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Welcome to the first edition of the Positive Behaviour Framework Disability Sector Update for
2014. This update is designed to inform the sector of developments underway in the
continued rollout of the Positive Behaviour Framework.
The Positive Behaviour Framework is a sector-wide strategy to respond to the needs of
people with disability who sometimes exhibit challenging behaviour and the needs of their
families/carers and paid support workers. The framework is driven by the Disability Services
Commission’s (the Commission’s) Count Me In: Disability Future Directions plan and is
working to foster the participation and contribution of people with disability who sometimes
experience challenging behaviour, by developing a values and evidence-based strategy to
support the development of personalised supports and services.
The cross-sector guiding committee implementing the framework has 40 members
representing people with disability, families, disability sector organisations, peak bodies and
Commission directorates. The Positive Behaviour Framework Guiding Committee has been
working collaboratively for three years. The committee has initiated a number of projects to
implement the framework and these are having a positive effect on the way people with
disability, their families and carers who share experiences of challenging behaviour are being
supported. Further details of these projects, reports and evaluations are available on the
Commission’s website www.disability.wa.gov.au > Disability Service Providers > Behaviour
Support.
The focus for 2014 is to broaden the networks with the disability sector and other government
departments. Quarterly forums are planned in 2014, inviting contribution from the disability
sector, people with disability and their families and carers and other government departments
to showcase developments in the area of Positive Behaviour Support.
Current activities taking place under the framework are detailed below.
Positive Behaviour Framework Disability Sector Update
February 2014
Review of the Voluntary Code of Practice for the Elimination of Restrictive
Practices
The Voluntary Code of Practice for the Elimination of Restrictive Practices, launched in
August 2012, has been widely adopted and well received in the disability sector. The code
provides the basis for the disability sector to develop operational policy and guidelines for
eliminating the use of restrictive practices. It applies to all services provided and funded by
the Commission for children and adults with disability.
A formal review of the Code of Practice is underway with completion expected in early 2014.
Feedback has already been provided from around the State concerning the strengths of and
opportunities for improvement for the Code of Practice through the ‘Is there a better way?’
training. In addition, a workshop was held in Bunbury for families and carers of people with
disability on 29 November 2013 inviting further feedback. This information will contribute to
the review of the Code of Practice. Further forums are planned in 2014 for guiding committee
members as well as across government agencies.
More information will become available over the next month or two.
The Voluntary Code of Practice for the Elimination of Restrictive Practices is available at
www.disability.wa.gov.au > Disability Service Providers > Behaviour Support.
Cross-sector collaboration
Work continues under the framework to build closer cross-sector collaboration across
disability sector organisations. Regular forums are coordinated by the Statewide Specialist
Services’ Positive Behaviour Strategy Branch that allow opportunities for disability sector
organisations to build skills in Positive Behaviour Support, share resources and work
collaboratively to improve the lives of people with disability through the elimination of
restrictive practices.
These include quarterly disability sector forums, the Positive Behaviour Framework Guiding
Committee meetings, Positive Behaviour in Action (PBIA) interest group meetings and the
Behaviour Support Consultant Community of Practice meetings.
Quarterly disability sector forums
Quarterly disability sector forums hosted by the Behaviour Support Consultation Team and
the guiding committee showcase new developments under the auspices of the Positive
Behaviour Framework.
The most recent disability sector forum was held on 19 November 2013 at Technology Park
in Perth and launched stage two of the Positive Behaviour Framework. A copy of stage two of
the Positive Behaviour Framework is available at www.disability.wa.gov.au > Disability
Service Providers > Behaviour Support.
The Commission’s Director General Dr Chalmers and Frances Buchanan and David Rogers
from National Disability Services opened the event. This forum highlighted the work occurring
under the Positive Behaviour Framework in building the capacity of regional and metropolitan
organisations. Families shared stories about the changes in their lives through the
introduction of Positive Behaviour Support.
The forum included:
an update from Dr Chalmers on building disability sector partnerships to better support
people, their families and carers who share experiences of challenging behaviour
recent developments under the Positive Behaviour Framework
a presentation from the Community Living Association Chief Executive Officer on their
experiences in the South-West and Lower Great Southern Regional Expansion project
a parent’s perspective on Positive Behaviour Support
the Side by Side Project: how family leadership supports families and the disability sector
to grow together
evaluation feedback from ‘Is there a better way?’ training
an introduction to research into the effectiveness of the Positive Behaviour Framework.
More than 100 people attended the forum and positive feedback was received.
Developmental Disability Council of WA CEO Taryn Harvey spoke at the forum about family
leadership and the Side by Side Family Mentoring project.
Positive Behaviour Framework Guiding Committee, Positive Behaviour in
Action (PBIA) interest group and the Behaviour Support Consultant
Community of Practice
Positive Behaviour Framework Guiding Committee: This 40-member committee
meets quarterly just prior to the above-mentioned quarterly forums. The guiding
committee works to implement proposals in the Towards Responsive Services for All
report.
Positive Behaviour in Action (PBIA) interest group: This peer support group is an
opportunity for workers to continue to develop their skills in implementing and applying
Positive Behaviour Support principles in their work place.
Behaviour Support Consultant Community of Practice Terms
of Reference
Role/Purpose:
Guidance and support to disability sector organisations and Positive
Behaviour Support Consultants (BSCs) to implement the recommendations
of Effective Service Design within the Positive Behaviour Framework. This
framework ties in with the Voluntary Code of Practice for the Elimination of
Restrictive Practice.
Objectives:
• Development of best practice service principles
• Communication of progress of Positive Behaviour Framework
• Peer support and guidance
• Strengthening role of panelling groups within organisations
• Workforce development and professional training opportunities
Membership: Organisations that are represented on the guiding committee
and who have agreed to work within the Voluntary Code of Practice—policy
managers, senior management and those involved in managing positive
behaviour support practice within a disability sector organisation.
The community of practice will stay small with restricted membership.
If the group requires input or guidance from additional sources such as
family members, allied health partners and other stakeholders, they may be
invited to attend on a case-by-case basis.
Behaviour Support Consultant Community of Practice: This is a community of
practice attended by Behaviour Support Consultants from the disability sector working
to implement the Voluntary Code of Practice for the Elimination of Restrictive Practices
in their organisations. The terms of reference were developed by Behaviour Support
Consultants and details of the role, objectives and membership developed by the group
are shown below.
Interest in developments under the Positive Behaviour Framework continues to grow across
the disability sector in metropolitan and regional areas. Midwest Community Living
Association recently appointed a Behaviour Support Consultant to work with its organisation
to implement the Voluntary Code of Practice for the Elimination of Restrictive Practices. The
association is planning internal information sessions and training for staff in relation to
Positive Behaviour Support and the Code of Practice. Staff will be attending ‘Is there a better
way?’ training and Positive Behaviour Support training.
Pictured above are Commission Behaviour Support Policy Officer Fran Gresley (left),
Midwest Community Living Association Behaviour Support Consultant (BSC) Tarr Fox, VIP
BSC Jacqui Long, Commission Senior BSC Rachel Barron, My Place BSC Michelle Atkinson,
Autism Association of Western Australia BSC Michele Thomas, Identitywa BSC Rachel
Corridan, Rise BSC Jennifer Mofflin, Commission Behaviour Support Consultation Team
Manager Mike Cubbage, Nulsen BSC Steve Van Vlijmen and Enable Southwest BSC
Michael Finn.
Toolbox resource
Behaviour Support Consultants are taking advantage of an opportunity to access a toolbox of
resources available to agencies to support the implementation of Positive Behaviour
Support.
One of the goals of the South-West and Lower Great Southern Regional Expansion and the
metropolitan Positive Behaviour Support Panel projects has been to collect a range of
systems, processes and templates that can be shared between interested disability sector
organisations to guide in the introduction of Positive Behaviour Support and to
reduce/eliminate the use of restrictive practices. Contributions to the toolbox box have been
made by several organisations. Some of the resources that have been made available to
date include:
processes and templates for restrictive practices audits
processes and templates for the panel process
templates for ABC and STAR recordings
templates to assist with carrying out behavioural functional assessments
examples of Behaviour Support Plans
spreadsheets for gathering and analysing data collected from restrictive practices audits
and panel processes.
In addition, the Commission’s Accommodation Services Directorate has shared some of its
policies and procedures, including Risk Management Guidelines and the Medication Manual,
to assist other organisations that are in the process of developing their own policies and
procedures in these areas.
To access these resources, contact Commission Behaviour Support Policy Officer Fran
Gresley on 0478 320 333 or email [email protected] . One of the early tasks
for 2014 is to make the toolbox freely and readily available from a central point that can be
easily accessed by interested organisations. Details on how to access the toolbox will be
provided as soon as this task has been achieved.
Behaviour Support Quality Evaluation Tool Summary Guide
The Commission’s Behaviour Support Consultation team members Kathryn Falloon and
Rachel Barron have worked in partnership with the Office of the Senior Practitioner in Victoria
to provide a summary scoring guide of the Behaviour Support Quality Evaluation tool (BSP-
QEII) and a new Behaviour Support planning guide template. The planning guide
incorporates references to the BSP-QEII and covers key areas for consideration in
developing a quality Behaviour Support Plan.
These tools were trialled at the recent refresher training on Behaviour Support Plans and the
BSP-QEII. The training was attended by 23 people including Behaviour Support Consultants
and key staff involved in implementing Positive Behaviour Support in disability sector
organisations. The training was attended by Rise, Mosaic Community Care, Activ,
UnitingCare West, Identitywa and two staff members from the Commission’s Learning and
Development branch. Participants provided overwhelmingly positive feedback about the
summary guide and the Behaviour Support Plan guide template and requests are already
being made for these resources. There will be opportunities for further feedback concerning
these tools at future training events.
This summary guide for the Behaviour Support Quality Evaluation II tool and the Behaviour
Support planning guide will soon be made available for staff who have previously attended
training in relation to the BSP-QEII through the toolbox mentioned above.
South-West and Lower Great Southern Regional Expansion Pilot Project
2013 proved to be a busy time for the four organisations involved with the South-West and
Lower Great Southern Regional Expansion Project. The Behaviour Support Consultants and
their backups have completed training in Positive Behaviour Support and using the Behaviour
Support Plan Quality Evaluation II (BSP-QEII) to assess the quality of Behaviour Support
Plans. Positive Behaviour Support training delivered by the Commission’s Learning and
Development branch was trialled for support workers in the Regional areas. Based on
feedback from this trial, the training package has been modified to meet specific
organisational needs and a new printed workbook has been developed. ‘Is there a better
way?’ workshops were a great success and the four regional organisations participated in
More Than Talking training which was also very well received. In addition there have been
face-to-face meetings in different regional centres and monthly “catch-ups” with the project
officer. A few of the organisations have seen a changeover of Behaviour Support
Consultants, which has necessitated further training and information-sharing for new
consultants.
All four organisations involved in the project have been busy completing their restrictive
practices audits and Enable South-West has conducted its first panel meeting. Strive Warren-
Blackwood was scheduled to have its first panel meeting on 20 January 2014 and
Community Living Association was scheduled to conduct its meeting early this month.
We are already learning a great deal from this pilot project, especially about the challenges
that regional organisations need to overcome when introducing new initiatives such as the
implementation of the Voluntary Code of Practice for the Elimination of Restrictive Practices.
On a positive note, a common emerging theme is the quantity and quality of conversations
occurring amongst staff at all levels about reducing and eliminating restrictive practices and
the impact Positive Behaviour Support strategies have on providing a better life for the
people they are supporting.
As the project progresses through 2014 we will no doubt have many stories, reflections and
useful feedback for the evaluation report.
Enable Southwest
Below is an update provided by Enable informing readers of developments taking place in its
organisation as part of the South-West and Lower Great Southern Regional Expansion pilot project.
Enable has been making progress with implementing the Positive
Behaviour Support project objectives and we convened our first Positive
Behaviour panel in November, confirmed the terms of reference and are
currently reviewing the recommendations and Behaviour Support Plans
that have arisen out of this.
Engagement with the teams for Enable’s target group of service users
remains ongoing and planning is in place to increase the number of
support worker Positive Behaviour Support education sessions across the
organisation.
These sessions are being complemented with additional education
sessions on Non-Violent Crisis Intervention, Autism training and
communications training workshops.
Update from Enable (from previous page)
Work also continues with providing education to families and carers on the
Positive Behaviour Support project and with support from Mike Cubbage at
the Commission, Enable also hosted a ‘Is there a better way?’ community
forum on 21 November 2013.
Jaquie Mills, Susan Stanford and a couple of parents associated with
Youniverse came down to Bunbury to facilitate this community forum and it
was pleasing to see that more than 60 per cent of participants were family
members or carers of people with disability. One participant was a parent
from Bridgetown connected with Strive Warren-Blackwood.
Enable also hosted the November regional meeting of the South-West and
Lower Great Southern Regional Expansion project steering committee and
were delighted that Jacqui Long from VIP could attend and present on the
development and experience of the VIP Positive Behaviour Panel process.
Congratulations are also extended to Chief Executive Officer Rob Holmes
and the Enable executive team on collecting the Count Me In Award for
Governance and Leadership (Commission-funded disability sector
organisations). This award is an opportunity to recognise the leadership of a
funded disability sector organisation. This may include initiatives to change
organisational culture, ways of operating to be more responsive to the
person-centred approach or accountability in an individual funding model.
Demonstration of collaboration and partnership are also encouraged. Whilst
separate to the Positive Behaviour Support project, this award captures
many of the elements contained within the objectives of the Voluntary Code
of Practice and reflects the culture of the organisation as it relates to the
Code.
Training Framework
Good knowledge of Positive Behaviour Support principles is important in delivering high
quality services for people with disability, their families and carers who share experiences of
challenging behaviour. There are various opportunities for training emerging under the
Positive Behaviour Framework shown in the diagram below.
Training Framework
Recent training events
‘Is there a better way?’ workshops
The Commission’s Behaviour Support Consultation Team worked with the Developmental
Disability Council in conjunction with People with Disabilities and Youniverse to develop
training in the Code of Practice. This ‘Is there a better way?’ training was held in regional,
remote and metropolitan areas, provided to 209 staff and families in 10 two-day workshops.
A further 31 families and staff participated in two one-day metropolitan Train the Trainer
workshops. An additional half day workshop was run in Bunbury in November 2013.
Participants including family members and staff from various services provided positive
feedback. Participants reported a significant gain in their level of understanding of Positive
Behaviour Support including improved skills in communication and a greater awareness of
the need to use a human rights framework to guide decision making for people with disability
who may sometimes experience challenging behaviour.
Continued requests have been made for further training events. These requests will be met
through a user pays approach.
Behaviour Support Consultants who are interested in taking advantage of these training
opportunities can contact Denise Wettermann in the first instance on 9301 3838 or email
Other people who may be interested in attending this training should email Jaquie Mills at
Practical Application of Positive Behaviour Support Strategies training
The Commission’s Learning and Development team has rolled out a two-day pilot program in
Positive Behaviour Support. The training, Practical Application of Positive Behaviour Support
Strategies, is designed to provide staff with practical ways to support people using Positive
Behaviour Support.
Most recently, training was provided at Myplace and attended by 18 managers and
coordinators. Positive feedback on the training indicated participants had gained more skills
and knowledge to complete functional behavioural assessments and develop behaviour
support plans.
This training will be available State-wide on a cost recovery basis.
Behaviour Support Consultants interested in taking advantage of these training opportunities
should contact Denise Wettermann in the first instance on 9301 3838 or email
If your organisation is interested in accessing this training and does not have a Behaviour
Support Consultant, contact Fran Gresley on 0478 320 333 or email
Behaviour Support Plans and the Behaviour Support Plan Quality Evaluation II tool
Refresher training
The Behaviour Support Consultation Team is supporting Behaviour Support Consultants with
refresher training in developing Behaviour Support Plans and use of the Behaviour Support
Plan Quality Evaluation II tool (BSP-QEII). Kathryn Falloon and Rachel Barron developed
and ran the first training sessions in December 2013. Feedback received about the training
indicated each participant felt more confident to assess the quality of a Behaviour Support
Plan using the BSP-QEII tool for a person who may sometimes experience challenging
behaviour.
The BSP-QEII tool summary scoring guide developed between the Behaviour Support
Consultation Team and the Office of the Senior Practitioner in Victoria was considered
particularly helpful, with every participant agreeing or strongly agreeing the resource was
helpful.
Mosaic staff BSC Joanna Doraisamy (second from left), manager Charlotte Van der Burght
and Vanessa Plunkett and Kathleen O’Conner attended the Refresher Behaviour Support
Planning and Behaviour Support Quality Evaluation tool II training.
Behaviour Support Consultants interested in taking advantage of these training opportunities
can contact Denise Wettermann.
‘More than Talking’ training
‘More than Talking’ training is designed to assist Behaviour Support Consultants further
develop their understanding of the role of communication in how we interpret behaviour,
understand the unmet needs in people’s lives, how these influence behaviour and how we
can support a better quality of life for people with disability who may experience challenging
behaviour.
‘More than Talking’ training ran in November 2013 and was attended by family members and
staff from Identitywa, Kira, Mosaic Community Care, Rise, Rocky Bay, Disability Services
Commission and Therapy Focus.
Behaviour Support Consultants interested in these training opportunities can contact Denise
Wettermann.
Others who would like to access this training can contact Fran Gresley.
Coming up in 2014
27 February 2014
Sector and across-government forum including review of the Voluntary Code of
Practice for the Elimination of Restrictive Practices
29 May 2014
Sector and across-government forum
28 August 2014
Sector and across-government forum
27 November 2014
Sector and across-government forum
What’s on in 2014
