Robotic pets in NDIS behaviour support plans and restrictive practice rules
How a robotic pet can sit in a positive behaviour support plan, and when limiting access to it becomes environmental restraint under the 2018 rules.
A robotic pet can be written into a positive behaviour support plan as a proactive strategy, for example something the person keeps within reach and picks up when they start to feel distressed. Taking the pet away or locking it up in response to behaviour is a different matter. Under the NDIS restrictive practice rules that can be environmental restraint, which a registered provider may only use with a behaviour support plan, state authorisation and monthly reporting to the NDIS Commission.
What is a positive behaviour support plan?
The NDIS Commission describes positive behaviour support as an evidence, values and rights based approach that aims to improve a person’s quality of life by understanding the reasons behind their behaviour and meeting their needs. Strategies can include teaching the person new skills, changing their environment, and giving guidance to the people who support them. A behaviour support plan sets those strategies down in writing for the people around the person.
Plans are developed by NDIS behaviour support practitioners working for specialist behaviour support providers, and the Commission keeps a register of practitioners it has found suitable. Some plans also contain restrictive practices. Those plans carry extra rules, covered further down.
Where can a robotic pet fit in a plan?
A robotic pet fits most naturally in the proactive parts of a plan, the strategies that help the person stay settled. How a practitioner might write it in:
| Part of the plan | Example of how a robotic pet could appear |
|---|---|
| Changes to the environment | The pet is kept on a low shelf in the lounge and in the bedroom at night, within the person’s reach |
| Skill building | The person practises picking up and stroking the pet when they notice early signs of distress |
| Guidance for support workers | Offer the pet when the person paces or raises their voice; do not insist if they refuse it |
| Daily routine | The pet is part of the bedtime routine, after the evening shower |
| Things to avoid | Do not use the pet as a reward, and do not remove it as a consequence |
The practitioner decides whether a pet belongs in the plan at all. The published trials of robotic pets were run with people living with dementia, so for other participants a pet is something to try, observe and review, not a treatment with a known result. The pet itself can be bought as low-cost assistive technology from the Consumables budget, and the OT and therapist page lists product details a practitioner can cite.
When does limiting access become environmental restraint?
The NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018 name five regulated restrictive practices:
- Seclusion
- Chemical restraint
- Mechanical restraint
- Physical restraint
- Environmental restraint
The rules describe environmental restraint as practices which “restrict a person’s free access to all parts of their environment, including items or activities”. The Commission’s sub-type definitions, version 1.0 of August 2026, list restricted access to personal items, which covers a person’s own belongings, and restricted access to an object or item. Both include removing the item, locking it in a drawer, cupboard or another room, putting it out of reach, telling the person they cannot have it, and refusing to support them to use it.
For a robotic pet, situations to raise with the practitioner include:
- staff putting the pet on a high shelf after an incident
- a rule that the person can only have the pet once they are calm
- the pet staying in the office overnight because staff are worried it will be damaged
- telling the person the pet is “asleep” and cannot be used
For children and young people, the same document says consideration must be given to whether a restriction is age appropriate, in line with community standards and consistent with the child safety and injury prevention steps that would apply to any child. Where it is, it would not be considered a regulated restrictive practice.
Authorisation, monthly reporting and reportable incidents
These obligations sit with the provider that implements the plan, as set out on the Commission’s rules for implementing providers:
| Requirement | What the Commission says |
|---|---|
| Registration | Providers that use regulated restrictive practices must be registered; use by an unregistered provider breaches the rules |
| Plan timing | Where a practice will be used on an ongoing basis, an interim plan within 1 month of first use and a comprehensive plan within 6 months |
| Authorisation | The provider gets authorisation from the authorising body in the state or territory where the person lives, and lodges evidence in the Commission’s portal |
| Monthly reporting | Reports on each authorised practice, including months when it was not used, within 5 business days of month end |
| Unauthorised use | A practice not in a plan, not authorised, or not used as the plan says is a reportable incident, due within 5 business days |
Since 12 October 2026, new and reviewed behaviour support plans are lodged in the new NDIS Commission Portal, and monthly reporting follows the plan to whichever portal it was lodged in. In Victoria, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing says disability service providers using restrictive interventions must follow rules set out in the Disability Act 2006. The NDIS supports rules also list supports involving restrictive practices that are prohibited in the participant’s state or territory among things the NDIS does not fund.
Practical guidance for families and support workers
The Commission’s practice guide on restrictive practices with children and young people says it does not regulate families or their use of restrictive practices, and that families have no reporting obligations to it. Registered providers working in the family home must still meet all of the Commission’s requirements. The obligations in the table above therefore fall on providers, not on parents acting on their own. A practitioner can still help a family find alternatives to restricting access.
For support workers and families:
- Keep the pet where the person can reach it, unless the plan says otherwise.
- Do not make access to the pet depend on behaviour.
- Note when the pet is used, what was happening, and what happened next. The practitioner needs this to review the plan.
- If the pet is broken or the batteries are flat, fix that quickly so the person can still use it.
- If you are not sure whether something counts as a restriction, ask before doing it.
In a shared house, the SIL homes page covers who owns the pet and who charges it.
Who to contact with a concern
Start with the behaviour support practitioner who wrote the plan, then the provider that implements it. The Commission asks to hear by email, at behavioursupport@ndiscommission.gov.au, if an unregistered NDIS provider is using restrictive practices, if you cannot get access to a plan containing restrictive practices after asking the practitioner to upload it, or if a provider is using restrictive practices while waiting for a plan and not reporting it. Its behaviour support page has the full list. If someone is in immediate danger, call emergency services first.
What to do next
- If the person has an acquired brain injury, see robotic pets for acquired brain injury.
- For autistic participants, read robotic pets for autism and anxiety.
- Request a quote for a robotic pet that a behaviour support plan will name, and tell us whether the practitioner wants product details for the plan.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a robotic pet be written into a behaviour support plan?
Yes, if the behaviour support practitioner thinks it suits the person. It usually appears as a proactive strategy, such as keeping the pet within reach and offering it when early signs of distress show. Ask the practitioner to name the product and describe when and how it is used, so every support worker follows the same approach.
- Is taking a robotic pet away a restrictive practice?
It can be. Removing a person's own pet, locking it away or keeping it out of reach to respond to their behaviour fits the NDIS Commission's description of environmental restraint. When a registered provider does that, it needs to be in an authorised behaviour support plan and reported monthly, or it is an unauthorised practice that must be reported as an incident.
- Who can write a behaviour support plan?
An NDIS behaviour support practitioner, working through a specialist behaviour support provider. The NDIS Commission keeps a register of practitioners it has assessed as suitable, and a provider that will use a regulated restrictive practice on an ongoing basis must engage one to develop a plan.
- What must a provider report about restrictive practices?
An implementing provider reports monthly on each regulated restrictive practice in the plan, even in months when it was not used, within 5 business days of the month ending. Any use that is outside the plan, not authorised by the state or territory, or not used the way the plan describes is a reportable incident with its own 5 business day deadline.
- Do the restrictive practice rules apply to families at home?
Not to parents acting on their own. The NDIS Commission regulates providers rather than families, and a family does not report to it. Registered NDIS providers delivering supports in the family home are still covered by every requirement. A behaviour support practitioner can still help a family look at less restrictive ways to manage risk.