NDIS Practice Standard: Restrictive Practices explained (2026)

What are restrictive practices under the NDIS?

A restrictive practice is any practice or intervention that has the effect of restricting the rights or freedom of movement of a person with disability. Under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 and the rules made under it, the NDIS Commission classifies regulated restrictive practices into five types:

• Seclusion — confining a person alone in a room or area they cannot freely leave
• Chemical restraint — using medication primarily to influence behaviour rather than to treat a diagnosed condition
• Mechanical restraint — using a device to restrict free movement (other than for therapeutic or postural purposes)
• Physical restraint — using bodily force to restrict movement
• Environmental restraint — restricting access to parts of an environment or to objects

Every registered NDIS provider delivering supports to participants must understand this framework. For SIL providers in particular, where staff are present in participants' homes around the clock, the risk of unintentional or undocumented restrictive practice is especially high.

Why restrictive practices are a distinct Practice Standard

The NDIS Practice Standards are the benchmark against which registered providers are assessed. The Behaviour Support module — which covers restrictive practices — sits within the Core Practice Standards applicable to all registered providers, and is also assessed in depth during audits for providers delivering higher-risk supports such as SIL.

The reasoning is straightforward: restrictive practices, by definition, limit a person's autonomy. The NDIS is built on the principle of choice and control. Any restriction therefore requires a high justification threshold, rigorous oversight, and a documented plan to reduce and ultimately eliminate the practice. This is not merely administrative. The Commission treats unauthorised restrictive practices as a significant safeguard concern and a potential breach of the NDIS Code of Conduct.

Who this standard applies to in 2026

If you are a registered NDIS provider and any of the following is true, the Behaviour Support Practice Standard applies to your organisation:

• You deliver supports to a participant whose support plan or behaviour support plan authorises a regulated restrictive practice.
• Your staff make day-to-day decisions about physical management of behaviour in a residential or SIL setting.
• You employ or engage behaviour support practitioners who develop plans for participants in your care.
• You deliver any support where an environmental restriction — even an informal one — is in place.

Under the strengthened NDIS Practice Standards framework, which the Commission has continued to refine through 2025–26, providers can no longer treat behaviour support as a specialist-only concern. All staff working with participants are expected to understand what constitutes a restrictive practice, how to recognise it in their day-to-day work, and what to do when one occurs or is proposed.

Core requirements under the standard

The Practice Standard on Behaviour Support sets out several non-negotiable obligations. Providers must be able to demonstrate all of the following:

1. Approved behaviour support plan before any regulated restrictive practice

No regulated restrictive practice may be used unless an approved, written behaviour support plan is in place. That plan must be developed by a suitably qualified behaviour support practitioner and, where required under state or territory authorisation laws, approved by the relevant state/territory body. Interim plans may be used in limited circumstances, but these have their own reporting requirements and time limits.

2. Least restrictive option principle

The standard requires providers to use only the least restrictive practice necessary to ensure safety, and only as a last resort after less restrictive strategies have been considered and found insufficient. This principle must be documented — it is not enough for staff to apply it informally. Auditors will look for evidence of how and why a particular practice was selected over alternatives.

3. Informed consent

The participant and, where applicable, their authorised representative must be involved in the development of the behaviour support plan. Consent must be documented. Where a participant has impaired decision-making capacity, providers must follow applicable guardianship or substitute decision-making frameworks in their state or territory.

4. Recording every use

Each instance of a regulated restrictive practice must be recorded in writing at the time it occurs or as soon as practicable. Records must capture the type of practice used, the circumstances, the duration, the staff member involved, and the participant's response. Incomplete or retrospective records are among the most common non-conformances found during audits.

5. Reporting to the NDIS Commission

Registered providers are required to report the use of regulated restrictive practices to the NDIS Commission. Reporting is done through the NDIS Commission Portal and must occur within the timeframes specified in the NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules. Failure to report — even when the practice itself was authorised — is treated as a separate compliance breach.

6. Working toward elimination

The behaviour support plan must include positive behaviour support strategies and measurable goals aimed at reducing and ultimately eliminating the use of restrictive practices. This is not aspirational language — auditors assess whether providers can demonstrate progress against those goals over time.

Consequences of non-compliance

The NDIS Commission has a range of enforcement tools it can and does apply when providers fall short of the Behaviour Support Practice Standard:

For SIL providers, audit non-conformances in the Behaviour Support module can delay or prevent renewal of registration, which directly affects your ability to deliver supports and be paid through the NDIS.

What auditors look for in 2026

When an approved quality auditor assesses your organisation against the Behaviour Support Practice Standard, they will typically examine:

1. Policies and procedures that define each type of restrictive practice and specify the approval process
2. Evidence that all staff have received training on recognising and responding to restrictive practices
3. A register or equivalent record of all participants for whom a regulated restrictive practice is authorised
4. Copies of current, approved behaviour support plans for those participants
5. Incident and restrictive practice registers showing individual-level recording of each use
6. Commission portal reporting records demonstrating timely reporting
7. Evidence of regular review of behaviour support plans and progress toward elimination goals
8. Documentation of participant and representative involvement in plan development

Auditors are particularly alert to the gap between policy and practice — where a provider has good written policies but staff cannot describe how they work or where records are incomplete. Both represent non-conformances.

Preparing your organisation

The most effective preparation combines three elements: clear internal policy, trained staff, and reliable record-keeping systems. Providers who struggle at audit almost always have weaknesses in at least one of these three areas.

Start by mapping every participant in your service against the question: does this person have a current, approved behaviour support plan? If the answer is no — and a restrictive practice is in use or conceivable — that is an immediate risk. Engage a qualified behaviour support practitioner before the practice occurs, not after.

If you are building or overhauling your compliance documentation ahead of 2026 registration renewal, the ndiscompliant.com.au SIL compliance kit includes 74 audit-ready documents covering behaviour support policy, restrictive practice registers, staff training frameworks, and reporting checklists — designed to align with current NDIS Commission requirements.

Key principle to remember

The NDIS Practice Standard on Behaviour Support is ultimately not about paperwork. It reflects a rights-based obligation: every person with disability is entitled to live free from practices that unnecessarily restrict their freedom. Compliance with the standard is the floor, not the ceiling. The strongest providers use it as a framework to deliver genuinely person-centred support — and that is exactly what the Commission's auditors are looking for.