Active support

What is active support?

Active support is a way of working in which support workers help a person with disability take part in everyday activities, such as cooking, cleaning, shopping and choosing what to do, instead of doing those things for them. Workers give just enough help, at the right moment, for the person to succeed. The NDIS Commission describes it as an evidence-informed practice that supports engagement in meaningful activities, social interaction, choice and control, communication, community inclusion, learning and development.

The approach is often called person-centred active support. It was developed through research in the United Kingdom, including work by Jim Mansell and Julie Beadle-Brown at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent, and has been widely studied and taught in Australia. The core idea is a shift from "caring for" a person to "working with" them. It is closely tied to person-centred practice: the activities are the person's own, chosen around what matters to them.

You will hear the term in three places in the NDIS:

• Supported Independent Living (SIL), where the SIL Practice Standards expect workers to be trained and assessed as competent in active support.
• Behaviour support, where the Commission notes that active support is a proactive strategy that underpins many behaviour support plans.
• Daily support in a person's home or community, where it describes the style of support a provider promises rather than a separate service.

How active support works

Training programs commonly teach active support through four essentials. Together they explain what workers do differently on every shift:

1. Every moment has potential. Ordinary moments, such as making a cup of tea, sorting washing or putting away shopping, are chances for the person to take part, not tasks to get out of the way.
2. Little and often. Short, frequent chances to take part work better than one long activity. Even a few seconds of involvement counts.
3. Graded assistance. Workers give the least help needed for the person to succeed, and step it up or down moment by moment.
4. Maximising choice and control. The person is offered real choices, in a way they can understand, throughout the day.

Graded assistance

Graded assistance is the practical heart of active support. Workers move up a ladder only as far as the person needs, then step back again. The levels are commonly described like this:

The aim is success with as little help as possible, not independence at any cost. If the person finds a task stressful or unsafe, the worker gives more help or breaks the task into smaller parts. Praise and positive interaction during the activity matter as much as the activity itself.

Planning activities

Active support works best when it is planned, not left to chance. Houses using it often keep a simple daily plan that lists activities, who is supporting whom, and what each person likes to do. Recording what the person took part in, and how much help they needed, shows whether their engagement is growing over time.

Where active support fits in the NDIS

Active support is not a funding category or a separate line item. It describes how funded supports are delivered, especially assistance with daily life and SIL. Several NDIS rules point to it:

• The SIL module of the NDIS Practice Standards requires workers to be trained and assessed as competent in evidence-based practices including person-centred and trauma-informed practice, active support and supported decision-making. SIL providers must be registered with the NDIS Commission from 1 July 2026.
• The SIL Practice Standards glossary defines active support and links it to proactive behaviour support.
• The Core module's Responsive support provision outcome expects supports based on the least intrusive options, in line with contemporary evidence-informed practice (Quality Indicators Guidelines).
• The Core module's Independence and informed choice outcome expects providers to support each participant to make informed choices, exercise control and maximise their independence.

Active support also fits with supported decision-making, because offering choices throughout the day is practice for bigger decisions, and with positive behaviour support, because people who are engaged in meaningful activity are less likely to be bored, distressed or isolated.

Active support and risk

Taking part in real tasks means some everyday risk: a hot stove, a sharp knife, a busy road. Active support does not ignore those risks, and it does not avoid them by doing everything for the person. Instead, a participant risk assessment sets out how the person can take part safely, for example by using a kettle tipper or doing the chopping with a worker beside them. This reflects the dignity of risk: the Practice Standards say a participant's right to make choices that carry some risk is supported, with information about the benefits and risks of each option.

When an activity is new, plan it with the person, agree how much help they want, and review it after a few tries. A worker who is unsure whether a task is safe should check the support plan or ask the team leader, rather than quietly taking over.

Active support vs related terms

The word "active" appears in several NDIS terms that mean different things. This comparison helps keep them apart.

The most common mix-up is with overnight support. A sleepover includes a limited amount of awake help in the night, and active overnight support means a worker stays awake all night. Both are about when a worker is on duty and awake. Active support, in contrast, is a style of working with the person during the day.

Active support is also different from capacity building such as improved daily living skills, which funds therapists or programs to teach specific skills. Active support happens inside ordinary daily support, every day, by the workers who are already there.

What providers need to do

A provider that says it uses active support needs evidence that it happens on the floor, not just in a policy. Typical elements are:

• Training and competency. Initial training, followed by observation on shift and feedback. For SIL providers, competency in active support is an explicit expectation.
• Practice leadership. Team leaders and house supervisors who observe, coach and model active support. Research on group homes has linked the quality of active support to this kind of frontline leadership.
• Activity planning. Daily or weekly plans that build in household tasks and community activities that each person values.
• Records that show engagement. Progress notes describe what the person did and how much help they needed, not only what the worker did.
• Rosters that allow it. Workers need time and the right support ratio to work alongside people; a roster built only around care tasks squeezes active support out.

Writing up a shift in an active support style is a skill too. The free NDIS progress note writer can help workers record what the participant did, rather than only what was done for them.

What participants and families should look for

You can usually tell within a short visit whether a home or service uses active support. The checklist below lists signs to look for.

Common mistakes

• Treating active support as an occasional activity session rather than how every task is done.
• Doing tasks for people because it is faster, especially at busy times of day.
• Giving too much help too early, so the person never gets the chance to try.
• Pushing independence when the person is tired, unwell or does not want to take part.
• Recording only care tasks, so nobody can see whether engagement is improving.
• Training workers once, with no follow-up coaching on shift.