behaviour”.
The focus should be on understanding the person behind the behaviour and creating supports that feel safer, calmer and more respectful.
A positive behaviour support practitioner may work with the participant, family, carers, support workers and providers to understand what is happening and develop practical strategies that can be used in everyday life.
How Positive Behaviour Support Helps Reduce Restrictive Practices
Positive Behaviour Support helps reduce restrictive practices by focusing on prevention, understanding and skill building.
Instead of asking only, “How do we stop this behaviour?” Positive Behaviour Support asks:
- What is the person trying to communicate?
- What need is not being met?
- What is happening in the environment?
- What skills or supports could help?
- What can the support team do differently?
- How can risk be reduced while protecting dignity?
This approach can reduce reliance on restrictive responses over time.
Positive behaviour support planning strategies may include:
- Identifying triggers and early warning signs
- Improving communication supports
- Adjusting routines
- Reducing sensory stress
- Changing the environment
- Teaching safer replacement skills
- Supporting emotional regulation
- Giving the person more choice and control
- Training support workers in consistent responses
- Reviewing what is working and what needs to change
For example, if a participant becomes distressed during personal care, the answer may not be restriction.
Furthermore, the support team may need to look at privacy, timing, consent, trauma history, communication, sensory needs and whether the participant feels safe with the person providing support.
The solution may involve a slower routine, visual supports, a trusted worker, clearer communication, more choice or different timing.
Reducing restrictive practices is not just about removing a restriction quickly.
It is about replacing it with safer, more respectful supports that meet the person’s real needs.
What is a Comprehensive Behaviour Support Plan?
A comprehensive behaviour support plan is usually developed when a participant has more complex behaviour support needs or when regulated restrictive practices are involved.
A comprehensive behaviour support plan should provide more detailed guidance than a basic plan.
It may include assessment information, behaviour analysis, proactive strategies, skill development, environmental changes, response strategies and restrictive practice reduction plans.
For families, the main question is not only whether a plan exists. It is whether the plan is understandable, practical and respectful.
A comprehensive behaviour support plan should help answer:
- What behaviours of concern are being supported?
- Why might these behaviours be happening?
- What positive behaviour support strategies should be used first?
- What support changes are needed?
- What skills can be developed over time?
- What risks need to be managed?
- Are any restrictive practices included?
- How will restrictive practices be reduced?
- Who is responsible for each part of the plan?
A plan should not sit unused. It should be implemented, reviewed and updated as the participant’s needs, goals and circumstances change.
Who Can Develop a Behaviour Support Plan?
A behaviour support plan should be developed by a suitable behaviour support practitioner or specialist behaviour support provider.
An NDIS positive behaviour support practitioner helps assess behaviours of concern, understand the participant’s support needs and develop strategies that aim to improve quality of life.
This may include a functional behaviour assessment. A functional behaviour assessment looks at the reasons behind behaviour.
It may consider what happens before and after the behaviour, what the person may be communicating and what supports may help.
A positive behaviour support practitioner may work with:
- The participant
- Family members
- Carers
- Support workers
- Therapists
- Teachers or education teams
- Accommodation providers
- Support coordinators
- Health professionals
- Other NDIS providers
Families should be included where appropriate because they often know the participant’s routines, preferences, communication style and history well.
A good practitioner should explain the plan clearly. Families should feel able to ask questions, request plain language explanations and discuss whether the strategies feel realistic in daily life.
What Do Positive Behaviour Support Practitioners Do?
Positive behaviour support practitioners help understand behaviours of concern and develop strategies that support safety, dignity and quality of life.
Their role may include:
- Gathering information about the participant’s life and support needs
- Completing behaviour assessments
- Identifying possible triggers and unmet needs
- Developing a positive behaviour support plan
- Recommending positive behaviour support strategies
- Supporting families and carers
- Training support teams
- Helping reduce restrictive practices
- Reviewing progress and updating strategies
A positive behaviour support practitioner should not focus only on behaviour incidents.
They should also look at the person’s strengths, goals, relationships, communication and environment.
Families can ask the practitioner:
- What do you think this behaviour may be communicating?
- What strategies should we try first?
- How will you include the participant’s voice?
- How will you help reduce restrictive practices?
- How will the support team know what to do?
- When will the plan be reviewed?
Choosing the right professional matters, and How to Choose an NDIS Behaviour Support Practitioner can help families ask the right questions about experience, communication and participant-centred practice.
What Families Should Be Told About Restrictive Practices
Families and participants should receive clear, respectful and plain-language information about restrictive practices.
If a restrictive practice is being considered or used, families may need to understand:
- What the restrictive practice is
- Why is it being considered
- What risk it is trying to reduce
- What positive strategies have already been tried
- Whether it is included in a behaviour support plan
- who developed the plan
- Who is responsible for implementation
- Who authorises the practice
- How it will be monitored
- How often it will be reviewed
- What is the plan to reduce or stop it
- How concerns can be raised
This information should be shared in a way the participant and family can understand.
Some participants may need Easy Read information, visual supports, extra time or support from someone they trust.
Families should not be made to feel difficult for asking questions. Asking questions is part of protecting participant rights, dignity and safety.
Questions Families Can Ask About Restrictive Practices
If restrictive practices are mentioned, families can ask direct and respectful questions.
These questions can help clarify what is happening and whether the participant’s rights are being protected.
Helpful questions include:
- Why is this restrictive practice being considered?
- What risk is it trying to reduce?
- What positive behaviour support strategies have been tried first?
- Is this included in a behaviour support plan?
- Who developed the behaviour support plan?
- Who authorised this practice?
- How will it be monitored?
- How often will it be reviewed?
- What is the plan to reduce or stop it?
- What alternatives are being explored?
- How will my loved one’s voice be included?
- How will staff be trained to use the plan properly?
- What should we do if we disagree or feel uncomfortable?
Families may also want to ask for written notes after meetings. This can help everyone stay clear about decisions, actions and next steps.
Restrictive Practices Should Not Be Used for Convenience
Restrictive practices should not be used simply because a situation is hard to manage.
They should not be used for punishment, convenience, staff preference or because someone is seen as difficult. They should not replace proper training, communication support, environmental changes or person-centred planning.
If a person is distressed, in pain, unable to communicate, confused, frightened or unsupported, the response should focus on understanding and support, not control.
This is why Positive Behaviour Support is so important. It asks what is happening beneath the behaviour. It also supports families and providers to respond in ways that reduce risk without taking away dignity.
For example, if a participant repeatedly tries to leave a house, the support team should not only focus on stopping them from leaving. They should ask why the person wants to leave.
- Are they bored?
- Are they anxious?
- Are they seeking a preferred activity?
- Are they avoiding noise?
- Are they looking for someone?
- Do they want more independence?
The answer may involve better routines, communication support, community access, sensory adjustments, emotional regulation support or safer ways to exercise choice.
Restrictive practices may sometimes be connected to immediate risk, but they should always be carefully reviewed.
The goal should be to reduce and eliminate restrictive practices wherever possible.
Positive Behaviour Support for Children
Positive behaviour support for children must be especially careful, developmentally appropriate and family-centred.
Children are still developing communication, emotional regulation, decision-making and coping skills.
Behaviour support should not label or punish a child. It should help adults understand what the child may need and how the environment can better support them.
Positive behaviour support for children may look at:
- Communication development
- Sensory needs
- Emotional regulation
- Family routines
- Sleep and health
- School or early learning environments
- Transitions
- Anxiety or distress
- Social understanding
- Predictable routines
- Parent and carer support
When restrictive practices involve children and young people, extra safeguards and careful professional guidance are important.
Families should ask how the child’s rights, emotional safety and developmental needs are being protected.
So, they should also ask how the plan supports the child to build skills over time rather than simply controlling behaviour.
Positive Behaviour Support for Adults
Positive behaviour support for adults should also be respectful, person-centred and rights-based.
Adults living with disability should be supported in ways that recognise their choices, preferences, relationships, routines, culture and personal goals.
Behaviour support should not remove dignity or treat the person as a behaviour to manage.
Positive behaviour support for adults may focus on:
- Communication and choice
- Emotional regulation
- Safer routines
- Daily living skills
- Relationships and community participation
- Trauma-informed support
- Support worker consistency
- Reducing restrictive practices
- Increasing quality of life
For adults in supported accommodation, community settings or daily support services, a positive behaviour support plan can help providers respond consistently and respectfully.
The plan should support independence wherever possible while still managing risk safely.
What If You Are Worried About a Restrictive Practice?
If you are worried about a restrictive practice, you can ask questions and request more information.
You may want to:
- Ask for the behaviour support plan
- Ask whether the practice is a regulated restrictive practice
- Ask who the author is editing
- Ask what positive behaviour support strategies have been tried
- Ask how it is being monitored
- Ask when it will be reviewed
- Speak with the behaviour support practitioner
- Speak with the provider or service manager
- Keep notes of what happened and when
- Ask how your loved one’s voice is being included
- Raise serious quality or safety concerns with the NDIS Commission
Moreover, you do not need to know every technical term before asking for help. You can simply say:
“I am worried about this practice. Can you explain why it is being used, where it is written down and how it will be reduced?”
Families have the right to seek clarity. Behaviour support should feel transparent, respectful and centred on the participant.
How Positive Behaviour Support Connects With Participant Rights
Positive Behaviour Support and participant rights should work together.
A participant should be supported as a whole person, not treated only through the lens of risk or behaviour. Their choices, communication, culture, relationships and goals matter.
Restrictive practices and participant rights must be considered carefully because restrictions can affect freedom, dignity and self-determination.
A rights-based positive behaviour support framework should support:
- Choice and control
- Dignity and respect
- Safety without unnecessary restriction
- Communication and emotional support
- Participation in daily life
- Family and support team collaboration
- Skill development
- Quality of life
- Reduction and elimination of restrictive practices
The Role of Families in Positive Behaviour Support
Families can play an important role in Positive Behaviour Support because they often understand the participant’s history, preferences, routines and communication.
Families may notice patterns that others miss. They may know what helps the person feel calm, what increases distress and what support approaches feel respectful.
Families may support the process by:
- Sharing information about routines and preferences
- Explaining communication signs and distress signals
- Describing what has worked in the past
- Identifying changes in health, sleep or environment
- Asking questions about strategies
- Supporting consistency across home and services
- Advocating for dignity and choice
Families should not be expected to manage everything alone.
A positive behaviour support plan should support families too. It should give clear strategies, realistic steps and guidance that can be used in everyday life.
Examples of Positive Behaviour Support Strategies in Disability
Positive behaviour support strategies should be based on the person’s needs, strengths and environment.
Examples of positive behaviour support strategies in disability may include:
- Using visual supports to explain routines
- Offering choices before a person becomes distressed
- Changing noisy or crowded environments
- Building breaks into the day
- Using communication tools or devices
- Supporting sensory needs
- Teaching safer ways to ask for help
- Adjusting personal care routines
- Preparing the person before transitions
- Using calm, consistent language
- Training support workers in the same response approach
- Reviewing health needs, pain or sleep issues
These strategies should not be copied from one person to another without thought. What works for one participant may not work for another.
Good positive behaviour support is personalised. It should reflect the person’s communication, culture, preferences, trauma history, goals and daily life.
How Support Teams Can Help Reduce Restrictive Practices
Reducing restrictive practices usually requires teamwork.
A support team may include family, carers, support workers, behaviour support practitioners, therapists, accommodation staff, school teams, support coordinators and other providers.
Good teamwork can help by:
- Keeping strategies consistent
- Reducing mixed messages
- Helping everyone understand the plan
- Improving communication between services
- Identifying early warning signs
- Responding before distress escalates
- Reviewing what is working
- Adjusting support as needs change
For participants with complex needs, Support Coordination or Specialist Support Coordination may help keep services connected and focused on the participant’s goals, rights and support needs.
When support teams communicate well, behaviour support can feel more consistent and less reactive.
How Affective Care Supports Positive Behaviour Support
At Affective Care, we understand that behaviour support is not just about managing risk.
It is about understanding the person behind the behaviour and creating supports that feel safer, calmer and more respectful.
Our approach is emotionally-centred, participant-first and focused on dignity, safety and quality of life.
Affective Care supports people living with disability through NDIS services that focus on trust, emotional intelligence and participant choice.
We believe behaviour is often communication, and support should begin by listening carefully to what the person’s behaviour may be telling us.
Our positive behaviour support services may include:
- Respectful support planning
- Family and support team collaboration
- Practical strategies for daily life
- Calm and trauma-informed communication
- Support connected to participant goals
- Clear explanations for families and carers
- Focus on dignity,rightsand emotional safety
- Support that helps reduce stress and improve routines
We work with participants, families and support networks to help support feel more human, clear and connected.
Affective Care does not replace the role of the NDIA, the NDIS Commission or authorised decision-makers.
We do not guarantee funding outcomes or authorisation decisions. Our role is to provide respectful, participant-first NDIS support that helps people feel heard, understood and supported.
KEY POINTS
- Restrictive practices limit a person’s rights or freedom of movement and must be treated seriously.
- Under the NDIS, regulated restrictive practices must follow strict rules and safeguards.
- Positive Behaviour Support focuses on understanding behaviour, reducing risk and improving quality of life.
- A positive behaviour support plan should be personalised, practical and rights-based.
- The goal should always be to reduce and eliminate restrictive practices wherever possible.
Choosing Support That Protects Dignity and Safety
Restrictive practices can be difficult for families to understand, especially when safety concerns are involved.
The most important thing to remember is that restrictive practices should never replace respectful, person-centred support.
NDIS Positive Behaviour Support aims to understand the reasons behind behaviours of concern, protect participant rights and build safer strategies that improve daily life.
It should focus on dignity, communication, emotional safety, quality of life and reducing restrictive practices wherever possible.
Families have the right to ask questions, seek plain-language explanations and understand what is included in a behaviour support plan.
With the right support, families can feel more informed, more confident and better prepared to advocate for care that respects their loved one’s safety, dignity and choices.
At Affective Care, we provide emotionally-centred NDIS support that focuses on the person behind the behaviour.
Our goal is to help participants and families feel heard, respected and supported through care that is practical, human and connected to real-life needs.
