Restrictive Practices Authorisation by State (2026 Guide)

Authorisation for a regulated restrictive practice comes from the state or territory where the participant lives, not from the NDIS Commission. The Commission regulates behaviour support and you must report RP use to them, but it does not authorise restrictive practices. This role sits with each state and territory, and each one runs it differently.

The following requirements are the same everywhere:

• A regulated restrictive practice has to sit in a behaviour support plan written by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner
• Providers must report on restrictive practices to the NDIS Commission monthly, including where there hasn’t been any use
• Unauthorised use is a reportable incident
• Authorisations belong to the jurisdiction that granted them and don’t transfer if a participant moves interstate.

This is who authorises and where you lodge, in each jurisdiction.

Jurisdiction	Who authorises	System or where lodged
NSW	A provider-convened RPA Panel, including an independent practitioner	NSW DCJ RPA System
QLD	OPG or QCAT for containment and seclusion; Chief Executive or a QCAT-appointed guardian for other practices	Application to the relevant body
VIC	The provider’s Authorised Program Officer, then the Vic Senior Practitioner	Restrictive Intervention Data System (RIDS)
TAS	The Senior Practitioner (Provider must also have an approved APO and an Independent Person)	Application to the Senior Practitioner
SA	The Authorised Program Officer (Level 1) or the Senior Authorising Officer (Level 2)	Restrictive Practices System (RPS)
WA	A provider-convened Quality Assurance Panel	Signed QA Process Report (provider-held)
ACT	A Positive Behaviour Support Panel recommends; the Senior Practitioner registers	Restrictive Intervention Database System (RIDS)
NT	NT Senior Practitioner	Restrictive Practice Authorisation System

New South Wales

NSW operates under a policy framework, the Restrictive Practices Authorisation Policy and Procedural Guide. The Department of Communities and Justice consulted in 2025 on a proposed Senior Practitioner legislative framework. Until that is enacted, the policy applies.

Authorisation comes from an RPA Panel established and convened by the provider, which requires a minimum of three roles:

• Chair: A senior manager from the provider.
• Behaviour support specialist
• Independent person: Someone independent of the provider.

Where one external person is both behaviour-support qualified and unconnected to the participant, they can fill the specialist and independent roles, and the panel can run with only two people. However, decisions must be unanimous.

Consent is required for each practice, and who gives it depends on the practice, the person’s age, and also their capacity:

• Physical, mechanical, chemical and environmental restraint: A person aged 16 or over with capacity consents for themselves, while a parent or guardian consents for a person under 16. Chemical restraint can also be consented to by a person responsible.
• Seclusion cannot be authorised for anyone under 18, and seclusion of a child or young person is a prohibited practice. For an adult, the person consents if they have capacity, or a guardian with a restrictive practice function.

Chemical restraint applications need a written protocol developed with the prescriber. Restrictions imposed under a lawful order count as authorised but must still go to the panel and into the behaviour support plan within six months.

Authorisation runs for up to 12 months, and any unplanned use without authorisation is a reportable incident. From first use:

• A practitioner develops an interim behaviour support plan within one month.
• A senior manager can issue interim authorisation for up to six months.
• While the interim authorisation is in force, regular reporting must occur to the NDIS Commission on any use.
• Full authorisation needs to be obtained, or the practice stopped, within six months.

Queensland

Queensland authorises under the Disability Services Act 2006 and the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000. Reform may be on the horizon, so double check the steps below with the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety before you rely on it.

Who authorises depends on the practice and the duration:

• Containment and seclusion is authorised by the Office of the Public Guardian for short-term approval, or QCAT for ongoing approval.
• Chemical, mechanical and physical restraint, and restricted access to objects is authorised by the Chief Executive of Disability Services for short-term approval, or a QCAT-appointed Guardian for Restrictive Practices for ongoing approval.
• Respite or community access is authorised by the participant’s Guardian (Respite), under a separate plan.

The person is assessed by an appropriately qualified person, a Positive Behaviour Support Plan is developed, and the provider applies to the relevant decision-maker. Authorisation generally runs up to 12 months, with short-term containment and seclusion approvals up to six months.

In an emergency, providers can seek short-term approval immediately, from the OPG for containment or seclusion or the Chief Executive for other practices, while an assessment is arranged, (and report the use to the NDIS Commission).

Queensland regulates two practices most states don’t name separately:

• Containment, or preventing someone leaving a premises.
• Restricted access to objects: if the person has no guardian, an informal decision-maker can approve this one only.

Victoria

Victoria authorises in two steps under the Disability Act 2006: (1) a provider’s Authorised Program Officer authorises internally, then (2) the Victorian Senior Practitioner reviews. Both steps must happen through the Restrictive Intervention Data System (RIDS).

The Authorised Program Officer is a senior staff member whose appointment the Victorian Senior Practitioner approves, and the Senior Practitioner’s role depends on the practice:

• Chemical and environmental restraint is authorised by the APO.
• Seclusion, mechanical restraint and physical restraint requires a higher level of review, where the Senior Practitioner can override the Authorised Program Officer and refuse the practice. A refusal sends the plan back for revision and re-authorisation internally.

The process:

1. A registered behaviour support practitioner develops the plan.
2. An Independent Person with no conflict of interest explains the plan and the person’s rights to them.
3. The Authorised Program Officer authorises the plan and submits it to the Senior Practitioner through RIDS.
4. The Senior Practitioner issues an authorisation letter.
5. The practitioner uploads the plan and letter to the NDIS Commission portal.

Interim plans must be reviewed within six months, and comprehensive plans at least every 12 months, or sooner if the practices change. The Victorian Senior Practitioner prohibits restrictive practices on a person with a psychosocial disability, unless that person has a co-existing disability.

Tasmania

Tasmania authorises through the Senior Practitioner under the Disability Rights, Inclusion and Safeguarding Act 2024 and the Disability Rights, Inclusion and Safeguarding Regulations 2025. This framework commenced on 1 July 2025 and the Senior Practitioner is the single authorisation point in the state.

Two roles must be in place before authorisation, however neither of them authorises the practice:

• Appointed Program Officer. An employee of the provider, approved by the Senior Practitioner, who oversees compliance. The Senior Practitioner will not authorise a practice if this role is not appointed.
• Independent Person. Usually someone from the participant’s own network, who helps them understand the practice and their rights.

A registered NDIS behaviour support practitioner prepares the behaviour support plan, the provider applies to the Senior Practitioner with the plan attached, and the Senior Practitioner approves the application, with any conditions, or refuses it. Authorisation runs for up to 12 months.

Using an unauthorised practice is an offence, unless all of the following apply:

• it was an emergency to prevent serious and imminent harm
• it was the least restrictive option
• it is reported to the Senior Practitioner within five business days.

It must also be reported to the NDIS Commission. Repeated unauthorised use can be an offence, and the courts can impose fines.

The 2025 Regulations list prohibited practices that can never be used or authorised, including specific physical restraints and punitive approaches. Decisions are reviewed internally by the Office of the Senior Practitioner, then appealed to TASCAT, with an external review generally lodged within 28 days of the internal review outcome.

South Australia

South Australia uses a tiered model under the Disability Inclusion Act 2018, amended in 2021. A provider’s Authorised Program Officer, who must hold a relevant tertiary qualification and behaviour support experience, authorises Level 1 practices. A government Senior Authorising Officer authorises Level 2 practices, and handles disputes, non-consent and conflicts of interest.

• Level 1 (Authorised Program Officer). Standard chemical restraint, most environmental restraint, and mechanical restraint where no force is needed to apply it and there are no more than five Level 1 practices.
• Level 2 (Senior Authorising Officer). Seclusion (only in an emergency, for de-escalation, capped at two hours), physical restraint, high-risk chemical restraint, high-risk environmental restraint, and high-risk mechanical restraint.

More than five Level 1 practices, or any use of force, moves to the Senior Authorising Officer.

High-risk chemical restraint includes:

• injections or implants
• polypharmacy (two or more psychotropic drugs or more than five drugs used to manage behaviour)
• hormonal manipulation
• concealment in food or drink.

High-risk environmental restraint includes locking external gates, where the person has no support to leave safely.

Providers must apply through the Restrictive Practices System, and unauthorised use is reported to the NDIS Commission. The Senior Authorising Officer reports annually to Parliament on what has been authorised, and Authorised Program Officers receive organisation-level data.

Locking someone in who could leave safely is detention, not environmental restraint. It must be authorised by SACAT, a provider cannot authorise it, and a provider cannot apply to SACAT directly. The participant’s guardian makes this application.

Western Australia

Western Australia runs on government policy, not legislation, and the Department of Communities is developing legislation to replace it. While I do my best to keep articles current, be sure to double check for any updates before relying solely on the information below.

Authorisation comes from a Quality Assurance Panel convened by the provider, including a senior manager and an independent behaviour support practitioner who is external to the organisation and did not write the plan. The process:

1. A behaviour support practitioner develops the plan with the proposed practices.
2. The panel reviews it and checks the practices are the least restrictive option.
3. The panel signs a QA Process Report.

The signed report is the evidence of authorisation, and there is no central online system.

Therapeutic and safety devices, and behaviours driven by a lack of safety awareness rather than a function, sit outside the policy unless the person objects. Unauthorised use is reported to the NDIS Commission for NDIS participants, or to the Department of Communities by Serious Incident Report for state-funded participants.

Australian Capital Territory

In the ACT, a Positive Behaviour Support Plan is approved by a panel and registered with the Senior Practitioner before any practice is used, under the Senior Practitioner Act 2018.

The process:

1. A practitioner develops the plan with the person, their family or guardian, and providers.
2. The provider applies through the Restrictive Intervention Database System (RIDS).
3. A Positive Behaviour Support Panel, which meets monthly, considers the application with the provider and plan writer present.
4. The panel recommends an outcome, and the Senior Practitioner registers the approved plan.

The panel’s outcomes are:

• full approval for up to 12 months
• interim approval with conditions
• resubmission with changes
• refusal.

The step-by-step process is set out in Get approval to use a restrictive practice. If the person is under 18, the Senior Practitioner notifies the Public Advocate. The participant must be provided with a copy of the approved plan in an accessible format.

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory authorises through the Senior Practitioner under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Authorisations) Act 2019.

A registered practitioner develops an interim or comprehensive plan specifying the practice, and providers apply through the Restrictive Practice Authorisation System with:

• the behaviour support plan
• the participant’s consent to disclose information (form RPA-2A)
• evidence of consultation with the participant, family and guardian (form RPA-2B)
• the practice details
• a summary of every restrictive practice used, authorised and unauthorised, in the previous 12 months.

The Senior Practitioner assesses the plan against the Act’s guiding principles using a formal quality evaluation tool, then authorises it, requests more information, or refuses it.

Providers must notify the Restrictive Practice Authorisation Unit if circumstances change, including the practice being eliminated, the participant moving interstate, leaving the NDIS, or dying. Use that isn’t currently authorised is reported to the NDIS Commission until the plan is activated in the NDIS portal.

Where the frameworks are changing

• Tasmania: the new Act commenced on 1 July 2025.
• Queensland: the reform Bill lapsed in October 2024, and the guardianship-based model still applies.
• NSW and WA: both currently operate on policy, but are working towards legislation.

Confirm the current process with the relevant authority through the links above. If you operate across more than one state, you’e working under the authorisation processes of each participant’s home state, not just your head office.