Published by: Victor Harcourt, Anita Courtney, Johanna Heaven, Matthew Goessler, Julia Bell

How are Tribunals likely to view restricting access to wanted items?

Various Tribunals have interpreted the meaning of “environmental restraint” in cases before them, dealing with the NDIS regime. In the case of BYC [2020] NSWCATGD 69 (30 November 2020) the front gate of the property where the care recipient lived was locked overnight. Although BYC did not object to the gate being locked overnight, it still constituted an environmental restraint as his freedom of movement was restricted.

In the case of KKD [2019] NSWCATGD 4 (21 January 2019) the Tribunal found that the care recipient’s restricted access to the kitchen refrigerator to prevent excessive consumption of food and drinks was an environmental restraint. Locking doors and gates to prevent the care recipient from leaving to engage in food seeking behaviours was also found to be an environmental restraint.

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Environmental restraint: How Tribunals are likely to view restrictions to wanted items