Restrictive practice deadlines, mapped.

A restrictive practice is any practice or intervention that restricts the rights or freedom of movement of a person with disability. The Rules regulate five kinds — the regulated restrictive practices — and every condition below applies only to them.

Seclusion

Sole confinement of a person in a room or physical space, at any time of day or night, where voluntary exit is prevented, not facilitated, or it is implied that leaving is not permitted.

Chemical restraint

Medication or a chemical substance used for the primary purpose of influencing behaviour. Not medication prescribed by a medical practitioner to treat, or enable treatment of, a diagnosed mental disorder, physical illness or physical condition.

Mechanical restraint

A device used to prevent, restrict or subdue movement for the primary purpose of influencing behaviour — not devices used for therapeutic or non-behavioural purposes, such as a wheelchair lap belt for posture.

Physical restraint

Physical force used to prevent, restrict or subdue movement of the body or part of it, for the primary purpose of influencing behaviour. Not a reflexive hands-on technique to guide someone away from harm.

Environmental restraint

Restricting free access to all parts of the person's environment, including items or activities — for example locked cupboards, a locked fridge or restricted access to a phone.

The test is the purpose. The same locked door can be a safety feature for one resident and an environmental restraint for another. If the main reason is to change or control behaviour, treat it as a regulated restrictive practice and check it is in the plan and authorised.

Three parties share the obligations. The checker focuses on the implementing provider — the registered provider whose workers actually use the practice.

When a regulated restrictive practice is used and its use will or is likely to continue, the implementing provider must take all reasonable steps to have a specialist behaviour support provider develop plans that cover it:

Note the different starting points. The implementing provider's 1-month and 6-month deadlines run from first use; the specialist behaviour support provider's run from when they were engaged. A provider that takes three weeks to engage a practitioner leaves them one week for the interim plan.

Sections 10 to 13 of the Rules cover four situations, and section 16 of the Incident Rules decides which uses are reportable incidents. Work down the list.

Unauthorised use is reported with the 5 Day Form within 5 business days of key personnel becoming aware. If the person was harmed, notify within 24 hours. The reportable incident checker works out the exact dates.

Every registered provider must give the Commission monthly reports on its use of regulated restrictive practices (s 14). The Commission's portal guidance asks implementing providers to report on every practice in each lodged behaviour support plan within 5 business days of the end of the month, including months when it wasn't used. Reports are submitted by the provider's authorised reporting officer.

Business days exclude weekends and public holidays in the place concerned, so put your state's holidays into the checker. If the plan hasn't been lodged in the portal yet, contact the behaviour support practitioner — you can't report against a plan that isn't there. Under a short-term approval from the state, report every 2 weeks instead.

The NDIS Commission doesn't authorise restrictive practices. Each state and territory does, under its own law or policy, and some practices are prohibited outright in some places. A summary, based on the WA Department of Communities' 2025 cross-jurisdiction matrix — confirm details with your state before relying on it:

Authorisations are usually time-limited — often tied to the interim or comprehensive plan's period. Enter the expiry in the checker so re-authorisation shows on your timeline.

These scenarios are fictional and de-identified.

1. A new resident and a locked pantry

A resident moves into a shared home on Saturday 14 March 2026. Staff start locking the pantry that night after the resident eats large amounts overnight. There is no plan and no authorisation. That first use is a reportable incident (no harm, so 5 Day Form within 5 business days). Because it will continue, the interim plan is due by 14 April 2026 and the comprehensive plan by 14 September 2026, and the provider must seek authorisation as soon as reasonably practicable. Each further use before authorisation is also reportable.

2. PRN sedation before dental visits

A participant is prescribed a sedative to take before dental appointments so treatment can go ahead. That is medication to enable treatment of a physical condition, so it is not chemical restraint. If the same medication were given whenever the person became distressed at home, its primary purpose would be behavioural, and it would be.

3. Authorisation about to lapse

A comprehensive plan lodged on 1 November 2025 must be reviewed by 1 November 2026. The state authorisation expires on 31 October 2026. If re-authorisation isn't in place by then, continued use is unauthorised and reportable — start the review and re-authorisation together, two to three months ahead.

• Not recognising environmental restraint. Locked cupboards, removed remote controls and restricted phone or internet access are easy to miss.
• Assuming authorisation is enough. Authorised use outside the plan is still a reportable incident.
• Skipping nil months. Monthly reports are due even when the practice wasn't used.
• Engaging the practitioner late. Your 1-month deadline starts at first use, not at engagement.
• Reporting only the first unauthorised use. Each use outside a plan or authorisation is its own reportable incident.
• Losing track of authorisation expiry. Time-limited approvals lapse quietly; put the dates in a register.
• Treating the plan as permanent. Plans must aim to reduce and eliminate the practice, and the person must be given opportunities to build skills and take part in the community.

Every worker who may use a practice should also hold a current screening check — track it alongside other credentials in the worker screening tracker.

• The Rules haven't changed. The Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support Rules were last amended with effect from 1 December 2020, and there were no further amendments as at 4 October 2026. The five definitions and the 1-month, 6-month and 12-month timeframes stand.
• Higher penalties. Since 9 April 2026, the Integrity and Safeguarding Act 2026 has set the civil penalty for breaching a condition of registration — which every obligation in these Rules is — at up to 250 penalty units, or up to 10,000 penalty units for a serious contravention (a significant failure or a systematic pattern of conduct).
• State frameworks keep moving. Tasmania now authorises under its Disability Rights, Inclusion and Safeguarding Act 2024, and other jurisdictions update their guidelines regularly.
• Mandatory registration for SIL from 1 July 2026 means more shared-living providers are now covered by these conditions.

You can test your wider compliance with the NDIS Practice Standards self-assessment, which includes the behaviour support modules.