How to Get a Behaviour Support Plan Through the NDIS

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The short version

Behaviour support is usually funded through your NDIS plan, so the first step is checking your funding.
Next, you find an NDIS behaviour support practitioner who’s a good fit, one who has been considered suitable by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and works through a registered NDIS provider.
The practitioner does an assessment, getting to know the person before writing anything.
The plan is written with you, then put into practice and reviewed over time.

If you’ve decided your family could use behaviour support, the practical question is: how do you actually get it going? The good news is that the path is more straightforward than it can first appear. Here’s the journey, step by step, so you know what to expect and what to ask.

Step 1: Check the funding in your plan

Behaviour support is funded through your NDIS plan under the Capacity Building budget, in the Improved Relationships category. This is the funding that covers a practitioner assessing needs and developing a behaviour support plan.

If you’re not sure what’s in your plan, your plan document, plan manager or support coordinator can help you check. If the funding isn’t there yet, it’s something you can raise at your next plan reassessment.

Step 2: Find a suitable practitioner

Behaviour support plans are developed by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner who has been considered suitable by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, working through a registered NDIS provider. Individual practitioners aren’t “registered” in their own right; the Commission assesses them as suitable, and they deliver support through a registered provider. You’ll want someone who is a good fit for your loved one, both in experience and in personality, because trust makes a real difference.

It’s completely fine to ask questions before you commit. How do they work? Have they supported someone with similar needs? How will they involve the family? A good practitioner will welcome those questions.

Step 3: The assessment

Before anything is written, the practitioner takes time to understand the person. This assessment usually involves spending time with them, talking with the family and support team, and looking at when and why behaviours of concern happen. It’s not a test, and there are no wrong answers. It’s about building a real picture of the person, their strengths and their needs. Your insights as a parent or carer are central to this stage.

Step 4: Writing the plan

From the assessment, the practitioner develops the behaviour support plan. It sets out the person’s strengths, what’s driving the behaviours, and clear, positive strategies for everyone to follow. This is grounded in positive behaviour support, so it focuses on changing the environment and teaching skills rather than punishment. The plan is written with you, not handed to you.

Step 5: Putting it into practice and reviewing it

A plan only helps if it’s used consistently, so the practitioner supports the people around the person to put the strategies into action. Over time, the plan is reviewed and adjusted as the person grows and circumstances change. Behaviour support is a journey, not a one-off document, and small, steady progress is the goal.

Not sure whether now is the right time? Our article on the 5 signs it’s time for behaviour support can help you decide.

Ready to get started? Explore our Behaviour Support Plans service to see how we work, or get in touch and we’ll guide you through the first steps.