What is Positive Behaviour Support?

Positive behaviour support (PBS) is an evidence-based, person-centred approach to understanding behaviours of concern in people with disability, and to building personalised strategies that improve their quality of life. Rather than trying to stop a behaviour, PBS asks why it happens and meets the underlying need in a safer, more effective way. It is the clinical framework required for behaviour support practitioners working under the NDIS.

If someone you support has been referred for positive behaviour support, or you’ve come across the term and want to understand it properly, this guide explains what PBS is, the principles behind it, what it helps with, how the process works, and how it’s funded under the NDIS.

Understanding positive behaviour support (PBS)

The idea at the heart of PBS is that behaviour is communication: it happens for a reason, and that reason can be understood. To see why this matters, it helps to start with the problem it was created to solve. For a long time, support for people with disability who displayed behaviours of concern focused on managing or stopping those behaviours, often without asking what was driving them. PBS takes the opposite starting point: that behaviour happens for a reason, and that lasting change comes from understanding and addressing that reason.

PBS is grounded in applied behaviour science – the study of how behaviour, environment, and the consequences that follow are connected. It is delivered by registered practitioners, and at Target Behaviour Services, it forms the basis of our positive behaviour support services for NDIS participants across Perth and regional WA. What sets it apart from older, more restrictive approaches is its focus on understanding why a behaviour occurs, rather than simply trying to stop it.

When someone communicates through behaviour, rather than through words, that behaviour is usually telling us something about an unmet need. The role of PBS is to work out what the behaviour is communicating, and to make sure that need can be met in a safer, more effective way.

This reframing matters.

A behaviour that looks “challenging” from the outside almost always makes sense from the inside. It is doing a job for the person, whether that’s escaping something overwhelming, gaining connection, or coping with distress.

Once you understand the job the behaviour is doing, you can teach a better way to do that job, rather than simply trying to remove the behaviour and leaving the need unmet.

Where PBS comes from

Positive behaviour support emerged from applied behaviour science in the 1980s and 1990s, as practitioners and researchers moved away from approaches that focused on controlling or suppressing behaviour and toward methods centred on understanding it, respecting the person’s dignity, and improving their everyday quality of life. In Australia, PBS is now embedded in the regulatory framework governing how registered practitioners work with NDIS participants, including strict rules around the use and reduction of restrictive practices.

The three core principles of PBS

Three principles define positive behaviour support:

1. Person-centred. The focus is on the individual’s goals, preferences, and quality of life, not just managing risk. The person, and what a good life looks like for them, sits at the centre of the plan.
2. Evidence-based. Strategies are chosen based on what research shows actually works, not on assumption or habit.
3. Proactive. PBS prioritises preventing behaviour before it occurs, rather than reacting to a crisis after the fact.

Underpinning all three is a commitment to the least restrictive approach: support should achieve its goals while placing the fewest possible limits on the person’s freedom, choices, and everyday life. Anything more restrictive has to be justified, regulated, and actively worked down over time.

What PBS is – and what it’s not

PBS is not punishment-based

It does not rely on negative consequences, restraint, or methods that try to suppress behaviour through force or fear. Where restrictive practices are involved, they must be authorised under legislation, documented in a behaviour support plan, and accompanied by active planning to reduce and eliminate their use over time.

PBS is not one-size-fits-all

There are no universal strategies. Every behaviour support plan is built on a thorough understanding of the specific individual and the environment they live in. What works for one person may be entirely wrong for another.

PBS is not a short-term fix

It is a sustained clinical process – assessment, planning, implementation, training, monitoring, and regular review. The goal is not compliance in the moment, but lasting improvement in quality of life.

How PBS differs from other approaches

People new to PBS often ask how it compares to other forms of support. A few distinctions help make it clear:

• It explains, rather than just manages. Many approaches focus on what to do when a behaviour happens. PBS starts a step earlier – with why it happens – because a strategy that doesn’t address the cause rarely lasts.
• It is built around the person, not a protocol. There is no standard PBS “program” applied to everyone. Two people with the same diagnosis can need completely different plans.
• It works through the people already in the person’s life. Rather than something delivered only in clinical sessions, PBS is carried out day to day by family, carers, and support workers, with the practitioner building their skills and confidence.
• It measures success by quality of life. The aim isn’t simply fewer incidents, it’s a fuller, safer, more connected life for the person.

What does positive behaviour support help with?

PBS is appropriate wherever behaviour has become a barrier to participation, safety, or wellbeing.

Common presentations include:

• Aggression toward others, including hitting, biting, or threatening behaviour
• Self-injurious behaviour, such as head-banging or self-hitting
• Property destruction
• Behaviour that prevents engagement in education, the community, or daily activities
• Behaviour linked to changes in routine, sensory overload, or communication difficulty
• Behaviour that puts the person or others at risk
• Behaviour related to trauma, unmet emotional needs, or psychosocial disability

Behaviour doesn’t need to be severe or dangerous for PBS to be worthwhile. If behaviour is affecting quality of life, limiting participation, or causing ongoing distress, PBS can help.

Who is positive behaviour support for?

PBS is for NDIS participants of all ages; it’s not just for children. Support spans early childhood through to older adulthood, across a wide range of diagnoses and presentations.

PBS is most commonly associated with autism, but it is equally appropriate for people with intellectual disability, psychosocial disability, acquired brain injury, and other conditions where behaviour has become a concern. The diagnosis matters less than understanding the individual.

Carers, support workers, and educators are central to the process too. Behaviour support plans are designed to be carried out by the people in the person’s everyday life, so building the confidence and capability of the support team is a core part of the work, not an afterthought.

How positive behaviour support works

PBS is a structured, multi-stage process. The main stages are:

1. Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA)

Everything begins with a thorough assessment. The practitioner gathers information through interviews with family, carers, and support workers, direct observation of the person in their everyday environment, and a review of relevant documentation. A Functional Behaviour Assessment identifies the function of the behaviour – what purpose it serves. Most behaviours serve a function such as gaining attention, avoiding a demand, obtaining something wanted, or regulating an internal state.

For example, a behaviour might reliably help someone escape a noisy room (avoidance), bring a support worker over (attention), or release built-up tension (self-regulation). Identifying that function correctly is what allows every later strategy to actually address the real driver, rather than the surface behaviour.

2. Interim Behaviour Support Plan

Where behaviours are urgent, an interim behaviour support plan is put in place quickly. It gives the people supporting the person immediate, practical strategies to use while the full assessment is still underway.

3. Comprehensive Behaviour Support Plan

Once the FBA is complete, the practitioner develops a comprehensive behaviour support plan. This detailed, evidence-based document sets out proactive strategies to prevent behaviour, teaching goals to build alternative skills, reactive strategies for when behaviour does occur, and – where applicable – any regulated restrictive practices with a clear plan to reduce them.

4. Progress reporting and review

Behaviour support plans are reviewed regularly. Progress reports record what is working, what has changed, and what the next steps are, keeping the plan relevant and continuing to drive meaningful outcomes.

The strategies inside these plans – proactive, reactive, and skill-building – are worth understanding in their own right. We cover them in detail in our guide to positive behaviour support strategies.

The evidence base for PBS

Positive behaviour support has a strong and growing evidence base. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have consistently found PBS effective in reducing behaviours of concern and improving quality of life for people with disability.

The approach is endorsed by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission as the required framework for registered behaviour support practitioners. The PBS Capability Framework, published by the Commission, sets out the competency standards practitioners must meet to work with NDIS participants.

Research consistently shows that the most effective PBS interventions share three features: they are based on a thorough functional assessment, implemented consistently by trained support teams, and reviewed and adapted over time based on outcomes.

How is PBS funded through the NDIS?

In most cases, positive behaviour support is funded through the Capacity Building, Improved Relationships support category of an NDIS plan. This funding covers assessment, planning, progress reporting, and clinical support.

Not every NDIS plan includes this funding automatically. If a plan doesn’t currently include Improved Relationships funding, a Letter of Recommendation from a registered PBS provider can support a plan review request. We explain this in more detail on our NDIS funding for PBS page.