Improved Relationships NDIS funding is the support category that pays for behaviour support in older NDIS plans. Behaviour support is paid from the Capacity Building budget: Behaviour Support in newer (PACE) plans, or Improved Relationships in older plans. The NDIS describes Improved Relationships as funding for supports that help develop positive behaviours, and says it can include behaviour support plans, behaviour supports and social skills development.
 | Prepared by Trevor Keen Founder and Physiotherapist · Reviewed 11 November 2026 |
NDIS funding rules change, so this guide was checked against the NDIS and NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission websites on 11 November 2026. Whether a plan includes this funding, and how much, is always a decision for the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which runs the NDIS. This is general information, not advice about your plan.
At a glance
| ✓ | Behaviour support is paid from the Capacity Building budget: Behaviour Support in newer (PACE) plans, or Improved Relationships in older plans. |
| ✓ | The NDIS says it can include behaviour support plans and behaviour supports. |
| ✓ | You must use a provider registered with the NDIS Commission for specialist behaviour support, even if your plan is self-managed or plan-managed. |
| ✓ | If your plan has no Improved Relationships funding, you can ask for a plan change. The NDIA decides. |
| ✓ | Capacity building funding is a stated support: it can't be moved between categories. |
In this guide
What is Improved Relationships NDIS funding?
An NDIS plan is split into support budgets, and each budget is made up of support categories. Capacity Building is one of four budgets, and it can include up to nine categories. Improved Relationships is one of them. In newer plans made in the NDIA's PACE system, behaviour support has its own category, Behaviour Support, and Improved Relationships is renamed Relationships.
The NDIS Commission, which regulates NDIS providers, tells participants to look for Improved Relationships under Capacity Building supports in their plan to see what funding they have for specialist behaviour support. Your plan only has funding in the categories that match the supports the NDIA has agreed you need.
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is a person-centred approach that looks at why a behaviour is happening and changes the environment and supports around the person. Our PBS hub explains how it works.
What can Improved Relationships pay for?
The NDIS lists three examples: behaviour support plans, behaviour supports and social skills development. The NDIS Commission adds that the funding can be used for a behaviour support plan and training of the people who support you.
In practice, a comprehensive behaviour support plan is built on a functional behaviour assessment, which the Commission describes as the process of understanding the purpose behind a person's behaviour. Our guides to functional behaviour assessments and behaviour support plans explain those steps.
What a particular support costs is set by the NDIS pricing schedule. The schedule sets maximum prices, and the NDIS says providers can't charge more than the maximum price limits. The current schedule is dated 24 September 2026 and is updated each financial year. In the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27, the national price limit for Specialist Behavioural Intervention Support (item 11_022_0110_7_3) is $252.99 an hour, and provider travel is capped at half that rate.
Your service agreement with a provider sets out what is delivered, the cost and how many hours. The NDIA decides how many hours or how much funding goes into your plan, using the reasonable and necessary criteria.
Recent changes
Some budgets changed on 1 October 2026
Under the new NDIS laws, the NDIA is reducing budgets in two categories, Social, Economic and Community Participation and Improved Daily Living Skills, as plans are created or reassessed from 1 October 2026. Neither Improved Relationships nor Behaviour Support is one of the two named, and the NDIA lists intensive and complex behaviour supports among the supports not affected. Every plan is individual, so check yours.
Not sure whether your plan covers behaviour support?
Our positive behaviour support team can talk through what your plan says. The first call with our triage team is free.
Refer to our PBS teamCall 08 8166 4700Does it matter if my plan is plan-managed, self-managed or NDIA-managed?
It changes who pays the provider and which price limits apply. It doesn't change who can deliver specialist behaviour support, which is covered in the next section.
How each way of managing funding works for behaviour support
| Plan type | Who pays the provider | Price limits | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDIA-managed | The NDIA, when a provider claims in the portal | Apply | Registered providers only |
| Plan-managed | Your plan manager, from your plan | Apply | Registered or unregistered in general; registered only for specialist behaviour support |
| Self-managed | You pay and keep invoices and receipts | Don't apply, so you can negotiate | Registered or unregistered in general; registered only for specialist behaviour support |
These come from the NDIS pages on NDIA-managed, plan-managed and self-managed funding, and from the NDIS statement that maximum prices only apply to NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants. The NDIA has also said it will set up a panel of plan managers from 1 October 2027, so plan management is changing.
CHSA accepts all three. Invoices for NDIA-managed plans go through the NDIA, for plan-managed plans to the plan manager, and for self-managed plans to the participant.
Who can provide behaviour support under this funding?
Only a registered specialist behaviour support provider. The NDIS Commission says everyone must use a registered specialist behaviour support provider, even if funds are self-managed or plan-managed. Providers need the registration group 0110, Specialist positive behaviour support, and must engage an NDIS behaviour support practitioner, someone the Commission considers suitable to develop assessments and plans.
Our guide to what a behaviour support practitioner is explains the role and how the Commission decides who is suitable.
For GPs and referrers
For support coordinators and plan managers
Before referring, check the plan for a Behaviour Support or Improved Relationships line and its dates. Our referral form asks for the plan dates, how the plan is managed, the available Improved Relationships budget, goals, any current behaviour support plan or restrictive practices, and the participant's consent.
What if my plan doesn't include Improved Relationships funding?
Talk to the people who help you with your plan. The NDIS Commission says that if you don't have funding under Improved Relationships, your early childhood partner, local area coordinator or NDIA planner can help request a plan review. You can also call the NDIA on 1800 800 110.
The way to ask for a change has been updated under the new laws. Since 27 August 2026, only a participant, their nominee or their child representative can request a plan reassessment, on the NDIA's form and with evidence. A plan variation is for changes that are urgent, minor or short-term. We cover what evidence to gather in our guide to NDIS plan reviews for behaviour support.
Capacity building funding is also a stated support, which means you can't move it between support categories. Funding in Improved Daily Living, for example, can't be redirected to behaviour support.
Common questions
Is Improved Relationships the same as Improved Daily Living?
No. They are separate capacity building categories. The NDIS describes Improved Daily Living as funding for assessments, training or therapies such as speech therapy or occupational therapy, while Improved Relationships covers behaviour support and social skills.
Can I use an unregistered provider for behaviour support if I self-manage?
No. The NDIS Commission says you cannot use an unregistered provider for specialist behaviour support, even if your funds are self-managed or plan-managed. Other supports in a self-managed plan may allow unregistered providers.
Who decides how much behaviour support funding I get?
The NDIA does. A planner looks at your evidence against the reasonable and necessary criteria, including how much and how often you need a support. Providers can't guarantee an outcome.
Do providers set their own prices for behaviour support?
Within limits. For NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants, providers can't charge more than the NDIS maximum prices. Those limits don't apply to self-managed participants, who can negotiate. CHSA's fees are on our fees page.
Refer or ask about behaviour support in Adelaide
We accept plan-managed, self-managed and NDIA-managed plans. Our fees are on our fees page, and hours are agreed in a service agreement before work starts.
Refer to our PBS teamSee our feesRelated reading
- Behaviour support plans
- Functional behaviour assessment
- What is a behaviour support practitioner?
- NDIS psychology in Adelaide
Prepared by
 | Trevor Keen Founder, Conscious Healthcare SA · Physiotherapist (AHPRA PHY0002063374) · Master of Physiotherapy and Bachelor of Psychological Studies, Flinders University |
Trevor is a physiotherapist whose lived experience of disability led him to found CHSA, bringing psychology, assessments, occupational therapy, behaviour support and dietetics under one roof in Adelaide. He has completed a Bachelor of Psychological Studies at Flinders University, is now studying psychology at honours level, and helps write our guides alongside the clinicians who deliver each service.
Sources
- NDIS: What are capacity building supports? (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS Commission: Participant fact sheet 3, Choosing a specialist behaviour support provider, September 2024 (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS Commission: Rules for specialist behaviour support providers and NDIS behaviour support practitioners (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS: Pricing arrangements, 2026-27 pricing schedule effective 24 September 2026 (primary, page read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS: What is NDIA-managed funding? (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS: What is plan-managed funding? (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS: What is self-managed funding? (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS: Changes to support budgets from 1 October, 1 October 2026 (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS: Changes to plan reassessments, 27 August 2026 (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS: Changes to plan management (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS: What is reasonable and necessary? (primary, read 11 Nov 2026)
- NDIS: NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2025-26, support category table (primary; listed on the NDIS Pricing arrangements page; read by the 11 Nov 2026 fact check)
- NDIS: NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27, effective 24 September 2026, Table 36 (primary; listed on the NDIS Pricing arrangements page; read by the 11 Nov 2026 fact check)
If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call 000 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
This guide is general information, not advice about your situation. Speak with your GP or one of our team about what's right for you.
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