Restrictive practices are a method of restricting a person’s freedom, usually against their will; they can include the use of physical, mechanical, environmental, or chemical restraints, or seclusion. Restrictive practices include;

• isolating someone from other people by not allowing them to move in or out of certain areas (seclusion);
• using medications to control certain types of behaviour (chemical restraint);
• holding someone so that they cannot move away (physical restraint);
• using objects like suits or straps or other equipment to stop someone moving freely (mechanical restraint);
• locking doors or cupboards so that someone is prevented from moving about freely or participating in an activity (environmental restraint).

Restrictive practices are used when the behaviour of someone is considered unsafe, and there is a risk that the person may hurt themselves or other people.

For people with impaired decision-making ability, restrictive practices are most often used in settings such as disability services, residential aged care facilities and health care services like hospitals.

The use of any restrictive practice affects the human rights of the person involved. Without proper authorisation, the use of a restrictive practice may be an offence against the person on whom it is used. Under criminal law, restrictive practices may constitute an assault, or an unlawful deprivation of liberty.

Due to the potential legal and human rights impacts associated with the use of restrictive practices, it is vitally important that their use be minimised, and ideally eliminated, and that such practices be regulated in a clear, transparent, and appropriate way.

Regulations that authorise and monitor the use of restrictive practices should encourage minimal usage of restrictive practices, provide conditions for their use, include safeguards and protections for those people on whom they are used, and contain clear guidance for those who use them (including disability support workers, nurses, and aged care workers).