Behaviour support for adults is an NDIS-funded service for adults with disability at any age, including older people. A practitioner works out why a behaviour of concern happens, then writes a plan with the adult and the people around them. Support happens at home, in supported independent living, at work and in the community.
Much of what you read about behaviour support is about children. If you are an adult with disability, or you love one, it can feel like the door closed at 18. Behaviour support stays open to you at every stage of adult life.
At My Behaviour Support we work with people of all ages, from children through to adults and seniors. This guide covers what behaviour support for adults looks like in everyday life: at home, in supported independent living, at work and in the community. It also covers restrictive practices, ageing and NDIS funding.
Who is behaviour support for adults for?
Behaviour support is for adults with disability whose behaviour of concern affects their safety, housing, work or relationships. The NDIS funds it for children, teenagers, adults and older people, so you can begin at 25, at 48 or at 70. Adults often come to it when something in their life changes.
Adults come to this support for all sorts of reasons. A living arrangement changes. A parent who has given support for 30 years is getting older, and worried about what happens next. Or behaviour a family absorbed for years starts to put someone’s housing or safety at risk.
The framework is the same one used with children. Positive behaviour support asks why a behaviour happens and what need it is meeting, then changes what is around the person so they have better options. With an adult, what shifts is the setting, the goals, and who holds the decisions.
What does behaviour support for adults look like day to day?
Support happens where the behaviour happens: the person’s home, their workplace and the community. The starting point is usually a Functional Behaviour Assessment. That means structured observation and honest conversations with the person and those around them. We may also draw on the QABF or a Quality of Life assessment.
From there we write a behaviour support plan. It sets out what is happening, why, and what everyone around the person will do differently. Sessions are usually fortnightly.
At home, at work and in the community
Home is where most adult behaviour support happens. That might be a family home, a rental, a share house, or supported independent living. In shared housing the environment matters a great deal. Noise, housemates, rosters and a lack of privacy all shape behaviour. Many of the changes in an adult’s plan are changes to the environment around them.
Behaviour rarely stays in one place, so we also work at supported employment sites, day programs, shops and on transport routes. If the bus is the flashpoint, that is where the work happens.
How is behaviour support for adults different from support for children?
The science is the same, but the practice changes for adults. The adult sets the goals and makes their own choices. More people are usually involved, histories are longer, and health plays a bigger part. Here is what changes.
- The adult sets the goals. A child’s plan is built with parents. An adult’s plan is built with the adult, and their priorities lead.
- Consent and dignity of risk. Adults have the right to make choices others would not make. The work supports good decisions rather than removing decisions.
- More people are involved. There may be a support coordinator, an accommodation provider, support workers, an employer, sometimes a guardian. All of them need the same plan.
- Longer histories. Adults often carry decades of patterns, past trauma and many previous services. That history is information, and deserves respect.
- Health matters more. Pain, medication, sleep and grief all show up in behaviour, and are easy to miss in someone who cannot easily say how they feel.
The goals adults set for themselves
Adult goals are about the life the person wants. Behaviour support for adults works towards them in 2 ways at once: building skills and changing the environment.
- Independence. Cooking, managing money, catching public transport, living with less staff support.
- Relationships. Friendships, family contact, dating, or repairing a relationship that behaviour has strained.
- Work and purpose. Keeping a job, returning to one, or moving from supported to open employment.
- Community access. Getting to the shops, the pool or the footy without a situation escalating.
- Choice and control. A say over the house, the roster, the routine and who comes through the door.
How are restrictive practices reduced in adult settings?
Restrictive practices are reduced by understanding what each one is standing in for, then building supports and skills so it is needed less. Every practice must be authorised, reported and written into a behaviour support plan with a goal to reduce it. In adult housing, they often appear in group homes and supported independent living. They include locked areas, limits on food or belongings, medication used to manage behaviour, and physical restraint.
A restrictive practice is always a last resort. It is only ever a short-term safety measure. It must be authorised and reported under the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission rules. It must also sit inside a behaviour support plan that says how it will be reduced over time. Reducing it is always the goal.
Our job is to work out what the restriction is standing in for, then build the supports and skills that aim to make it unnecessary. Read more on our Reducing Restrictive Practices page.
Working with support workers and accommodation providers
An adult’s plan relies on the people delivering it understanding it. Support workers change and rosters rotate, so every worker on the roster needs to know the strategies.
We train and coach the people around the person: support workers, house teams, accommodation providers and family carers. That is hands-on Family & Carer Training in the everyday setting, plus Implementation & Review.
Can older people get behaviour support?
Yes. Older people with disability can get behaviour support, and needs often change with age. Hearing, vision, pain, dementia and the loss of a long-term carer can all change behaviour. If someone is nearing 65, plan early, because you need to apply to the NDIS before your 65th birthday.
Older people are easy to overlook. Hearing and vision fade, pain can become constant, dementia can arrive alongside an existing disability, and long-term carers pass away. Any of those can change behaviour quickly. The change is often read as a behaviour problem when it is an unmet need.
We support older people. The approach stays the same: understand the cause, adjust the environment and protect dignity. Existing participants who turn 65 can generally choose to stay with the NDIS or move to aged care, so get advice before deciding.
How does NDIS funding work for behaviour support for adults?
Behaviour support for adults is paid from the Capacity Building part of an NDIS plan. That is a different part of the plan from support workers or daily living supports. It needs to cover assessment, plan writing, training and reviews, so raise it at your planning meeting.
Where it appears depends on the plan you hold. In older plans it usually sits under Capacity Building: Improved Relationships. On newer PACE plans, Behaviour Support is its own category. Many adults have been participants for years, so both are common. Your support coordinator can tell you which you have. Our rate is $252.99 per hour, in line with NDIS pricing arrangements. Travel is charged at a 50% reduced rate, and we charge no kilometres. The NDIA reviews rates each year, so we confirm your rate at your first consultation and in your service agreement.
Raise behaviour support funding at your planning meeting, before a crisis. Our guide to NDIS behaviour support costs shows how far funding goes.
Frequently asked questions
Can adults get behaviour support through the NDIS?
Yes. It is funded for adults on the same basis as for children, as long as it relates to your disability and your goals. It is delivered by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner. It can be used at home, in supported independent living, at work or in the community. If behaviour is putting your safety or housing at risk, it is reasonable to ask for it in your plan.
Is there an age limit for behaviour support?
There is no upper age limit on behaviour support itself. The age rules relate to NDIS entry. You apply to the NDIS before turning 65. Existing participants who turn 65 can generally stay with the scheme or move to aged care. We work with everyone from children through to adults and older people.
Can it help reduce restrictive practices in a group home?
Reducing restrictive practices is one of the central aims of behaviour support. A plan that includes a regulated restrictive practice must record it. It has to justify the practice as a last resort. It must also set out a clear path to reduce and remove it. That means understanding the function of the behaviour, changing the environment, building skills, and coaching the staff team, with the aim that the restriction is no longer needed.
Who will support an adult at My Behaviour Support?
Mehdi Syed is a Behaviour Support Practitioner with experience supporting adults with complex behavioural, mental health and social needs. Michelle Boyce is a Behaviour Support Practitioner working in a trauma-informed way with complex needs. My Behaviour Support is a registered NDIS provider based in Campbelltown, serving South West and Western Sydney. You can read about each practitioner on our team page.
If you want to know whether our positive behaviour support suits you or the person you care about, we are happy to talk it through. Make a referral or give us a call.
