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Positive behavioural support in Australia: A state of the nation report 2023
6 © Bild, International Journal of Positive Behavioural Support Autumn 2023, 13, 2, 6 –12
Association (ABMA) was established in 1974, attracting
both academics and non-academics (Birnbrauer, 1994).
By 1995, cognitive therapies had become more popular
than radical behaviourism and the ABMA had become
the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour
Therapy (Jones et al., 2018). ABA, as the Association was
then known, did not have a formal presence in Australia
until 2018 (Hayward et al., 2018).
Influence of ABA on PBS in Australia
It is critical that we reflect upon the origins of PBS in
Australia so that we can appreciate the ongoing influences
on the barriers and facilitators to its application. Like other
western countries, Australia had its ‘behaviour modification’
and ‘behaviour therapy’ periods. In Australia, these began
in the 1950s, influenced by attitudes and values of pre-
and post-World War II academic psychology (Winkler and
Krasner, 1987). The Australian Behaviour Modification
Correspondence: Sharon Paley, Australian Center for Restraint Reduction and Elimination.
Email: Sharonpaley@reducingrestraint.org
Positive behavioural support in Australia:
A state of the nation report 2023
Brent A. Hayward1, Sharon Paley2, Lorna Hepburn3, Matthew Spicer4, Sam McGowan5,
Alinka Fisher6, Sophie Staughton7, Fiona J. Davis8 and Mark Wakefield9
1 School of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne,
and Department of Education, Victoria, Australia
2 Australian Center for Restraint Reduction and Elimination, Australia
3 Queensland Department of Education, Australia
4 The Centre for Positive Behaviour Support, Australia
5 Behaviour Support & Training, Australia
6 Disability and Community Inclusion, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Australia
7 Veritable Pty Ltd, Australia
8 Disability Counsel, Australia
9 Independent co-author, Australia
Introduction
Australia has seen an expansion in the use of positive behavioural support (PBS) in recent years. PBS in Australia
was originally conceived in disability and school-based settings. Two areas of recent PBS expansion include the aged
care and psychosocial disability, often through legislated approaches, which may not be well referenced in the current
evidence base of PBS in terms of application or efficacy. The emerging use of PBS approaches across Australia is
additionally complicated by the socio-political environment of being a federated country. States will often take differing
approaches to each other, whilst at the same time being guided by national federal policy and legislation, which presents
its own challenges at a service delivery level.
This paper will focus on the current state of PBS in Australian disability and school contexts using a socio-political
perspective. We use this perspective to describe the origin of PBS in Australia within the deinstitutionalisation and
civil rights movement (Dunlap et al., 2009) and the ongoing political reforms that shape PBS policies and practices,
which in turn shape research (Sailor and Paul, 2004). Following the Positive behavioural support in the UK: A state of
the nation report (Gore et al., 2022), we describe the context, definitions, delivery, barriers, facilitators and future of
PBS in Australian disability and school sectors. We start with describing the history and influence of applied behaviour
analysis (ABA) on PBS in Australia, before discussing PBS application to disability and school contexts. We conclude
with recommendations for a national approach to PBS in Australia.
Positive behavioural support in Australia: A state of the nation report 2023
© Bild, International Journal of Positive Behavioural Support Autumn 2023, 13, 2, 6 –12 7
PBS in disability services
PBS only existed as policy in state and territory government
disability services agencies (Hayward et al., 2019) and
their non-government providers (Hayward et al., 2023) up
until the establishment of the National Disability Insurance
Scheme (NDIS; ndis.gov.au). The NDIS defines disability
as an impairment or significant change in at least one body
function, body structure or how one thinks and learns
(NDIS, 2022). Changes to the funding of disability support
from the states and territories to the federal government
influenced the promotion of PBS by additionally shifting
the responsibilities for regulations and safeguards to
the federal government (Hayward et al., 2023), as the
NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework (Department
of Social Services, 2016) specifically promotes PBS for
reducing restrictive practices.
Reducing restrictive practices in the NDIS using PBS is
via funding for behaviour support for people who display
challenging behaviour. While this behaviour support is
termed ‘PBS’ by the NDIS, it is reflective only of individual
behaviour assessment and behaviour support plan (BSP)
development and not a comprehensive implementation
of PBS (Hayward et al., 2019), unlike that implemented
in schools (see later discussion). The Australian disability
PBS literature is described by Hayward (2022a) as
disparate. He goes on to describe a ‘surge of publications
from 2012 and the dominance of PBS with BSPs, PBS
as an intervention for behaviours of concern, and PBS
delivered through training’ (Hayward, 2022a, p.6). These
observations coincide with the passing of NDIS legislation
in 2013 (Hayward et al., 2023), supporting Sailor and Paul’s
(2004) argument that political reforms (i.e., the NDIS) shape
PBS policies and practices, which in turn shape research.
Although the NDIS is the predominant funder of ‘PBS’ in
Australia, ‘PBS’ services are also delivered by different
jurisdictional funding arrangements for people with different
health and social care needs, thereby leading to variation in
definition, standards and practices for PBS.
PBS delivery in a disability context
BSPs in the NDIS must be written by a behaviour support
practitioner who is NDIS registered. There are no minimum
qualifications or skills be to a registered practitioner, nor
must the skills be demonstrated (Bould et al., 2022;
Hayward, 2023a). This resulting self-assessment and
endorsement for behaviour support practitioner registration
has been criticised (Hayward, 2022b) and permits persons
with a broad range of qualifications and/or experiences to
register as practitioners, leading to variability and quality in
what is called and delivered as PBS.
Intellectual and developmental disability (Winkler and
Krasner, 1987) and behaviour in schools (Dadds, 1988)
featured little in Australian academic behaviour therapy
until the mid-1990s when behaviour intervention in
Australia became influenced by the work of LaVigna
and associates from the Institute of Applied Behaviour
Analysis in the USA (Hudson et al., 1995a; Radler and
Hudson, 1996; Beamish and Bryer, 2019).
Towards PBS in Australia
Radler (see Radler and Hudson, 1996) is seen as
integral to the introduction of LaVigna and associates’
multi-element behaviour support approach to PBS in
Australia through demonstrating behavioural (Hudson
et al., 1995a) and cost-benefit (Hudson et al., 1995b)
outcomes in government community disability services,
but strikingly, it did not influence Australian departments
of education (Beamish and Bryer, 2019). This is a critical
distinction in the history of PBS in Australian disability
services and schools. Radler’s influence seems to be
opportunistic; he was an employee of the government
disability agency responsible for behaviour assessment
and intervention which allowed him to apply LaVigna and
associates’ approach at scale. The community-based
(and non-aversive) behaviour supports led by Radler
commenced in 1990 (see Hudson et al., 1995a); a time
of hastening deinstitutionalisation of intellectual disability
services in the Australian state of Victoria (see Wiesel
and Bigby, 2015), perhaps providing an auspicious
opportunity for this new approach to behaviour support.
The approach of LaVigna and associates continued to
influence some disability services up until at least 2009
(Crates and Spicer, 2012).
The first published paper in Australia which specified
PBS as we know it today in a disability context was Keen
and Knox’s (2004) review and case study of PBS and
family-centred support systems. In the school context,
Beamish attended a workshop conducted by Radler in
1991 and then a seminar by LaVigna and colleagues in
1993, influencing her research and teaching in special
education using ABA and PBS (Beamish and Bryer,
2019). Beamish went on to publish the first Australian
PBS study in a school setting (Beamish et al., 2001).
As yet there is no single agreed interpretation or definition
of PBS that can be applied across Australia. Whitefield et
al. (2022) and Hayward (2022a) provide comprehensive
summaries of the Australian school and disability PBS
research, respectively. In this brief article we focus on key
matters identified by the authors of the present paper.
Positive behavioural support in Australia: A state of the nation report 2023
8 © Bild, International Journal of Positive Behavioural Support Autumn 2023, 13, 2, 6 –12
There are 5,863 registered behaviour support practitioners
in Australia (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission,
2023); however, a recent survey of practitioners revealed
a mode of only one year of experience in the field.
Furthermore, 40% of surveyed practitioners were not
from professions within a national regulatory system (i.e.,
the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency;
Kelly et al., 2023). This has led to clinicians expressing
concern that their less experienced peers are providing
specialist behaviour support (Bould et al., 2022). Other
studies have identified poor PBS knowledge and skill
(Carmichael et al., 2020; 2021), amongst other issues
related to resourcing, collaboration with stakeholders and
poor implementation of interventions (Leif et al., 2023).
Future priorities and developments
The development of a unified practice in PBS and minimum
independently verified standards for practitioners would
strengthen the workforce. A self-regulatory approach, like
that which exists for behaviour analysts (https://auaba.
com.au/) has merit, and Behaviour Support Practitioners
Australia (bspaustralia.org.au) has been established as a
first step in this direction.
PBS in schools
In Australia, a majority of students attend schools operated by
state and territory governments, with around 35% attending
independent, religious or private schools (Australian Bureau
of Statistics, 2023). Primary schools provide the first six years
of education to students aged between 5 and 12 years, with
secondary schools typically delivering another six years of
education to students up to the age of 17 or 18 years. There
are also many separate schools for students with disabilities
and a range of alternative education programmes for
students requiring specialised support. Each state, territory
and non-government educational jurisdiction develops their
own policies and procedures for student behaviour. PBS has
been taken up to varying degrees across all school sectors
and jurisdictions. Since the early 2000s, several government
departments have invested in professional development
and structural support for schools wanting to adopt PBS as
a school-wide approach to behaviour support.
Government departments of education in the three
most populated Australian states of New South Wales
(NSW), Victoria and Queensland began training schools
to implement school-wide positive behavioural support
(SWPBS) using materials provided by the federally-funded
There are national practice standards and quality
indicators for practitioners (NDIS Quality and Safeguards
Commission, 2021) that are largely consistent with the 12
key components of PBS identified by Gore et al. (2022).
However, the function of PBS in the NDIS is to regulate
restrictive practices through BSPs (Australian Government,
2018). While behaviour support practitioners operate to
a national definition of restrictive practices, the legislative
framework for restrictive practice authorisation remains
with the state and territory governments (Hayward et
al., 2022). At this state government level, there is no
matching policy framework nor clear definition for PBS
(Hayward et al., 2019).
Barriers and facilitators
Due in part to the increased demand for behaviour
support services in the NDIS (National Disability Services,
2022), PBS practice is experiencing ‘scope creep’ into
mental health and psychosocial disability, with some
governments specifically promoting this. For example,
the Australian Capital Territory Government (2020, p.6)
incorrectly says that ‘Positive behaviour support (PBS)
is an evidence-based framework to support people of
all ages in all settings.’ Here, PBS services risk being
delivered as a one-size-fits-all approach across a diverse
range of client presentations beyond developmental
disability where evidence for PBS is best established.
Gore et al. (2022) reflected that some aspects of PBS
(i.e., a focus on life quality) could be readily generalised
to other populations but that more focused supports will
likely require modification to meet the needs of the given
population. Using the examples of dementia and serious
mental health issues, the authors also suggest, however,
that extending PBS to these populations ‘may turn out
to be extending the defining qualities of the approach
rather than the approach itself’ (Gore et al., 2022, p.9).
Work has begun to describe the application of PBS in
dementia (Fisher et al., 2022), but significantly more is
required before extending PBS even further, as the
Australian federal government has suggested, into aged
and veterans care (Hayward, 2023a).
This ‘scope creep’ is similar to Rotholz et al.’s (2013)
‘definition creep’, a phenomenon where government
agencies are using the term ‘PBS’ in a manner that does
not reflect the actual implementation of PBS. ‘Scope
creep’ was also identified by Hayward et al. (2017) in an
Australian PBS disability policy.
Positive behavioural support in Australia: A state of the nation report 2023
© Bild, International Journal of Positive Behavioural Support Autumn 2023, 13, 2, 6 –12 9
adoption in place from education authorities. Similarly,
there is no common process across jurisdictions for
monitoring of SWPBS implementation fidelity. Fidelity, or
implementation integrity, is the degree to which SWPBS
is implemented as intended (Fox et al., 2021). Fidelity
of implementation in Queensland schools is variable
(Hepburn, 2019), whilst a study of 15 government and
independent schools in Victoria found that over 70% were
implementing with fidelity (Fox et al., 2021) and fidelity
showing a relationship to student and staff outcomes in
Victoria (Department of Education, 2022). A majority of
government schools implementing SWPBS in NSW self-
reported implementing Tier 1 features at a high degree
of fidelity (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation,
2021), but to date there have been no large-scale studies
of SWPBS implementation or outcomes conducted in
Australia.
Barriers and facilitators
A consistent nationwide approach to implementation of
SWPBS in schools has been hampered by the fragmented
nature of education delivery in Australia (Beamish and
Bryer, 2019). Although funding to both government and
non-government schools is provided federally, education
authorities in each state and territory operate independently
and set their own education policies and priorities.
Such fragmentation has meant that each jurisdiction
has developed their own professional development
and resourcing model for SWPBS, potentially creating
inefficiencies and limiting strategic use. Additionally,
there is no system for implementation data collection or
outcomes across jurisdictions (Poed and Whitefield, 2020),
making it difficult to gauge effectiveness or gain traction
for scaling up implementation efforts. Finally, although the
importance of ongoing coaching for successful SWPBS
implementation is well documented (e.g., McIntosh et al.,
2013), no Australian data is available to enable comparison
of the different coaching models adopted by different
jurisdictions (Poed and Whitefield, 2020).
Recent Australian research has identified some of the
facilitators to achievement of SWPBS implementation
fidelity. Fox and colleagues (2021) surveyed over 200
teachers working in independent and government
schools implementing SWPBS with fidelity in Victoria.
Overall, the duration of SWPBS implementation was
found to predict implementation fidelity most strongly.
This result may be cause for cautious optimism, given
that Australian implementation began in the early 2000s,
with many schools sustaining implementation over
several years.
US national Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions
and Supports (PBIS; Poed and Whitefield, 2020). The
impetus for the introduction of SWPBS by government
departments was largely a desire to adopt a more proactive
approach to behaviour support (Poed and Whitefield,
2020), with schools keen to see a reduction in time spent
managing challenging behaviours.
PBS delivery
It is estimated that approximately 30% of Australian
schools across government, Catholic and independent
sectors have been trained to implement SWPBS.
Adoption is highest in the eastern states, with
approximately half of schools in Queensland and NSW
reporting they are currently implementing the SWPBS
framework (Poed and Whitefield, 2020). The Department
of Education (2022) in Victoria has committed to
providing SWPBS implementation support to 50% of
their schools. Implementation largely follows the PBIS
Implementation Blueprint (Office of Special Education
Programs, 2015), with only minor language adaptations,
apart from the relabelling of SWPBS to positive behaviour
for learning in NSW and, later, Queensland (Beamish
and Bryer, 2019; Poed and Whitefield, 2020). In general,
schools install systems which support implementation
of SWPBS essential features, such as explicitly teaching
and reinforcing school-appropriate behaviours and
responding instructionally to unproductive behaviours.
Each jurisdiction supports school implementation differently,
depending on funding models and deployment of staff
with relevant PBS knowledge and skills. For example, in
the government sector, professional development and
coaching are provided by regional advisers in Queensland
(Hepburn, 2022) and area-based coaches in Victoria
(Department of Education, 2022). Implementation support
varies according to diocese in the Catholic education
system. Advisers and coaches are generally experienced
and registered school professionals, commonly teachers,
with knowledge of PBS and SWPBS essential features,
but no special qualifications are required.
Policies and guiding documents at both the federal and
state/territory levels, such as the Australian Student
Wellbeing Framework (Education Services Australia,
2020), promote a continuum of supports based on
identified student needs and encourage a positive
approach to behaviour support, with a focus on
positive relationships. Nevertheless, take-up of SWPBS
is left up to individual schools, with no mandates for
Positive behavioural support in Australia: A state of the nation report 2023
10 © Bild, International Journal of Positive Behavioural Support Autumn 2023, 13, 2, 6 –12
relationships between governments and universities are vital
for PBS to evolve (Hayward, 2023b), and they should begin
to evaluate outcomes for recipients of PBS supports and
make these evaluations accessible to interested persons.
Importantly, there is no collaboration across sectors
for PBS in Australia. Hayward (2022a) recommended
establishment of an inclusive national framework and
lead agency for PBS. This seems sensible with the large
investment in PBS by individual jurisdictions and sectors
in the last two decades, and with no indication that PBS
in Australian disability services and schools will align in any
way in the foreseeable future.
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Conclusion and future considerations
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But it is too simplistic to suggest all that is required is
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PBS researchers must produce policy-relevant research
(Hayward, 2023b). It is vital that PBS leaders in government
agencies and schools, and non-government services and
schools, improve the standard of PBS practices. Effective
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