Recognition is essential to ensure NDIS participants continue to access safe, effective, and evidence-based behaviour analytic supports delivered by appropriately qualified practitioners

Sign by 11 November 2025 to add your name to the national joint statement

For more than 60 years, applied behaviour analysis (ABA) has been a cornerstone of evidence-based practice supporting people with disability worldwide. Since the NDIS rollout in 2013, ABA-based supports have been integral to helping participants build independence, communication, and quality of life. Behaviour analysts bring rigorous training, ethical oversight, and data-driven practices that improve independence, communication, and quality of life.

Without clear recognition under the NDIS Practice Standards Qualification and Professional Associations Guide:

• Participant access is jeopardised.

• Provider registration and compliance pathways become uncertain.

• Workforce regulation gaps may lead to inconsistent quality of care.

Formal inclusion ensures that behaviour analytic services continue to be delivered safely, ethically, and with accountability.

The Association for Behaviour Analysis Australia (ABA Australia) is leading a coordinated national submission to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission regarding the October 2025 NDIS Practice Standards Qualification and Professional Associations Guide.

This latest version of the guide does not include Certified Behaviour Analysts (CBAs) and Certified Behaviour Analysts - Undergraduates (CBAUs) under the Therapeutic Supports category, despite the discipline’s long-standing role in providing evidence-based services within the NDIS framework.

This omission creates confusion for providers, plan managers, and participants. Without formal recognition of behaviour analysts, participants’ access to essential supports is at risk, and the professional regulation of those supports becomes less clear.

Through this joint statement, we are calling on the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to:

1. Formally recognise CBAs and CBAUs as qualified professionals under the Therapeutic Supports category in the NDIS Practice Standards Qualification and Professional Associations Guide.

2. Clarify the current review process and provide transparent communication about professional inclusion criteria.
   

3. Engage with ABA Australia to establish an evidence-based framework for behaviour analytic practice in Australia that aligns with international standards.
   

4. Ensure participants’ ongoing access to safe, high-quality behaviour analytic supports.