What an FBA is trying to find out
The NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018 define a functional behaviour assessment as the process for determining and understanding the function or purpose behind a person's behaviour. Behaviour is a form of communication. It might be a way to escape something painful or overwhelming, get attention or connection, get access to something, or meet a sensory need.
Once you understand why a behaviour happens, you can change the situation and teach other ways to meet the same need, rather than simply trying to stop the behaviour.
How it is done
The NDIS Commission says an FBA may involve collecting data, observations and information to understand the events and circumstances that trigger and maintain a behaviour. Common methods include:
- Interviews with the person, family, support workers, teachers and others who know them well
- ABC records, which track what happened before the behaviour (antecedent), the behaviour itself, and what happened after (consequence)
- Direct observation at home, in the community, at school or work
- Reviewing health information, sleep, pain, medication, communication and sensory needs
- Looking at the environment, routines, staffing and relationships
From assessment to behaviour support plan
The NDIS Commission expects the functional understanding of behaviour to be placed in the broader context of the person's life, leading to a formulation of why the behaviour occurs. That formulation drives the strategies in the behaviour support plan, such as changes to the environment, skill building and ways support workers respond.
Comprehensive behaviour support plans must include a functional behaviour assessment. Interim plans focus on reducing immediate risk and can be written before a full FBA is finished.
Who can do one
Under the NDIS, FBAs and behaviour support plans are developed by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner, a person the NDIS Commission considers suitable for that work.
The NDIS Commission says specialist behaviour support providers must be registered for registration group 0110, specialist positive behaviour support, and must engage an NDIS behaviour support practitioner to develop behaviour support plans. Check the practitioner's experience with people who have similar needs.
Timeframes when restrictive practices are involved
If a person is subject to regulated restrictive practices, the specialist behaviour support provider must:
- Develop an interim behaviour support plan within 1 month of engagement
- Develop a comprehensive behaviour support plan, including the FBA, within 6 months of engagement
- Review the comprehensive plan if the person's situation changes, and at least every 12 months
Funding
Behaviour support, including the FBA, is usually funded from the improved relationships part of the Capacity Building budget. It is not one of the two categories reduced by the October 2026 funding reset, and intensive and complex behaviour supports are also listed among the protected supports. Ask the provider for an estimate of hours before the assessment starts.