A restrictive practice is any practice or intervention which restricts your rights or freedom of movement.
There are different types of restrictive practices, like medication, locking doors or cupboards, or wearing a helmet.
Sometimes your carers or support workers may need to use a restrictive practice if your behaviour puts you at risk of harming yourself or others.
A restrictive practice can only be used when everything else has been tried and hasn’t worked.
Or if your behaviour support practitioner has looked at other strategies and said they are not the right things to do.
Restrictive practices can be a risk to your human rights.
They must be reported and reviewed when they are used.
There are laws and regulations that your practitioner and providers must follow before and when restrictive practices are used.
Providers that use restrictive practices when supporting you must get authorisation where needed in your state or territory.
The restrictive practices must be included in your behaviour support plan and follow the authorisation process in your state or territory.
Your NDIS behaviour support practitioner will talk with you, your family, carers and support workers about the restrictive practice before they put it in your behaviour support plan.
They’ll also talk about the reasons for the restrictive practice and risks.
They’ll tell you about other strategies they looked at, and why these aren’t right for you.
They’ll also talk with you about the strategies and supports that may help reduce and stop the need to use regulated restrictive practices.
Your behaviour support practitioner will include these strategies in your behaviour support plan.
Learn more about reducing and eliminating the use of restrictive practices .
Some people may have someone who makes decisions for them, like a guardian.
Your NDIS behaviour support practitioner must also talk to them about the use of restrictive practices.
Your behaviour support practitioner can only put restrictive practices in your behaviour support plan if they’re the least restrictive option in the situation to make sure you and others are safe.
They must also be in line with the approaches of positive behaviour support strategies.
The use of restrictive practices must follow the NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018.
Your behaviour support practitioner must say if a regulated restrictive practice is included in your behaviour support plan.
The NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018 identify 5 types of restrictive practice that providers may be able to use in certain situations. Learn more about regulated restrictive practices.
Sometimes, restrictive practices are used when you don’t have a behaviour support plan.
These are called unregulated restrictive practices.
If they are used by an NDIS registered provider, they need to be reported as a reportable incident to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
This is sometimes called the NDIS Commission.
An interim behaviour support plan must then be written and lodged with the NDIS Commission by your NDIS behaviour support practitioner as soon as possible.
The NDIS Commission’s Regulated Restrictive Practice Guide also identifies prohibited practices. These are restrictive practices that must never be used.
Learn more about laws and regulations for restrictive practices.
If your behaviour support plan includes restrictive practices, your NDIS behaviour support provider must lodge your plan with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission .
If your behaviour support plan doesn’t include restrictive practices, your NDIS behaviour support provider does not have to lodge it with the NDIS Commission.
However, your behaviour support plan must still be written by an NDIS behaviour support provider who is registered with the NDIS Commission.
Learn more about age-appropriate examples and restrictive practices for children .