NDIS Behaviour Support Staff Training
Available across Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, the Gold Coast, and Toowoomba.
A Behaviour Support Plan is only useful when the people supporting the participant understand what to do and can implement it consistently.
People Centred Therapies provides practical staff training to translate behavioural assessment, Behaviour Support Plans, communication programs, skill-development programs, and other clinical recommendations into everyday practice.
Training can include instruction, demonstration, supported rehearsal, feedback, competency assessment, and ongoing coaching where required.
What Is Behaviour Support Staff Training?
Behaviour support staff training helps the people implementing a participant’s supports develop the knowledge and practical skills required to use behavioural strategies as intended.
Training may involve support workers, team leaders, family members, educators, supported accommodation staff, or other people who have an implementation role.
The purpose is not simply to read through a Behaviour Support Plan.
Staff need to understand:
What the participant is working towards
Why particular strategies have been recommended
What they are expected to do
What effective implementation looks like
What should be avoided
How to respond to different situations
How to support skill development
What information or data needs to be recorded
Knowing what a strategy says is different from being able to implement it competently.
When May Behaviour Support Staff Training Be Helpful?
Training may be appropriate when:
A new Interim Behaviour Support Plan has been introduced
A Comprehensive Behaviour Support Plan has been developed or updated
New staff are joining the participant’s support team
Strategies are being implemented inconsistently
Behavioural risks have changed
Staff are unsure how to respond to particular situations
Functional Communication Training is being introduced
Functional daily living skills are being taught
Prompting or reinforcement procedures need to be implemented consistently
Data collection requires improvement
Staff competence needs to be assessed
Strategies are not producing the expected outcome
Restrictive practices are relevant to the participant’s support arrangements
Ongoing coaching is required to maintain implementation
What May Behaviour Support Staff Training Cover?
Training is individualised according to the participant, their Behaviour Support Plan, current intervention, and the staff member’s role.
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Participant strengths and preferences
Communication
Important routines
Relevant health or sensory considerations
Goals
Quality-of-life priorities
Support needs
Environmental considerations
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Training may include:
Observable definitions of behaviours
Relevant setting events
Antecedents and triggers
Likely behavioural function
Early behavioural indicators
Risk factors
Maintaining consequences
The rationale behind recommended strategies
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Training may include:
Environmental adjustments
Predictability and routines
Choice
Communication support
Reinforcement
Preventative strategies
Identifying early opportunities to provide support
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Training may include:
Recognising different stages of behaviour
What to do during escalation
What to avoid
Supporting safety
De-escalation
Recovery
Returning to ordinary routines
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Training may include:
Functional Communication Training
Functional daily living skills
Task analysis
Prompting hierarchies
Prompt fading
Reinforcement
Practice opportunities
Generalisation
Data collection
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Training may include:
Behaviour data
Incident information
Skill-acquisition data
Prompt levels
Implementation records
Relevant progress information
Communicating changes to the practitioner
Turning the Behaviour Support Plan Into Practice
Staff training builds on the participant’s clinical assessment and Behaviour Support Plan.
The Functional Behaviour Assessment helps explain why behaviour occurs.
The Interim and Comprehensive Behaviour Support Plans describe what should be done differently.
Staff training then focuses on whether the people responsible for implementation can actually perform those strategies correctly in everyday situations.
This may involve teaching staff how to:
Recognise relevant antecedents and early indicators
Implement proactive strategies
Respond to communication
Provide reinforcement
Avoid accidentally strengthening behaviours of concern
Follow reactive strategies
Support skill-development programs
Collect required data
Adapt their support according to the participant’s plan
How We Teach Staff New Skills
Where practical implementation is required, PCT may use Behaviour Skills Training.
This is a structured teaching approach with four core components:
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The practitioner explains the skill, why it matters for the participant, and the exact steps staff are expected to follow.
Written instructions, visual resources, scripts, checklists, or other materials may also be provided.
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The practitioner demonstrates what correct implementation looks like.
Where useful, staff may also be shown common errors or examples of what not to do.
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Staff practise the skill rather than simply discussing it.
Practice may begin through role-play before progressing to relevant real-world situations where appropriate.
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The practitioner provides specific feedback on what was implemented correctly and what needs to change.
Incorrect steps can be demonstrated again, practised again, and reviewed until performance improves.
Training Is About Demonstrated Competence
Attending a training session does not necessarily mean that a staff member can implement a strategy correctly.
Where appropriate, PCT establishes observable competency criteria.
This may include:
The steps the staff member must perform
Required accuracy or implementation fidelity
Maximum prompt level
Number of successful practice opportunities
Settings in which competence must be demonstrated
Different situations the staff member must respond to
Data or fidelity checks used to confirm performance
PCT’s Behaviour Skills Training protocol also allows mastery to be reviewed again after training to determine whether the skill has been maintained.
The objective is not to document that training occurred. It is to determine whether staff can use the strategy correctly.
Training Staff to Support Functional Communication
Functional Communication Training depends heavily on how people respond when the participant communicates.
Staff may need to learn:
The communication response being taught
When to prompt it
Which prompt to use
What reinforcement should follow
How quickly reinforcement should occur
How to respond when the requested outcome is unavailable
How prompts should be faded
What to do if behaviours of concern occur
How progress should be recorded
PCT can separately evaluate staff implementation so difficulties with the teaching program can be distinguished from difficulties with how the program is being implemented.
Training Staff to Build Functional Skills
Where the participant is developing daily living skills, support staff may be an important part of providing repeated learning opportunities.
Training may include:
The steps within a task analysis
Which steps the participant already completes independently
The prompting hierarchy
When to provide assistance
When to wait
How prompts should be faded
What reinforcement should be provided
How many practice opportunities are required
How data should be recorded
How the skill should be generalised into other situations
This helps prevent staff from unintentionally completing an activity for the participant when the participant is capable of learning to complete more of it themselves.
Is the Strategy Being Implemented as Intended?
When intervention is not producing the expected outcome, one of the first questions should be whether the intervention has actually been implemented as designed.
PCT may use implementation or competency checks to examine whether staff are:
Following the correct steps
Using prompts as intended
Providing reinforcement correctly
Responding consistently
Using the required materials
Recording data accurately
Avoiding responses identified in the plan
Applying strategies across relevant situations
This helps distinguish between a strategy that requires clinical review and a strategy that has not yet been implemented with sufficient consistency.
Training Does Not Always End After One Session
Some behaviour support programs require follow-up after the initial training.
PCT may provide:
In-person coaching
Observation of implementation
Refresher training
Feedback on staff performance
Additional modelling
Further rehearsal
Review of implementation data
Coaching when participant circumstances change
Support when new staff join the team
Maintenance checks after competency has been achieved
The level of ongoing support depends on the participant, intervention complexity, risk, and implementation needs.
How We Provide Behaviour Support Staff Training
Step 1: Identify the training need
We determine which strategies or skills staff need to implement and what successful performance should look like.
Step 2: Develop clear training objectives
Training objectives describe what staff will do, the required level of accuracy, and the circumstances in which competence should be demonstrated.
Step 3: Provide instruction
We explain the strategy, its purpose, the participant-specific rationale, and the steps required.
Step 4: Model the skill
The practitioner demonstrates correct implementation and, where helpful, relevant non-examples.
Step 5: Rehearse
Staff practise the strategy through structured learning opportunities.
Step 6: Provide feedback
Staff receive specific feedback and repeat relevant components where improvement is required.
Step 7: Assess competence
Where appropriate, implementation is measured against predetermined competency or fidelity criteria.
Step 8: Review maintenance
Follow-up can determine whether skills have been maintained and whether further coaching is required.
Our Approach to Behaviour Support Staff Training
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Staff should understand the purpose of a strategy, not simply be told to follow instructions.
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Where practical skills are required, we model them rather than relying solely on verbal explanation.
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Staff are given opportunities to rehearse skills and receive feedback.
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Where appropriate, competency is assessed using observable criteria rather than attendance alone.
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Training is based on the participant’s assessment, Behaviour Support Plan, goals, risks, communication, and skill-development needs.
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If implementation or participant outcomes are not improving, we identify whether additional training, coaching, plan review, or a different clinical strategy is required.
Behaviour Support Staff Training FAQs
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No.
Plan explanation may form part of training, but practical strategies may also require modelling, rehearsal, feedback, and competency assessment.
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Training may involve support workers, team leaders, family members, educators, supported accommodation staff, or other people with an appropriate implementation role.
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Yes.
Training can be repeated when new team members commence or when existing staff require refresher training.
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Yes, where appropriate.
Observation can help determine whether strategies are being implemented as intended and where further coaching may be useful.
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It can.
Where Functional Communication Training forms part of the participant’s intervention, staff can be trained in prompting, reinforcement, responding to communication, and relevant data collection.
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Yes.
Where functional skill development forms part of specialist behaviour support, staff may be trained in task analysis, prompting, reinforcement, practice, and prompt fading.
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No.
The amount of training and follow-up required depends on the complexity of the intervention, staff competence, participant risk, and how well skills are maintained over time.
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PCT provides behaviour support staff training across Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, the Gold Coast, and our Toowoomba service area.
Behaviour Support Staff Training Across Our Service Regions
People Centred Therapies provides behaviour support staff training across:
Brisbane
Ipswich
Logan
The Gold Coast
Toowoomba
Training may be delivered within supported accommodation, the participant’s home, education or community settings, other relevant service environments, or by telehealth where appropriate.
Turn Behaviour Support Plans Into Consistent Practice
If a participant’s support team requires training, PCT can translate Behaviour Support Plan strategies and skill-development programs into clear implementation procedures, provide practical training, assess competence where appropriate, and support staff to apply strategies consistently in everyday situations.