DOCUMENT 2
Disclosure Log - FOI 24/25-1362
| Field | Category | Reference Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Behaviour Supports | |
| Purpose | This document is part of a suite of guidance documents for Case Managers to use in formulating their approach to managing individual matters before the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). | |
| Scope | This Guide applies nationally to the conduct of all matters within the Administrative Review Tribunal Case Management Branch. | |
| What are behaviour supports? | Behaviour Supports are supports intended to help reduce or eliminate behaviours of concern exhibited by a participant living with disability. Behaviours of concern refer to any behaviour which results in an adverse impact on the person’s quality of life. This can include physical and verbal aggression, property damage, inappropriate sexual behaviour, disinhibited and impulsive behaviour, as well as self-injurious behaviour (whether intentional or not). Please note the term ‘self-harm,’ when used in mental health settings, typically refers to intentional harm without suicidal intent, such as neglect, cutting, ingesting objects and self-poisoning. |
Understanding Behaviour Support and Restrictive Practices - For Providers |
| Policy statement | The ART process is often seen as stressful and adversarial by participants and prospective participants of the Scheme. The NDIA will adopt a participant-focused approach to resolving disputes before the ART, and will work directly with participants and prospective participants to provide better and earlier outcomes, where possible. The role of the NDIA is to assist the ART in reaching the correct and preferable decision, including by assisting participants and prospective participants in reaching the best possible resolution by agreement. Behaviour Supports The NDIA will fund all reasonable and necessary behaviour supports which meet the NDIS funding |
NDIA Dispute Resolution Policy Appendix B to the Legal Services Directions 2017 Section 34 (1) of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 Rule 5 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Supports for Participants) Rules 2013 |
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Disclosure Log - FOI 24/25-1362
| Field | Category | Reference Documents |
|---|---|---|
| criteria, in line with a participant’s behaviour support plan (BSP). All participants who exhibit behaviours of concern should have a BSP in place. However, the NDIA is only able to fund behaviour supports which are delivered by providers who are registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NQSC). The NDIA is unable to fund behaviour supports which are delivered by any other, non-registered provider. This is due to the risk of unauthorised use of Restrictive Practices as unregistered providers may not hold the same reporting obligations to NQSC. The Registration requirements for the use of regulated restrictive practices guide is a flow chart that assists participants and their families to identify the types of supports that only a registered NDIS provider can deliver. It also identifies the options available when an unregistered provider is currently involved and using a regulated restrictive practice. An accessible version of the flow chart is included in the appendix. The NDIA will not fund supports of any kind, under any circumstances, which cause, or are likely to cause, harm to the participant or others. |
[What supports can we fund? | |
| Approach to ART matters | The NDIA will fund all reasonable and necessary behaviour supports, so long as they are delivered by a registered behaviour support practitioner. The NDIA will refer to the available evidence when considering the appropriate level of behaviour support funding needed to address a participant’s unique behavioural complexities. Behaviour support funding is tiered, such that: Level 1 includes * specialist behavioural intervention support, usually not exceeding 45 hours per annum (approx. 3 – 4 hours per month) * training in behaviour management strategies, unusually not exceeding 20 hours per annum (approx. 1 – 2 hours per month); and |
[How do we decide what reasonable and necessary supports to include in your plan? |
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Disclosure Log - FOI 24/25-1362
| Field | Category | Reference Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2 includes - specialist behavioural intervention support, usually not exceeding 90 hours per annum (approx. 7 – 8 hours per month) - training in behaviour management strategies, usually not exceeding 30 hours per annum (approx. 2 – 3 hours per month) - individual social skills development, usually not exceeding 40 hours per annum (approx. 3 – 4 hours per month) The NDIA will need to consider whether behaviour supports would most appropriately be funded by another service delivery system (typically Justice, Education or Mental Health). The levels denote suggested packages of supports. Indeed, variations can be made to the packages and level of supports, to individualise to the participant based on the available evidence. |
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| Evidence recommended | The appropriate level of behaviour support funding will be informed by the extent and severity a particular participants’ behaviours of concern. Behaviours of concern will be set out in a comprehensive BSP. Most participants exhibiting behaviours of concern will already have a BSP in place. Where this is not the case, in order to obtain a comprehensive BSP, further information regarding behaviours of concern and the likelihood of harm is required from the participant’s treating therapeutic team; being the behaviours which behaviour supports seek to reduce or eliminate. These behaviours should be relevant to the participant’s disability and greater than age-typical behaviours (e.g., 2-year-old is engaging in behaviours of concern such as biting; however, this behaviour may be perceived as age typical for children regardless of disabilities). This evidence may come from a suitably qualified OT, psychologist or behaviour support practitioner, with experience in assessment function and behaviour. |
Submitting behaviour support plans and reports | NQSC Understanding Behaviour Support and Restrictive Practices - For Providers | NQSC Persons Giving Expert and Opinion Evidence Guideline | Administrative Appeals Tribunal Positive Behaviour Support and Behaviours of Concerns |
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Disclosure Log - FOI 24/25-1362
| Field | Category | Reference Documents |
|---|---|---|
| The NDIA will have regard to evidence from health and allied health care providers, occupational therapists, speech pathologists and physiotherapists (as appropriate) to aid its determination as to the reasonable and necessary level of behaviour support funding. Above all, the NDIA will carefully consider a participant’s context and journey with disability, placing a participant’s safety at the heart of the NDIA’s decision. The NDIA will also account for a participant’s own choices and preferences regarding the provision of behaviour support(s). The NDIA will not fund any support which causes, or is likely to cause, any harm to the participant, or any other person (including psychological harm and trauma). |
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| Other considerations | At a minimum, any behaviour support plan that contains a regulated restrictive practice needs to be reviewed every 12 months, or earlier if the participant’s circumstances change. Behaviour Support Plans are not the same as Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA therapy) and are not interchangeable. |
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| Previous relevant decisions | The AAT was satisfied that behaviour support funding (110 hours per annum) met the reasonable and necessary criteria under section 34 ‘because there was no evidence presented’ that the requested supports ‘were not aligned with “current best practice”’. The AAT set aside the decision of the NDIA. | Castledine and National Disability Insurance Agency [2019] AATA 4240 (16 October 2019) at [311] – [330] and [336] |
| Document Control | Responsible Person | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Document author | Continuous Improvement | October 2024 |
| Document approver | Director, Continuous Improvement | 28 October 2024 |
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