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Interim Behaviour Support Plan
An interim behaviour support plan is a short plan a Behaviour Support Practitioner writes when a restrictive practice is already being used, or is needed, and the full assessment isn’t finished yet. It sets out the immediate risks, what to do early, what to do in the moment, and any restrictive practice in use with the conditions around it.
Under the NDIS rules it’s due within one month, and our Behaviour Support Practitioners aim to have it written within four weeks of the initial appointment. The plan goes to the support workers and family who use it day to day, and where a restrictive practice is in it, to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission as well. It holds until the comprehensive behaviour support plan replaces it.
Participants, family members and carers
For Support Coordinators, plan managers and providers
Our Behaviour Support Practitioners write interim plans for NDIS participants across New South Wales and Tasmania, in the settings where each person lives and spends their time. Every interim plan goes through internal quality assurance and supervisor sign-off before it leaves us.
How do I fund an interim behaviour support plan?
Behaviour Support at Optimum Health Solutions is usually funded through the NDIS.
NDIS: participants fund it from Capacity Building. Newer PACE plans list it as Behaviour Support, and older plans list it as Improved Relationships.
Self-managed, plan-managed or NDIA-managed: we work with all three.
Privately funded: available if you don’t have a plan, and you’ll get a clear picture of the costs before you book.
If you are not sure which funding applies to you, call us on 1800 678 647 or email hello@opt.net.au. We will sort it out before your first appointment.
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What an interim behaviour support plan involves
01
When is an interim behaviour support plan needed?
An interim plan is needed when a restrictive practice is in the picture before the full assessment has been done. The NDIS guideline gives three situations. Support workers have used a restrictive practice and don’t yet have authorisation from the state or territory, which happens in emergencies. Support workers have used a restrictive practice that isn’t in line with the person’s current plan, and the use is likely to continue. Or the person needs restrictive practices in place. In each of those cases the provider has to arrange an interim plan rather than wait for the comprehensive plan to be finished, because the people on shift need something safe to follow now. If none of those situations applies, the person usually goes straight to the functional behaviour assessment and the comprehensive plan.
02
How long does an interim behaviour support plan take?
The NDIS rules give one month. The NDIS Commission’s provider rules count that month from the date the provider is engaged, and the participant guideline counts it from the first day the provider knows a restrictive practice has been used. Either way it’s a regulatory obligation under the NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018, so it isn’t something a provider can extend to suit their diary. At Optimum Health Solutions the clock runs from the date of the initial appointment, and our Behaviour Support Practitioners aim to have the interim plan written within four weeks of it. Once it’s ready, the practitioner gives it to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and the support team gets walked through it, because a plan nobody has been trained on isn’t in place yet.
03
What should be in an interim behaviour support plan?
An interim plan is a risk management and safeguarding document, so it stays short and practical. It records the behaviours of concern and the immediate risks, what tends to set them off, the strategies that prevent behaviour, and the strategies to use in the moment. It records any regulated restrictive practice currently in use and the conditions around it, the safeguards and monitoring that need to be in place, and who needs training before the plan starts. It also states a clear intent to reduce and eliminate any restrictive practice. We write every interim plan at a Year 9 reading level or below, because a support worker reads it on shift, and the functional behaviour assessment that follows is the place for technical language.
04
What happens if a restrictive practice is involved?
Where a restrictive practice is identified, the interim plan is uploaded through PRODA once it has been endorsed, and state authorisation runs alongside the Commission’s lodgement. In New South Wales that means the Restrictive Practices Authorisation pathway. In Tasmania it means the Office of the Senior Practitioner. Our Behaviour Support Practitioners prepare the plan for both, and attend restrictive practice panels where they’re required. The people implementing the practice have their own obligations too. Implementing providers report the use of regulated restrictive practices to the Commission monthly, and an interim plan doesn’t change that. What the plan does is give everyone the same written conditions for the practice, and a stated intent to reduce it, while the assessment works out what will let it be removed.
05
What does an interim plan look like next to a comprehensive one?
Shorter and plainer. An interim plan doesn’t contain a functional behaviour assessment, because that hasn’t been finished, so it doesn’t explain what’s driving the behaviour in any depth. It’s built so someone on shift can find what to do early, what to do in the moment, and what they must not do, without reading a clinical report. The comprehensive plan that follows is the longer document. It sets out the function of the behaviour, puts proactive and skill-building strategies first, gives detailed reactive guidance, and documents any restrictive practice with a plan to reduce it. That one becomes the everyday handbook for the people supporting the person, and once it’s signed off, the interim plan is retired.
06
What happens after the interim plan?
The assessment phase runs alongside the interim plan from the start. Our Behaviour Support Practitioners observe the person across the settings they spend time in, talk with the support team, use standardised assessments where they add something, and collect data at least monthly. The functional behaviour assessment is due by five months from the initial appointment, and it goes to a supervisor for quality assurance two weeks before that. The comprehensive behaviour support plan is due by six months, unless there’s a clinical reason for a different timeline. At that point the interim plan is retired and the comprehensive plan takes over.
How our Behaviour Support Practitioners write the interim plan
It starts at the initial appointment. Your practitioner will meet the person and the people who support them, read the incident records and any existing plan, and ask what’s happening now and what has already been tried. From that first contact the aim is a plan that can be used straight away, so it’s built with the support workers rather than handed to them afterwards.
Before it leaves us, the interim plan goes through internal quality assurance and supervisor sign-off. Where a restrictive practice is in it, the plan is lodged with the NDIS Commission through PRODA and taken through the state authorisation pathway. Then your practitioner walks the support team through it.
From there the work moves to the functional behaviour assessment, with the interim plan holding until the comprehensive plan replaces it.
The interim plan is written for the people on shift. It’s short on purpose, and it changes as soon as the assessment shows something better.
Behaviour support through the NDIS
Behaviour Support is funded under Capacity Building. In newer NDIS (PACE) plans it sits in a dedicated Behaviour Support budget; older plans fund it under Improved Relationships. Under the NDIS rules, an interim behaviour support plan has to follow the NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018 and be given to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission as soon as it’s ready. Support Coordinators and plan managers can refer directly through our Referrers Hub, and we’ll confirm the funding line before the first appointment.
NDIS
Referrals
14 clinics across NSW & Tasmania
Email us
hello@opt.net.au
Speak to us
1800 678 647
Get in Touch.
Where we offer Behaviour Support
Common questions about interim behaviour support plans
What is an interim behaviour support plan?
When is an interim behaviour support plan needed?
How long does it take to get an interim behaviour support plan?
What should be in an interim behaviour support plan?
What does an interim behaviour support plan look like?
How many hours does an interim behaviour support plan take?
How much does an interim behaviour support plan cost?
Does the NDIS fund behaviour support?
What happens after the interim plan?
Reviewed by Rachel Hardcastle
OPTIMUM HEALTH SOLUTIONS
Rachel has worked in Behaviour Support for over 16 years, where her experience has included complex and 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.
References
NDIS, Our Guideline: Behaviour support, 6 May 2026. ndis.gov.au
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, Rules for specialist behaviour support providers and NDIS behaviour support practitioners. ndiscommission.gov.au
NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018.
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