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Behaviour Support Plans
A behaviour support plan is a person-centred plan that starts with understanding the person. It’s built on the idea that behaviour is communication: it looks at what a behaviour means, then changes the environment, teaches new skills, and supports the person to meet their needs. Under the NDIS, a suitable practitioner writes it with the person and the people who know them.
The goal is to improve the person’s quality of life, and to reduce behaviours that put safety or wellbeing at risk by understanding why they happen. It is written for the person, with the person, not done to them.
When a behaviour is hard to make sense of, it’s usually telling us about an unmet need, or a moment that has become too much.
A behaviour support plan looks for that trigger, then works on the things around the person that can change, like their environment and communication skills our aids.
If you’re worried about someone’s immediate safety. If someone is in immediate danger, call 000. For concerns about behaviour support or restrictive practices, you can contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544.
Behaviour support for you or someone you care for
For referrers
How the NDIS funds a behaviour support plan
Behaviour support is funded through the NDIS, under Capacity Building. For most people, the way to get a plan is to have behaviour support included in their NDIS plan.
We also see privately funded Behaviour Support clients.
You can ask about behaviour support at your planning meeting or plan reassessment, and a Support Coordinator, GP, or provider can help you prepare.
If Behaviour Support is in your plan, you can choose a provider like us to do the work.
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What goes into a plan
01
Who Writes The Plan?
A behaviour support plan is written by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner. This is a person the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has assessed as suitable to do this work. They’re trained to understand behaviour as communication, to work respectfully, and to put the person at the centre.
The practitioner doesn’t write the plan alone. They work alongside the person, their family or carers, and the people who provide their everyday support. The people who know someone best hold the most useful information, so the plan is built together. Behaviour Support is one of the seven supports our team brings together.
02
Interim and comprehensive plans
There are two kinds of behaviour support plan, and one often leads to the other.
- An interim plan is a short-term plan, usually written within about a month of starting. It focuses on keeping the person and the people around them safe while there’s time to understand the situation properly.
- A comprehensive plan is the fuller plan, usually written within about six months. It’s built on a proper functional behaviour assessment, and it focuses on lasting change and a better quality of life.
The interim plan buys time to do the comprehensive plan well. Both have the same goal: to understand the person and support them, not to control them.
03
Restrictive Practices?
Sometimes you may hear the term restrictive practice. A restrictive practice is anything that limits a person’s freedom or movement to keep them or others safe. In Australia, these are tightly regulated, because they affect a person’s rights.
A behaviour support plan can only include a restrictive practice as a last resort, when it is needed for safety, and it must be the least restrictive option, used for the shortest time. When a plan includes one, it must also set out how it will be reduced and removed over time, as the proactive strategies and new skills take effect. The aim is always to need fewer of them, not more.
04
How a plan is reviewed and updated.
A behaviour support plan is a living document, not a one-off. It’s reviewed regularly to check that it’s still working and still fits the person’s life.
A plan that includes a restrictive practice is reviewed at least every twelve months, and sooner if something important changes.
Life changes, and the plan changes with it. A new home, a new school, a change in health or support, or simply the person learning new skills, can all be reasons to look at the plan again.
The person and their quality of life stays at the centre of every review at all times.
05
What goes into a plan
An understanding of the behaviour
Plans are written for the individual, so no two look exactly the same. Most include these parts.
A functional behaviour assessment looks at what’s happening, when, and why, so the plan is based on the person’s real situation rather than guesswork.
NEW SKILLS
Teaching and supporting new ways to communicate and cope, so the person has other options.
06
Plans also include:
Strengths and goals
Proactive strategies
Changes to the environment, the routine, or the support that make the hard moments less likely in the first place.
How to respond
Calm, respectful ways for the people around them to respond if a behaviour does happen, keeping everyone safe.
How a behaviour support plan works
How we help. Optimum Health Solutions provides Behaviour Support as one of seven supports under one roof, alongside Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, Exercise Physiology, Dietetics, and Podiatry. Our Behaviour Support Practitioners work the way good behaviour support should: led by the person, built on their strengths, and focused on quality of life.
Because the team sits together, behaviour support can join up with the other supports a person uses, like Speech Pathology for communication or Occupational Therapy for daily routines. We see people in the clinic, at home, at school, or in the community.
If you’re wondering whether behaviour support is right for you or someone you care for, call us on 1800 678 647 and we’ll talk it through.
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14 clinics across NSW & Tasmania
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Where we offer Behaviour Support
Common questions about behaviour support plans
What is a behaviour support plan?
What does a behaviour support plan include?
Who writes a behaviour support plan?
Who is a behaviour support plan for?
What is the difference between an interim and a comprehensive behaviour support plan?
How is a behaviour support plan funded?
How do you create a behaviour support plan?
Where can I find a template for a behaviour support plan in NSW?
Reviewed by Rachel Hardcastle
OPTIMUM HEALTH SOLUTIONS
Rachel has worked in Behaviour Support for over 16 years, where her experience has included complex and forensic work. Rachel’s approach is entirely person-centred, meaning her practice starts and ends with the person, building support around them. Rachel works clinically and leads the development of the Behaviour Support team at Optimum Health Solutions, supporting practitioners to grow and do their best work with the people they see.
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