Positive Behaviour Support Plans (PBSP)
Positive Behaviour Support Plans for Adults & Children
Our Positive Behaviour Support Practitioners across the Sunshine Coast, Greater Brisbane, and the Gold Coast work with each individual to develop an evidence-based Positive Behaviour Support Plan that improves quality of life, reduces restrictive practices, and empowers participants to thrive in everyday life.
Our Positive Behaviour Support services provide personalised guidance to improve overall wellbeing.
Our experienced Positive Behaviour Support Practitioners on the Sunshine Coast, Greater Brisbane and the Gold Coast work with each individual to develop an evidence-based Positive Behaviour Support Plan that improves quality of life, reduces restrictive practices, and empower participants to thrive in everyday life.
What is a Positive Behaviour Support Plan?
A Positive Behaviour Support Plan is a personalised, evidence-based document with strategies to help understand and respond to behaviours of concern in a way that improves a person’s quality of life.
All behaviour is a form of communication. A Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner looks beyond behaviours of concern to understand reasons behind the behaviour. This can include unmet needs, communication barriers and environmental triggers.
When this is understood, proactive, person-centred strategies can be developed to address and reduce behaviours. This forms a personalised Positive Behaviour Support Plan, supporting the individual and those around them.
To understand how Positive Behaviour Support works more broadly — including funding, practitioner qualifications, and restrictive practices — see our full guide to Positive Behaviour Support.
A Positive Behaviour Support Plan improves quality of life. Every strategy is designed to increase meaningful participation while reducing behaviours of concern and the use of restrictive practices.
The Purpose of a Positive Behaviour Support Plan
A positive behaviour plan is an important strategy for creating meaningful change in an individual’s day-to-day life.
When left unaddressed, challenging behaviours of concern can lead to:
- Social isolation
- Increased use of restrictive practices.
- Significant decline in quality of life, both for the participant and for those who support them.
A well-developed and implemented plan changes this trajectory, building understanding, providing consistent strategies for everyone in the participant’s life, and protecting their rights along the way.
Positive Behaviour Support Plan: Principles, Strategy & Approach
Positive Behaviour Support is evidence-based and regulated by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. A quality Positive Behaviour Support Plan protects and upholds human rights by building a deep understanding of why behaviours occur, providing everyone in the participant’s life with clear, consistent and tailored strategies to support the individual.
Every plan is developed within the Positive Behaviour Support Framework and written by a practitioner assessed against the NDIS Positive Behaviour Support Capability Framework, the national standard that determines a practitioner’s skill level and the complexity of plans they’re authorised to write.
Understanding Behaviour
Identifying the function and triggers of behaviours of concern with individualised assessment
Reducing Harm
Minimising risk to the participant and those around them using the least restrictive options
Skill Building
Teaching alternative communication and coping strategies so participants can better express their needs
Building Independence
Skills gained develop over time, enabling participants to live more self-directed, fulfilling lives
Improved Quality of Life
Every strategy is developed and implemented to support the person’s broader well-being.
Reduction of Restrictive Practices
All regulated restrictive practices must include an active reduction goal under the Behaviour Support Rules 2018
Empower Care Team
Supports, including family, have clear, consistent guidance and strategies to implement to improve outcomes
Evidence-based
Ongoing engagement and assessment provides measurable goals and data collection to review what is working over time
Types of Positive Behaviour Support Plans and Behaviour Strategies
Positive Behaviour Support is provided both face to face and behind the scenes, tailored to the participants needs. Quality behaviour support plans meet an individual’s needs, while respecting their dignity and upholding their rights.
The positive behaviour support strategies within a plan generally fall into three groups: proactive strategies that change the environment or build skills before behaviour occurs, de-escalation strategies used early to prevent escalation, and reactive strategies that keep everyone safe if a behaviour does occur.
While each plan and strategy is specific to the individual, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission sets clear requirements for the development and review of a Positive Behaviour Support Plan. This includes PBSP templates containing protocols to promote the reduction and elimination of regulated restrictive practices, with the following required documentation.
Interim Behaviour Support Plan
When regulated restrictive practices are identified, the NDIS has a legal requirement for an Interim Positive Behaviour Support Plan to be developed within one month of the specialist behaviour support provider’s engagement.
An Interim Behaviour Plan is a shorter document that includes ways to help keep the person with a disability and others safe. The main focus of the plan is to safeguard the person while lowering risk.
An Interim Plan must include:
- ways to help prevent the behaviour from occurring
- ways to reduce harm when the behaviour is occurring
- if required, when and how to use specific restrictive practices
Comprehensive Behaviour Support Plan
A Comprehensive Behaviour Plan is more detailed and includes a Functional Behaviour Assessment. This assessment examines the person’s behaviour, what is happening and why.
The Interim Plan and results of the Functional Behaviour Assessment inform the Comprehensive Plan, including:
- strategies to improve quality of life and create positive change
- supports required to change the person’s surroundings
- teaching new skills and ways of coping
- support to provide when behaviours occur to lower risk
- if required, when and how to use specific restrictive practices
- detailed steps on how to reduce and eliminate the use of restrictive practices over time.
Functional Behavioural Assessment
A Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA) is a critical part of Positive Behaviour Support. It is a comprehensive and holistic assessment to help others better understand the person and meet their needs. This includes consideration of a broad range of biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors which contribute to and/or maintain the risks of harm.
A quality behavioural assessment uses both direct and indirect methods of assessment to understand the function of the behaviour. This understanding is used to inform supports and to develop strategies and skills to reduce and eliminate the need for regulated restrictive practices.
This forms part of an ongoing process of assessment, intervention, monitoring, and data-based decision making, and is the foundation for the strategies proposed in the person’s comprehensive behaviour support plan, including the reduction and elimination of regulated restrictive practices.
For further information, read the NDIS Policy Guidance for Functional Behavioural Assessment and The Safe Reduction and Elimination of Regulated Restrictive Practices.
Positive Behaviour Support Plan Examples
Positive behaviour support helps people with disability live their best life. It assists others to understand why a person acts a certain way and how to better support the person to meet their needs. A behaviour support plan must be developed in consultation with the person with disability, their family, carers, and other support people, regulated by NDIS legislation.
This support is highly individualised. The positive behaviour support examples below show examples of positive behaviour support strategies across the contexts our practitioners work in.
Restrictive Practices
Any NDIS participant subject to a regulated restrictive practice must have a Positive Behaviour Support Plan in place. The plan must document the practice, demonstrate it is the least restrictive option available, include a clear reduction goal, and be authorised by the relevant state or territory oversight body under the NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018.
Effective Positive Behaviour Support strategies engage care teams to work together to prevent behaviour before it occurs, respond early when needed, and manage crisis situations safely. To achieve this we guide participants, families, and providers to reduce restrictions over time and improve outcomes.
Challenging Behaviour
A behaviour support plan for challenging behaviours is used when a participant presents with aggression, property destruction, or other high-intensity behaviour. It identifies the underlying function of those behaviours through a functional behaviour assessment.
Every strategy is evidence-based and tailored to the individual, with clear guidance for the whole care team on both proactive prevention and safe reactive responses. This is desigend to reduce the frequency and duration of behaviours and improve quality of life.
Autism
For autistic participants, behaviours of concern are often linked to sensory sensitivities, difficulties with transitions, communication differences, or anxiety. This includes individuals with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA).
Our plans in this context are strengths-based and neurodiversity-affirming, focusing on building skills and modifying the environment, developed with the participant and care team’s active involvement.
Adults
Adults with disability deserve person-centred support that respects their autonomy and history. Positive Behaviour Support Plans for adults focus on using the least restrictive option, enhancing independence and quality of life.
An adult may be supported with a PBS Plan due to a range of reasons, including progressive neurological conditions and complex mental health concerns.
This Plan is developed in full respect of the person’s right to make decisions about their own life, consistent with Australia’s obligations under the UN CRPD.
Children
Children, including those with disability, often express unmet needs through behaviour, particularly when they lack the language or skills to communicate differently.
A Positive Behaviour Support Plan for a child can include building communication and emotional regulation. The plan will also include close involvement with parents, carers, and educators to ensure consistency across home, school, and community settings.
This is in line with the rights of children with disability under the UN CRPD and obligations under NDIS legislation.
Aged Care & Supported Living (SIL)
For older NDIS participants and those in Supported Independent Living, behaviours of concern are often linked to cognitive decline, sensory loss, an unfamiliar environment, or a change in routine. Our practitioners work closely with support coordinators, SIL providers, and family to understand what’s changed and why.
Plans in this context place particular weight on environmental design, consistent staff communication, and coordination across shift-based care teams, alongside any medical or medication factors that may be contributing. As with all our plans, the goal is to reduce restrictive practices and support the person’s dignity and quality of life as their needs evolve.
Classroom & Schools
Positive Behaviour Support in the classroom provides teachers and support staff with a clear framework to understand and respond to behaviour in a way that keeps the learning environment safe and inclusive.
Strategies include reasonable adjustments, visual supports and structured routines, including soft transitions. Collaboration with teachers and educators is key, with resources developed in collaboration with the school team and consistent with NDIS behaviour support resources.
Dementia
Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia can include agitation, wandering, or verbal outbursts. These can be understood as behaviour expressing an unmet need.
A Positive Behaviour Support Plan for someone living with dementia focuses on environmental design, meaningful activity, consistent communication, and staff training.
This includes the least restrictive practice, aligning with Dementia Australia‘s person-centred care principles and NDIS legislation.
Self-Harm
Self-Harm or Self-Injury is highly distressing, for family and care teams. A Positive Behaviour Support Plan for complex mental health is always developed in close collaboration with the participant, family, and treating clinicians.
A PBS Plan for self-harm includes a considered functional assessment to understand what the behaviour is communicating, combined with crisis safety planning. A key focus is replacement skill-building and environmental strategies to ensure safety and use of the least restrictive practice at all times.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re still working out whether PBS is the right support, or how it fits into your NDIS plan, start with our Positive Behaviour Support overview.
For further information call our friendly team on 1300 11 4769 or email us at alliedhealth@hively.com.au. Our friendly team are here to assist you with all of your enquiries.
A PBSP is a personalised, evidence-based plan outlining strategies to help understand and respond to behaviours of concern in a way that improves a person’s quality of life.
PBSPs promote positive interactions and a more supportive environment for both the individual and their caregivers. They prioritise understanding the reasons behind behaviours and developing alternative solutions, ultimately reducing the need for restrictive practices.
It’s developed by a registered Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner in consultation with the person, their family, and their wider support team.
Left unaddressed, behaviours of concern can lead to social isolation, an increased use of restrictive practices, and a decline in quality of life. A well-developed and implemented plan:
Empowers the individual by focusing on strengths and skill-building.
Address and reduce behaviours of concern in a proactive and respectful way.
Supports consistency across different environments (home, school, community).
Protects rights and safety, particularly when restrictive practices are involved.
Only a Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission can write a Positive Behaviour Support Plan.
Positive Behaviour Support is funded under NDIS Capacity Building — Improved Relationships. If you’re not sure whether this funding is already included in your plan, or how to request it, our funding guide covers this in detail. Alternatively contact our team and we can help you work through the options.
Hively Health develops Positive Behaviour Support Plans for individuals across Greater Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.
We come to you, wherever is most suitable:
- in our clinic
- your home,
- the community,
- within a school or workplace
- via telehealth
Ready to get started?
To book an initial consultation or discuss whether PBS is right for you or your participant, call 1300 11 4769 or get in touch online.
