How the category is framed
Under SIRS, the inappropriate use of a restrictive practice is one of the eight reportable incident categories. A restrictive practice is any practice or intervention that has the effect of restricting the rights or freedom of movement of a person receiving care. It covers chemical restraint, physical restraint, mechanical restraint, environmental restraint, and seclusion.
The use of a restrictive practice is inappropriate, and therefore reportable, where it is used without the consent or authorisation required, is not used in line with an approved behaviour support plan, or otherwise does not meet the conditions that make its use lawful.
Reportable regardless of harm
This is the point providers get wrong most often. The inappropriate use of a restrictive practice is reportable regardless of whether the person was physically harmed. The absence of a visible injury does not remove the obligation to report.
It is still assessed for priority like other categories. If there is a Priority 1 trigger, such as injury or discomfort requiring medical or psychological treatment or reasonable grounds to report to police, it is Priority 1 and notified within 24 hours. If there is no Priority 1 trigger, it is still reportable, as Priority 2 within 30 calendar days. What does not happen is the incident dropping out of scope simply because no one was hurt.
The under-reporting risk: PRN psychotropics and restraint
The most commonly missed reportable restrictive practice is chemical restraint through PRN psychotropic medication. A psychotropic given to influence a person's behaviour, rather than to treat a diagnosed condition, is a chemical restraint. When it is used to settle or manage behaviour without the required consent, or outside an approved behaviour support plan, that use can be an inappropriate use of a restrictive practice that is reportable under SIRS.
Because a PRN dose looks like ordinary medication administration, it is easy for it to be charted and never flagged as a restrictive practice at all. The same blind spot applies to physical restraint used reactively in the moment, such as holding a resident to stop them leaving, when it is not authorised or planned.
Illustrative: PRN used without consent or a plan
A resident becomes agitated overnight and is given a PRN antipsychotic to settle them. The person has no behaviour support plan authorising it and the required consent is not in place. No injury results. This points toward a reportable inappropriate use of a restrictive practice, at Priority 2, even though no harm occurred.
Illustrative: authorised and consistent with the plan
The same medication, used with valid consent and strictly in line with an approved behaviour support plan and its documented conditions, is not an inappropriate use. It still has to be recorded and monitored as a restrictive practice, but the reportable trigger is the inappropriate use, not the use itself.
Primary source
This page is based on guidance published by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) under the Aged Care Act 2024 and the Aged Care Rules 2025, in force from 1 November 2025.