What is a Behaviour Support Plan?
A personalised plan for understanding and reducing behaviours of concern
A behaviour support plan is a personalised document that outlines strategies for understanding and reducing behaviours of concern while building positive skills for the person it supports.
Without a plan, the people around someone with behaviours of concern are often left guessing. Support workers respond differently to the same situation. Families feel stuck. Restrictive practices stay in place longer than they need to. Everyone is doing their best, but nobody is working from the same page.
A behaviour support plan changes that. It gives everyone involved clear, consistent, evidence-based strategies that are built around the person, not the behaviour. It documents what is happening, explains why, and sets out what to do about it. One plan. One direction. One team working together.
At Optimum Health Solutions, our Positive Behaviour Support practitioners develop behaviour support plans for children, teenagers, and adults across 14 clinics in NSW and Tasmania. We work alongside families, carers, support workers, and allied health professionals to create plans that are practical, respectful, and focused on what matters most to the person at the centre of them.
What is Included in a Behaviour Support Plan?
A behaviour support plan covers three questions: what is happening, why is it happening, and what can everyone around the person do differently?
It is more than a list of strategies. A good plan reads like a user manual for supporting someone well.
Personal profile. The plan starts with who the person actually is. Their strengths, their preferences, how they communicate, what their day looks like. This section makes sure the plan reflects the whole person, not just the behaviours that prompted the referral.
Functional behaviour assessment findings. A functional behaviour assessment examines what happens before, during, and after a behaviour of concern to understand its purpose. A person may become distressed during transitions because they cannot predict what comes next. That context changes everything about how you respond.
Proactive strategies. Environmental changes, routine adjustments, and skill-building activities designed to prevent behaviours of concern before they occur. Research consistently shows that proactive strategies are the most effective component of Positive Behaviour Support, particularly for people with the most complex needs. Prevention, not reaction.
Reactive strategies. Clear, step-by-step instructions for responding when behaviours of concern do happen. Written so any support worker, teacher, or family member can follow them consistently. Safety for everyone. Dignity preserved.
Restrictive practice details (if applicable). If any regulated restrictive practices are in place, the plan must document what they are, why they are necessary, how they will be monitored, and the concrete steps being taken to reduce or eliminate them. Under NDIS rules, restrictive practices are always a last resort.
Monitoring and review schedule. How and when the plan will be reviewed. Progress is tracked. Strategies are adjusted. The plan stays relevant as the person’s life changes.
Who Writes a Behaviour Support Plan?
NDIS-registered practitioners, working alongside your team
A behaviour support plan must be written by a practitioner registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Registration means the practitioner meets the NDIS Positive Behaviour Support Capability Framework standards and is qualified to assess behaviours of concern, develop evidence-based plans, and report on restrictive practices. A 2023 multicentre trial confirmed that Positive Behaviour Support delivered by trained staff significantly reduces behaviours of concern and improves quality of life for adults with intellectual disabilities.
At Optimum Health Solutions, our practitioners hold qualifications in allied health disciplines including psychology, social work, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Pathology, with additional training in Positive Behaviour Support.
But the practitioner does not work alone. A behaviour support plan is built with the people who know the person best: the person the plan is about (where possible and appropriate), family members and carers, support workers and disability service providers, allied health professionals including Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, and Physiotherapists, teachers, educators and school staff, and NDIS support coordinators and plan managers.
At Optimum Health Solutions, this collaboration happens under one roof. Our behaviour support practitioners sit alongside six other allied health disciplines, so when a participant needs support across multiple areas, the team coordinates directly instead of sending reports between providers who have never met.
Interim vs Comprehensive Behaviour Support Plans
If your family member is already subject to restrictive practices, the clock starts immediately. The NDIS Commission requires an interim behaviour support plan within 30 days. Not 30 days from when you feel ready. Thirty days from the start of service.
Interim behaviour support plan. An interim plan is a safety-first document. It records what is currently happening, documents any restrictive practices already in place, and sets out immediate strategies to keep everyone safe while a more thorough assessment takes place.
It is not a shortcut. It is a regulatory requirement. Without it, restrictive practices are being used without oversight, without documentation, and without a plan to reduce them. The NDIS Commission’s guidelines are clear on this.
Comprehensive behaviour support plan. A comprehensive plan takes longer to develop, typically 6 to 12 months. It is built on a thorough functional behaviour assessment, repeated observations across different settings, input from everyone in the person’s support network, and analysis of behavioural data collected over time.
This is where the real work happens. The comprehensive plan replaces the interim plan and provides detailed proactive strategies, skill-building goals, a restrictive practice reduction plan, and a long-term monitoring framework. It is the document that drives lasting change.
Both types must be lodged with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
Private and Other Funding
Not on the NDIS? We also see private clients and can discuss other funding options. Call us on 1800 678 647 to talk through what is available for your situation.
NDIS Positive Behaviour Support
NDIS funding for behaviour support sits under Capacity Building, within the Improved Relationships or Improved Daily Living line items. If your plan does not include this funding, your support coordinator or plan manager can request it at your next plan review.
Funding covers functional behaviour assessments, interim and comprehensive plans, implementation support, ongoing monitoring and reviews, and restrictive practice reporting. We accept plan-managed, agency-managed, and self-managed participants.
How Long Does a Behaviour Support Plan Last?
A living document, reviewed regularly
There is no expiry date. A behaviour support plan is a living document, reviewed regularly and updated as the person’s life changes.
But “no expiry” does not mean “set and forget”. Plans that sit in a drawer do not reduce behaviours of concern. They need active monitoring.
Interim plan: reviewed within 6 months and replaced by a comprehensive plan.
Comprehensive plan: formally reviewed every 12 months at minimum, with informal check-ins throughout.
Restrictive practice plans: reviewed more frequently, often quarterly, to ensure practices are being actively reduced.
In practice, most plans are adjusted more often than the minimum. A new school. A change in support workers. A move to a different home. Any of these can shift the dynamics enough to warrant a review.
At Optimum Health Solutions, we build reviews into our service delivery from the start. Your practitioner schedules regular check-ins with you, your family, and your support team. Not because the NDIS requires it. Because a plan that is not reviewed is a plan that stops working.
What are Behaviours of Concern?
Behaviours of concern are actions that cause harm to the person, to others, or that limit the person’s ability to participate in daily life. They are the reason families seek help. They are what keeps support workers second-guessing. They are, often, the thing nobody in the room knows how to talk about.
Examples include physical aggression towards others, self-injurious behaviour such as hitting, biting or head-banging, property destruction, absconding (leaving a safe environment without notice), severe withdrawal or refusal to participate in daily activities, and behaviours that place the person at risk of restrictive practices.
The term “behaviours of concern” has replaced older language like “challenging behaviours” in clinical practice. The shift matters. The behaviour is concerning. The person is not the problem.
Positive Behaviour Support starts from one position: all behaviour has a function. A person may act a certain way because they are in pain, overwhelmed, unable to communicate what they need, or because their environment is failing them. Understanding that function is the first step. Everything else follows from there.
What are Restrictive Practices?
Restrictive practices are interventions that limit a person’s rights or freedom of movement. Under the NDIS, there are five regulated types: chemical restraint (using medication to influence behaviour, excluding prescribed medication for a diagnosed condition), physical restraint (using physical force to prevent or restrict movement), mechanical restraint (using a device to prevent or restrict movement), environmental restraint (restricting access to environments, items, or activities such as locked doors or removing a phone), and seclusion (confining a person in a space where they cannot leave voluntarily).
Restrictive practices must always be a last resort after all other strategies have been tried, the least restrictive option available, used for the shortest time possible, documented in the behaviour support plan, reported to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and subject to a reduction and elimination plan.
One of the core goals of any behaviour support plan is to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of restrictive practices. At Optimum Health Solutions, our practitioners develop proactive strategies that address the underlying causes of behaviours of concern, so restrictive practices become unnecessary over time.
How Optimum Health Solutions Delivers Positive Behaviour Support
Seven disciplines under one roof
Our behaviour support practitioners work alongside Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Physiotherapists, Exercise Physiologists, Podiatrists, and Dietitians. You do not need to repeat your story to five different providers.
We come to you
Behaviours of concern happen in real environments, not in a clinic waiting room. Much of our Positive Behaviour Support is delivered where the behaviours actually occur. Home. School. Workplace. Community.
Collaborative from day one
Every behaviour support plan is developed with input from the participant, their family, carers, support workers, and every other professional involved. Not after the plan is written. During.
NDIS registered
Plan-managed, agency-managed, and self-managed participants welcome. We handle the NDIS paperwork so you can focus on what actually matters.
14 clinics across NSW and Tasmania
Blacktown, Liverpool, Croydon Park, Sylvania, Hornsby, Campbelltown, North Rocks, Batemans Bay, Nowra, Cessnock, Mornington (TAS), and Moonah (TAS). Plus mobile and community-based Positive Behaviour Support in Goulburn and other areas across NSW.
Ages 9 and up
Children aged 9 and up, teenagers, and adults. In the clinic, at home, at school, or in the community.
Reviewed by the Positive Behaviour Support team at Optimum Health Solutions. Last reviewed: April 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is included in a behaviour support plan?
A behaviour support plan includes a personal profile, functional behaviour assessment findings, proactive strategies to prevent behaviours of concern, reactive strategies for safe responses, restrictive practice documentation (if applicable), and a monitoring and review schedule.
Who writes a behaviour support plan?
Behaviour support plans must be written by a practitioner registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. At Optimum Health Solutions, our practitioners hold allied health qualifications with additional Positive Behaviour Support training.
How long does a behaviour support plan last?
A behaviour support plan is reviewed regularly and does not have a fixed expiry. Interim plans are replaced by comprehensive plans within 6 months. Comprehensive plans are formally reviewed at least every 12 months.
What is the difference between an interim and comprehensive behaviour support plan?
An interim plan is developed within 30 days, especially when restrictive practices are in use. A comprehensive plan is developed over 6 to 12 months based on thorough assessment and observation. Both must be lodged with the NDIS Commission.
Does the NDIS fund behaviour support?
Yes. Positive Behaviour Support is funded under NDIS Capacity Building, within the Improved Relationships or Improved Daily Living line items. Your plan needs to include this funding. Your support coordinator can request it at your next plan review.
