What Behaviour Support Practitioner Training Involves (And Why It Matters)

Across the NDIS space, Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is playing an increasingly central role in how we understand and respond to behaviours of concern. But quality behaviour support doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built on a foundation of training, supervision and practical experience.

If you’re exploring a pathway into behaviour support or looking to build internal capacity within your organisation, understanding how behaviour support training works is a valuable first step.

What is Positive Behaviour Support?

Positive Behaviour Support is a person-centred and evidence-based approach that aims to reduce behaviours of concern and improve quality of life. It focuses on understanding the reasons behind behaviour — not just the behaviour itself — and designing strategies that are proactive, practical and ethical.

Rather than using reactive or restrictive approaches, PBS encourages support plans that look at environmental triggers, communication needs, daily routines and unmet goals. The aim is to build safer, more stable and more supportive environments for the people who need them.

Who delivers behaviour support and how they are trained

Under the NDIS Commission, behaviour support practitioners must demonstrate their capability to develop, implement and monitor behaviour support plans in line with legislative and clinical requirements. While practitioners often come from allied health or education backgrounds, the core requirement is evidence of knowledge and skill.

Behaviour support training can include a mix of structured coursework, workshops, on-the-job learning and clinical supervision. Common areas of focus include:

• Functional behaviour assessment
• Designing interim and comprehensive behaviour support plans
• Understanding and reducing restrictive practices
• Working with families, guardians and multidisciplinary teams
• Meeting documentation and reporting standards required by the NDIS Commission

For newer practitioners, supervision and mentoring are also key. This allows them to apply what they’ve learned in real-life settings while receiving guidance and feedback from experienced clinicians.

Why behaviour support training matters

Demand for behaviour support services is growing, particularly in regional and remote areas, but the number of qualified practitioners has struggled to keep pace. For providers, this gap creates challenges around service delivery, compliance and participant outcomes.

Investing in practitioner training helps address this by growing the pool of people who can safely and confidently provide behaviour support. It also strengthens internal teams, reduces wait times for participants and improves long-term outcomes across the board.



Positive Behaviour Support practitioner training goes beyond meeting requirements. It ensures that behaviour support is grounded in evidence, aligned with human rights and delivered in a way that actually works for the people it's meant to support.

How to know if behaviour support training is right for you or your team

This kind of training is well-suited to people who want to:

• Expand their skill set in allied health, disability or education
• Enter the behaviour support space through structured learning and supervision
• Build clinical governance and quality frameworks within their organisation
• Support better outcomes for participants through more capable, confident staff

If you’re a provider looking to upskill your team or a clinician seeking a pathway into behaviour support, training can open the door to new opportunities and help set a higher standard of care.

Build behaviour support capability with helpz 

At helpz, we provide training, supervision and practical support through our Behaviour Support Development Program (BSDP). This flexible online program is hosted on Teachable and designed to help professionals build the knowledge and confidence to deliver Positive Behaviour Support that meets NDIS Commission standards.

Participants receive expert guidance, access to clinical supervision and support with portfolio development, all within a framework grounded in real-world practice. As a national NDIS provider, helpz also offers therapy and allied health services across Behaviour Support, Counselling, Psychology, Social Work, Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics and more.

Get in touch with us to learn how you can become a Positive Behaviour Support practitioner.