A behaviour support plan is a written plan for supporting a person with disability, built around their quality of life, their rights and the safety of everyone involved. Schools and aged care use the term too, but this guide covers the meaning under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), where the plans follow rules set by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission).
What a behaviour support plan is for
The NDIS Commission says the main purpose of a behaviour support plan is to improve a person’s quality of life. That holds whether or not the plan includes a regulated restrictive practice. A good plan meets the person’s needs while respecting their dignity and upholding their rights.
The approach behind it is called positive behaviour support. A positive behaviour support plan looks at why a behaviour happens and what the person needs, rather than only at how to stop the behaviour.
The two types of plan
Interim behaviour support plan
An interim plan is a short document with the main focus on safety. It sets out ways to help prevent the behaviour, ways to reduce harm when it happens, and if, when and how certain regulated restrictive practices may be used.
Comprehensive behaviour support plan
A comprehensive plan is more detailed. It is based on a behaviour support assessment, which explains the person’s behaviour, what is happening and why. It builds on the interim plan and includes:
- ways to improve the person’s quality of life
- changes to their surroundings so these meet their needs
- new skills and ways of coping
- how to respond when behaviours occur, to reduce risk
- if, when and how restrictive practices may be used
- detailed steps to reduce and eliminate the use of restrictive practices over time.
Who writes a behaviour support plan
Under the NDIS, a behaviour support plan is written by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner. To do this work, a practitioner must apply to the NDIS Commission and be considered suitable against the Positive Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
The framework has four capability levels: core, proficient, advanced and specialist. The Commission does not endorse a practitioner’s level, though. Its decision is only whether a person is suitable, not suitable, or whether it is unable to decide. When you speak to a practitioner, it is reasonable to ask whether the Commission has considered them suitable.
How a plan is developed with you
A behaviour support plan must be developed in consultation with the person with disability, their family, their carers and other support people. In practice that means the practitioner should spend time with you, learn what a good day looks like, and talk to the people who support you at home, at work or in the community.
The NDIS Commission publishes templates and checklists for interim and comprehensive plans. Asking to see how your plan lines up with them is a fair question.
Restrictive practices, explained carefully
Some behaviour support plans include restrictive practices. Under the NDIS, regulated restrictive practices are tightly controlled:
- They need to be in a behaviour support plan and authorised. Using one while a plan is still being written counts as unauthorised.
- If a plan includes a regulated restrictive practice, the practitioner must lodge it with the NDIS Commission through its registered provider portal.
- Providers who put the plan in place report their use of authorised restrictive practices to the Commission.
- Using a restrictive practice without authorisation is a reportable incident.
- The Commission states that high risk practices should never be in a behaviour support plan.
The Commission has a stated aim of reducing and eliminating restrictive practices, which is why every comprehensive plan has to include steps toward that. If you are worried that an unregistered provider is using restrictive practices, you can raise it with the Commission.
What a good plan looks like day to day
A plan is only useful if the people supporting you can follow it. A practical plan usually tells workers and family:
- what tends to lead up to a behaviour, so they can change the setting early
- which skills the person is building, and how to practise them in ordinary moments
- how to respond calmly when a behaviour happens
- who to contact and how to record what happened.
Plans are also reviewed, so if something in yours no longer fits, raise it with your practitioner.
How behaviour support is funded in an NDIS plan
In an NDIS plan, behaviour support plans and behaviour supports sit in the Improved relationships category of the capacity building budget. Capacity building funding is stated, so it can only be spent on the supports described in that category. The guide to therapy supports and improved daily living covers another capacity building category that often sits alongside it.
Finding a behaviour support practitioner
If behaviour support is in your plan, start with practitioners who work with people with needs like yours. Provider24 lists practitioners and providers under NDIS positive behaviour support, and you can widen the search through the Health and Therapies category or psychosocial support. Shortlist two or three, ask each one about their approach and their suitability decision from the Commission, and choose the one you feel comfortable with.
This article is general information, not advice. The NDIS Commission explains the rules on its page about how behaviour support plans are developed.
Frequently asked questions
What is a behaviour support plan?
It is a written plan, developed with the person and the people around them, that sets out how to support them and improve their quality of life. Under the NDIS it is written by a behaviour support practitioner the NDIS Commission has considered suitable.
How much does a behaviour support plan cost?
Under the NDIS, behaviour support plans can be funded in the Improved relationships category of your capacity building budget. What a practitioner charges is set out in your service agreement, so ask before the work starts.
What are the key elements of a behaviour support plan?
An interim plan focuses on safety: preventing the behaviour, reducing harm and any restrictive practices. A comprehensive plan adds quality of life goals, changes to surroundings, new skills, responses to behaviour and steps to reduce restrictive practices over time.
Who can write a behaviour support plan under the NDIS?
An NDIS behaviour support practitioner who has applied to the NDIS Commission and been considered suitable against the Positive Behaviour Support Capability Framework.