WHAT IT IS
What is positive behaviour support?
Positive behaviour support (PBS) is an NDIS-funded approach to behaviours of concern. We work out what a behaviour is communicating, then change the environment and build skills, so there are other ways to get needs met. It sits in the NDIS Capacity Building budget under Behaviour Support, and the focus is quality of life, rather than reducing behaviour on its own.
Quality of life
More choice, more control and more connection with the people who matter.
The setting
Sometimes you don't need to change the person. You need to change the setting around them.
Skills
Communication and coping skills that offer safer ways to ask for what's needed.
Safety
We work to reduce restrictive practices safely and ethically.
WHAT WE WORK TOWARDS
What good support looks like
For you, and for the person you support.
Peace of mind
Knowing there's a plan, and someone who knows your situation to call on.
Being understood
Knowing what a behaviour is telling you, so real needs get met.
Better communication
Easier ways for the person you support to tell you what they need, and for you to respond.
A team that trusts the plan
Everyone providing support working the same way, with coaching along the way.
Calmer everyday life
Strategies that fit your routines and are easy to use.
More choice, less restriction
More freedom and choice, with restrictive practices reduced safely over time.
Not sure if we're the right fit?
Send us the details and our clinical team will tell you either way, within 24 hours.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
What positive behaviour support includes
Plans and reports written for the people using them.
Functional behaviour assessment (FBA)
We observe, talk with everyone involved and gather data to understand what a behaviour is doing and what's driving it: the environment, the triggers and the unmet needs.
Behaviour support plan (BSP)
An NDIS-compliant plan written as a practical guide, with strategies everyone providing support can use day to day. Where regulated restrictive practices are used, this includes an interim plan, then a comprehensive plan.
Training and coaching
Hands-on sessions for families, support workers and the wider team, with the plan adjusted when something isn't working.
Restrictive practice review
Authorisation and reporting checked, and a plan to reduce and fade restrictive practices safely as new skills develop.
WHY PEOPLE COME TO US
When behaviour support hasn't worked
Common problems in the sector, and how we handle each one.
Every referral taken, then matched to whoever is free
We check fit first, and our clinical director matches every referral to a practitioner with the right skills. You hear back within 24 hours, either way.
A practitioner out of their depth
Led by a Clinical Neuropsychologist. Complex presentations are reviewed by the clinical team, with supervision from someone who has seen it before.
Never meeting face to face
We come to you, at home, school or a day program, so we see what's really going on.
Plans written without knowing who they're for
We start with a functional behaviour assessment, observing and gathering information to understand what's driving a behaviour before writing anything.
The plan treated as the work
We coach everyone using the plan, and keep adjusting the strategies until they're working.
Funding lost to paperwork
Some NDIS paperwork is required, and it does use funded hours. We're upfront about how much, and plan the rest of the time together with you.
Hours used just because the funding is there
We use funding based on what's clinically needed, not to use up a plan. We agree with you how hours are spent, and tell you if something isn't helping.
WHO WE WORK WITH
Who is positive behaviour support for?
People with complex behaviour support needs, and the families, support workers, schools and day programs around them.
We often work with
At a glance
BUILT FOR COMPLEXITY
Why we get sent the complex referrals
Complex behaviour often comes from complex neurology. Because we're led by a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Specialist Behaviour Support Practitioner, complex presentations are reviewed with a multidisciplinary lens, to check the approach fits how someone thinks and processes information.
That includes acquired brain injury, dual diagnosis and autism with high support needs. Where a practitioner hasn't worked with a presentation before, they're supervised by someone who has.
Julian Vilsten, Clinical Neuropsychologist and Specialist Behaviour Support Practitioner, founder and clinical director
QUESTIONS
Questions we're often asked
Who can access NDIS positive behaviour support?
Anyone with behaviour support funding in their NDIS plan, under Capacity Building, Behaviour Support (previously Improved Relationships). We work with agency-managed and plan-managed plans, and take self-referrals as well as referrals from support coordinators, families and schools. No referral needed.
What is a functional behaviour assessment?
A functional behaviour assessment (FBA) is how we work out what a behaviour is doing and why it's happening. We observe at home, school or a day program, talk with family and support workers, and look at the patterns, triggers and unmet needs. The behaviour support plan is built from what we find.
What are restrictive practices?
Practices that restrict someone's rights or freedom of movement. The NDIS regulates five types: seclusion, and chemical, mechanical, physical and environmental restraint. Each needs authorisation and reporting. We check that happens correctly, then plan how to reduce them safely.
What happens after I refer?
Our director-led intake team reviews the referral for clinical fit, and you hear from us within 24 hours. If we're the right fit, we match you with a practitioner with the right skills, start with a functional behaviour assessment, write the behaviour support plan, and coach everyone involved to use it.
How is PBS different from psychology?
Behaviour support looks at why behaviours of concern are happening and treats them as communication. It changes the supports and setting around someone, and usually involves their support team day to day. Psychology supports mental health and emotional wellbeing, usually one to one. Many plans include both.
Do you work with high-complexity needs and restrictive practices?
Yes. Complex presentations are reviewed by our clinical team, led by a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Specialist Behaviour Support Practitioner. If restrictive practices are in use, we make sure they're authorised and reported correctly, then plan how to fade them out as new skills grow.
Do you provide intervention or just reports?
Both. Funded hours go to coaching the team and adjusting the plan as well as writing it, and we keep working with the support team as the strategies are put in place.
Do you take every referral?
No, and we'd rather tell you early. Before we say yes, we check that our team has the right skills and experience for what's needed. If we don't, we'll say so straight away, so you're not left waiting on a provider who was never the right fit.
