Restrictive practice authorisation differs by state and territory

If you implement a regulated restrictive practice, it must be authorised. How that authorisation works is set by each state and territory, not nationally — which is why you will get different answers from providers in different places.

What is the same everywhere

• The practice must be contained in a behaviour support plan written by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner
• The practice must be authorised in line with the requirements of the state or territory where the support is delivered
• As an implementing provider you report the use of regulated restrictive practices to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission each month
• Use of an unauthorised restrictive practice is a reportable incident and must be notified to the Commission within 5 business days

What differs

Each state and territory has its own arrangements: which body authorises, who can apply, what evidence is needed, how long an authorisation lasts, whether a panel or an authorised officer decides, and how emergencies are handled. Some have a senior practitioner or an equivalent office; the names, forms and timeframes are not the same.

We deliberately do not reproduce those processes here. They change, and following an out-of-date summary is worse than following none.

What to do instead

1. Identify the state or territory where the support is delivered — not where your business is registered, if they differ.
2. Find the senior practitioner, authorisation body or disability services department responsible for restrictive practice authorisation in that jurisdiction, and use their current published process.
3. Ask the behaviour support practitioner who wrote the plan. They work with these processes regularly and can usually tell you what is required and who applies.
4. Record what was authorised, by whom, and the expiry date, and track it so it never lapses unnoticed.

If you support people in more than one state

You may be dealing with more than one authorisation process at once. Keep the evidence separated by participant and jurisdiction, and check each one's requirements individually.

If you are unsure whether a practice you use is regulated, ask the practitioner before you continue using it.