What an interim plan is for
Sometimes a person needs behaviour support straight away, for example because behaviours of concern are putting them or others at risk, or because a restrictive practice is already being used. A comprehensive plan takes time, because it has to be based on a proper behaviour support assessment.
The interim plan fills that gap. The NDIS Practice Standards say each participant with an immediate need for a behaviour support plan receives an interim plan that minimises risk to the participant and others. Its focus is safeguarding and reducing risk, not long term change.
What it includes
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission describes an interim plan as a short document with general preventative and responsive strategies. It should include:
- A clear description of the behaviours of concern
- Ways to help prevent the behaviour from occurring
- Ways to reduce harm when the behaviour is occurring
- Protocols for supporters to follow to minimise the risk of harm
- If, when and how any regulated restrictive practice may be used
The 1 month and 6 month timeframes
Under section 19 of the NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018, a specialist behaviour support provider engaged to develop a plan for someone subject to regulated restrictive practices must:
- Develop an interim behaviour support plan within 1 month of being engaged
- Develop a comprehensive behaviour support plan within 6 months of being engaged
- Count engagement from the date of the service agreement, or a later start date written into it
- Keep the same timeframe if the practitioner changes within the same provider, because it runs from the provider's engagement
Plans without restrictive practices
The legal timeframes apply to plans that contain regulated restrictive practices. The Commission says that for other plans the same timeframes should still be used as a guide, and that doing so is consistent with providers' obligations under the NDIS Practice Standards and the NDIS Code of Conduct.
Lodging and implementing the plan
If an interim plan includes regulated restrictive practices, it must be lodged with the NDIS Commission. From 12 October 2026, new plans are lodged in the Commission's new portal, which also allows plans implemented only by family to be lodged. Restrictive practices must also be authorised wherever the state or territory requires it.
Implementing providers, the providers whose workers use the plan day to day, need to make sure the plan has been lodged, that it lists every regulated restrictive practice in use, and that the schedule of practices is accurate so they can meet monthly reporting. Workers need training in the strategies.
Changing providers part way through
The Commission's February 2026 position statement covers what happens when a participant moves to a new specialist behaviour support provider. If there is no existing plan, the new provider must start with an interim plan. If a current interim plan is in place, the new provider may move straight to the comprehensive plan once it confirms the interim plan is still current and appropriate and the implementing provider confirms the lodging and restrictive practice details. The 6 month deadline for the comprehensive plan still runs from the new provider's engagement.
Who writes it and how it is funded
Only an NDIS behaviour support practitioner, someone the Commission has found suitable, working for a provider registered for specialist positive behaviour support (registration group 0110), can develop the plan. The 2026/27 price limit for specialist behavioural intervention support is $252.99 an hour in most of Australia. Behaviour support needs a registered provider however the participant's plan is managed.