In short: if somebody was hurt, frightened, or had something done to them that they had said no to, it is a report, not a conversation. Blocking a doorway, taking something off somebody, locking a cupboard that is theirs, or holding them, even briefly and even kindly, can be a restrictive practice, and it goes through your organisation’s incident process in writing. If you cannot tell which of the two you are looking at, treat it as the report. CORA Workforce teaches this decision in its NDIS courses and records who has completed them, so a provider can show an auditor which workers have covered restrictive practices and when.
Hold the Line means
Keep the person's rights and choices steady under pressure (family, org, routine, peers).
The decision: report it, or raise it?
Report it, in writing, through your organisation’s incident process if somebody was hurt or frightened, if something was done to them after they said no, or if their movement, access or belongings were restricted. Blocking a doorway, taking something off somebody, locking a cupboard that is theirs, or holding them, even briefly and even kindly, can be a restrictive practice. Write it down and report it whether or not you think it was authorised. You do not have to work out which category it falls into or what the timeframe is. Report it and let the people whose job that is sort out the rest.
Raise it as a conversation if a choice was overridden by pressure rather than by force. A family member deciding the day, a routine outranking a preference, a co-worker taking the faster option. Nobody was hurt and nothing was restricted, but the person’s choice was not the one that counted. That is a conversation to have at the time, and at handover if you could not have it then.
If you cannot tell, treat it as the report. Getting that wrong in the cautious direction costs somebody twenty minutes and a form. Getting it wrong the other way costs the person.
The conversation, done well
- A family member tells you what the person will be doing today, and you check with the person.
- The routine says shower now. The person says not yet. You ask them what would work, and you find out what actually has to happen by when rather than assuming all of it does.
- A co-worker overrides a choice because it is faster, and you say something at the time rather than after.
The conversation, missed
- Deferring to whoever is loudest, then recording it as the person's decision.
- Letting the roster decide something that was the person's to decide.
- Going quiet because the pressure is coming from someone senior to you.
Three things to try on your next shift
- When somebody else in the room makes a decision for the person, ask the person directly. Out loud. It changes the room.
- Separate what is genuinely fixed from what has just always been done that way. Most routines contain more of the second than anyone thinks.
- If you could not hold it in the moment, say so afterwards rather than letting it pass. Naming it is how it gets addressed instead of repeated.
Where this is covered properly
Participant Rights, Consent and Choice: What It Means in Practice covers what consent actually requires, where a routine has quietly replaced a choice, and how to raise it when somebody senior is the one applying the pressure.
Common questions about restrictive practices and reporting
What counts as a restrictive practice in disability support?
Anything that restricts a person's movement, access or belongings. Blocking a doorway, taking something off somebody, locking a cupboard that is theirs, or holding them, even briefly and even kindly. Family, the roster, a co-worker, the organisation. Rights are simple until they are inconvenient, and that is the point where holding them is worth something.
What do you do when a family member overrides the person's choice?
Ask the person directly, out loud. It changes the room. It is also worth separating what is genuinely fixed from what has just always been done that way, because most routines contain more of the second than anyone thinks.
When is it a report rather than a conversation?
If somebody was hurt, frightened, or had something done to them that they had said no to, that goes through your organisation's incident process in writing rather than being raised at handover and left there.
What if you are not sure whether something was a restrictive practice?
Report it anyway. Blocking a doorway, taking something off somebody, locking a cupboard that is theirs, or holding them, even briefly and even kindly, can be a restrictive practice. You do not have to work out which category it falls into or what the timeframe is. Getting it wrong in the cautious direction costs twenty minutes and a form.
More in Supports rights, independence & choice:
- Honour the RiskSupport dignity of risk and informed choice even when you'd choose differently.
- Open CommunicationMake space for the person's voice and choice, don't take over, pressure, or assume.
- Step BackBuild independence, do with, not for; resist over-helping.