Get approval to use a restrictive practice

Follow this guide to get a restrictive practice approved as part of a positive behaviour support plan.

If you're an ACT community service provider, you can only use a restrictive practice if it is:

• part of a person's positive behaviour support plan (PBSP)
• approved by a Positive Behaviour Support Panel
• registered with the ACT Senior Practitioner.

1. Write a positive behaviour support plan

If a person's behaviour is a risk to themselves or others, service providers (and others involved in the person's life) must:

• find out the reasons for the behaviour
• have a plan to replace the harmful behaviour with a positive one.

A positive behaviour support plan describes how to support the person's behaviour to reduce the need for a restrictive practice.

This includes:

• meeting the person's unmet needs (often one reason for a concerning behaviour)
• building on their strengths and increasing their life skills to improve their quality of life
• reducing the intensity and frequency of behaviour that causes harm to the person or others.

The plan must describe when and how a restrictive practice may be used if it is needed.

To write the plan, follow the Positive Behaviour Support Plan Guidelines and template [PDF 1.3MB].

Developing the plan

Everyone who provides support to the person should help.

The person who writes the plan should have experience in positive behaviour support.

They should involve:

• the person who the plan is about
• therapists, doctors and specialists
• family members and friends
• guardians or advocates
• other people or organisations who provide care for the person.

2. Apply to get the plan approved

Your application must include:

• a Positive behaviour support plan application form [PDF 248kB]
• a signed Positive Behaviour Support Panel consent form [PDF 817kB]
• documents to support using a restrictive practice. For example, behaviours of concern you have noted, reports from therapists or doctors, risk assessments and photographs of equipment.

Upload your application to the Restrictive Intervention Database System

If you need access to the Restrictive Intervention Database System (RIDS)

1. Sign up for a RIDS account.
2. Sign in to RIDS and add your organisation and contact details.

If you need help to use RIDS or sign up for an account, contact ACTRIDS@act.gov.au.

The Office of the Senior Practitioner will contact you to:

• approve your registration
• help you add other staff, providers and specialists who will need to use RIDS.

3. After you apply

The ACT Senior Practitioner will:

• check your documents
• contact you if your application needs more information
• give you a time to meet with the panel to discuss the plan.

If you have questions about the panel, you can email PBSPpanel@act.gov.au.

4. Attend a meeting to discuss the plan

Positive behaviour support panels meet every month to assess applications.

The meeting will be about one hour.

Who must attend the meeting

You must attend the meeting if you are the:

• service provider who is setting up the plan
• person who wrote the plan
• person who the behaviour support plan is about. You can also choose a parent, family member or guardian to go with you or in your place.

The other people who helped develop the plan can also attend the meeting.

At the meeting

You and the panel will discuss the planned use of a restrictive practice.

The service provider and the plan writer must:

• explain why a restrictive practice is needed and how you will use it
• show that the plan meets the Positive Behaviour Support Plan Guidelines.

The panel can only accept a plan with a restrictive practice if they are sure it will only be used:

• to prevent harm to the person or harm to others
• as a last resort
• in the least restrictive way
• for the shortest time possible.

The panel will recommend one of the following:

• Full approval: your plan is approved. You must get it reviewed within 12 months.
• Interim approval: your plan is approved but has restrictions that you must follow. The Office of the Senior Practitioner will give you a date to submit a revised plan.
• Not approved (resubmit): your planned use of a restrictive practice is not approved. The panel will let you know what changes you need to make before they can approve the plan.
• Not approved (outright): your planned use of a restrictive practice is not approved.

The panel will send their recommendation to the ACT Senior Practitioner through the RIDS.

Senior Practitioner checks the panel's recommendation

The Office of the Senior Practitioner will check the:

• quality of the plan
• information provided by the independent clinician who sat on the panel.

They may ask for more information from you or the panel. This is to make sure the restrictive practice is needed and will be used in the right way.

If the Senior Practitioner agrees with the panel's recommendation, they will register the plan in RIDS.

If the Senior Practitioner decides not to register the plan

You can contact the Senior Practitioner to discuss the decision.

If you are not happy with the outcome, you can appeal to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a review.

5. After the plan is approved and registered

The Senior Practitioner will send a copy of the plan and its registration number to the Public Advocate (if the person is under 18).

You must give a copy to:

• the person who the plan is for (in an accessible format)
• the person's parent or guardian.

6. Monitor the plan

You must monitor the approved positive behaviour support plan to make sure the person still needs a restrictive practice.

You can use either:

• your own monitoring template
• the restrictive practice monitoring template in the Positive Behaviour Support Plan Guidelines [PDF 1.3MB].

7. Report all uses of a restrictive practice

You must report all uses of a restrictive practices. This includes:

• restrictive practices that are in a positive behaviour support plan
• emergency restrictive practices not part of a person's positive behaviour support plan.

Report your use of a restrictive practice.

8. Review the plan before it expires

A registered PBSP expires in 12 months unless the Senior Practitioner registered it for a shorter time.

The plan should provide a way to:

• reduce the restrictive practice over time
• help the person learn new skills to change their behaviour so that the restrictive practice is no longer needed.

Before you submit a new positive behaviour support plan to the panel

You must decide if a restrictive practice is still needed.

You should:

• consider the information you recorded in the monitoring template
• review the person's positive behaviour support plan
• give evidence to the panel that the use of a restrictive practice is still needed.

If a restrictive practice is still needed

You must apply to get the plan approved for another 12 months.

If a restrictive practice is no longer needed

You do not need to resubmit the positive behaviour support plan. You should contact the Office of the Senior Practitioner to let them know that it is no longer needed.

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