Restrictive practices
Actions that restrict a person’s rights or freedom of movement; tightly regulated under the NDIS, requiring authorisation and trained staff.
Restrictive practices are actions that limit the rights or freedom of movement of a person with disability, such as physical, mechanical, chemical or environmental restraint, or seclusion. Under the NDIS, they are tightly regulated because they can cause harm and infringe a person's rights.
For disability support workers, this means you cannot use a restrictive practice on your own initiative. It must be a regulated practice that is authorised under the relevant state or territory process, set out in a behaviour support plan written by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner, and used only as a last resort. You also need the training to apply it safely and to record and report its use.
For providers, restrictive practices carry strict obligations: authorisation, an approved behaviour support plan, reporting to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and ensuring staff are competent. Workforce screening is part of the foundation here. Keeping each worker's NDIS Worker Screening Check and behaviour support training current, visible on their Career Passport, supports the wider duty to use these practices safely and lawfully.
This is general information, not compliance advice. Always confirm requirements with the relevant regulator, and remember that providers keep the legal responsibility to sight credentials and decide who can work.
We work hard to keep it accurate, but the rules change and we will not always get every detail right. If you think something here needs updating, email us at resources@koora.care. We would genuinely rather know, because we all do better when we help each other get it right.
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