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Restrictive Practices Under the NDIS
Restrictive practices are actions that limit the rights or freedom of movement of a person with disability. Under the NDIS, five are regulated: chemical, physical, mechanical, and environmental restraint, and seclusion. A provider using one has to report it to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and work through a behaviour support plan that sets out how its use will be reduced and, where possible, ended.
If you’re a support coordinator, a group home manager, a family member, or a support worker, this is one part of NDIS support where the rules are not optional. They exist to protect people with disability from restriction they do not need.
This guide covers what counts as a restrictive practice, the five regulated types, who authorises them, what has to be reported, and how Positive Behaviour Support works to reduce them.
Providers, support coordinators, and families
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Behaviour Support work, restrictive practices oversight included, is usually NDIS funded.
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The five regulated restrictive practices
01
Chemical restraint
A restrictive practice is anything that has the effect of restricting a person’s rights or freedom of movement. The word that matters is “effect”. A practice does not have to be intended as restrictive to count as one. Locking the front door at night for safety still prevents a person from leaving, so it is an environmental restriction. Medication that sedates someone to manage their behaviour is chemical restraint, whatever it was called when it was given. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission regulates five specific types. Each one is defined below, with the line that separates it from ordinary, appropriate support.
Medication or a chemical substance used for the primary purpose of influencing a person’s behaviour. It does not include medication prescribed to treat a diagnosed medical or psychiatric condition.
Example: a person in a group home is given a sedative before an outing because staff expect a behaviour of concern. The sedative is not treating a diagnosed condition. It is being used to manage behaviour, and that makes it chemical restraint.
02
Physical restraint
The use of physical force to prevent, restrict, or subdue a person’s movement. It does not include physical assistance the person has agreed to as part of their support.
Example: a support worker holds a person’s arms against their body during a meltdown to stop them hitting out. That is physical restraint. Offering an arm for balance while walking is not.
03
Mechanical restraint
A device used to prevent, restrict, or subdue movement. It does not include devices used for a therapeutic or non-behavioural purpose, like a wheelchair seatbelt prescribed by an Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist for postural support.
Example: a person is placed in a chair with a locked harness to stop them leaving the room. That is mechanical restraint. A lap belt prescribed by a therapist for safe seating in transport is not.
04
Environmental restraint
Restricting a person’s free access to parts of their environment, their belongings, or activities. This covers locked doors, gated areas, and removing personal items.
Example: the kitchen in a group home is locked overnight so a person cannot get to food. That is environmental restraint. The safety intention does not change what it is.
05
Seclusion
Leaving a person with disability alone in a room or space, at any hour, where they cannot freely leave.
Example: a person is put in a room and the door is held shut until they “calm down”. That is seclusion. It still counts even if the door is not locked, as long as leaving is prevented.
The rules around Restrictive practices
How Positive Behaviour Support works to reduce them
The regulatory framework.
Restrictive practices under the NDIS are regulated at two levels. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission oversees behaviour support nationally.
It holds the register of behaviour support practitioners, receives and reviews behaviour support plans, monitors how restrictive practices are used, and can take compliance action against providers who do not meet their obligations.
A provider must lodge any behaviour support plan that includes a restrictive practice with the Commission.
State and territory authorisation bodies handle the authorisation step, and the requirements differ by jurisdiction. In some states, certain restrictive practices need authorisation from a relevant body before they can be used at all.
Providers also have obligations under state disability, guardianship, and in some cases mental health legislation. These layers can get complicated.
Reporting requirements.
Every registered NDIS provider has to report the use of restrictive practices to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
The main obligations are:
- Unauthorised use of restrictive practices must be reported to the Commission within five business days
- Behaviour Support plans that include a restrictive practice must be lodged with the Commission.
- Monthly reporting on the use of regulated restrictive practices goes through the Commission’s portal
- Reportable incidents involving a restrictive practice, such as an injury during physical restraint, must be reported under the NDIS reportable incidents scheme.
Accurate records matter here. Each use of a restrictive practice should be written up at the time, including what happened beforehand, the practice used, how long it lasted, how the person responded, and any injury or distress.
What happens without a behaviour support plan?
If a registered NDIS provider uses a restrictive practice without a current behaviour support plan in place, they are in breach of their registration conditions. The consequences can include compliance notices from the Commission, conditions placed on the provider’s registration, suspension or revocation of registration in serious cases, and reportable incident investigations. For an individual support worker, using a restrictive practice without authorisation can also raise issues under state law, including criminal law in some places. This is not meant to frighten anyone. It is meant to make the obligation clear. If restrictive practices are being used, a behaviour support plan needs to be in place. If there isn’t one, getting a functional behaviour assessment underway is the first step.
How optimum Health Solutions Positive Behaviour Practitioners Support the reduction of restrictive practices
The NDIS framework goes further than regulating restrictive practices. It requires that their use be reduced and, where possible, ended.
Every behaviour support plan that includes a restrictive practice has to include a strategy for relying on that practice less over time.
That is a regulatory requirement, not a suggestion. The plan has to show why the restrictive practice is necessary right now, the proactive strategies that will lower the need for it, the skills the person is building so they have other options, a timeline for review and reduction, and how progress is measured.
“We’ve always done it this way” is not a reason.
Neither is “it works” or “the person is used to it”.
The Commission expects evidence that a provider is actively working towards the least restrictive option.
Positive Behaviour Support does not look away from the situations that lead to restrictive practices. It works on them from a different angle. Rather than meeting a crisis with restriction, it asks what set the crisis off and builds strategies to stop it happening again.
That includes:
- Environmental changes (adjusting the physical space, the routine, or the sensory load to take the pressure off the triggers)
- communication supports (giving the person clearer ways to be understood, so behaviour is not the only way to get a need across)
- skill building (working on emotional regulation, coping strategies, and other ways to respond)
- carer and staff training (so everyone in the person’s support team responds the same way, and responds early)
- monitoring (tracking data over time to spot patterns, adjust the plan, and show the reduction is happening).
At Optimum Health Solutions, we have based our entire business model around ensure the patient is always at the centre of everything we do.
When it comes to how our Behaviour Support Practitioners act on restrictive practices, the aim is not to handle the same crises with less force. It is to change the conditions so those crises happen less often.
We believe that when support is proactive and centred entirely around the person, the need for restriction goes down.
For the broader approach, see our guide to Positive Behaviour Support.
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Where we offer restrictive practices support
Common questions about restrictive practices
What are the five types of restrictive practices under the NDIS?
What are some examples of restrictive practices?
Do restrictive practices need to be reported to the NDIS Commission?
Can restrictive practices be used without a behaviour support plan?
What are the rules around using a restrictive practice?
What is the difference between a restrictive practice and a reasonable adjustment?
How does Positive Behaviour Support reduce restrictive practices?
What are restrictive practices in the NDIS?
What is not considered a restrictive practice?
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.
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