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Digital mental health technologies and services are here. More are coming. Such technologies and services present both risks and opportunities. At their best, they may enhance the most humane, communal and caring parts of our social systems and communities. At their worst, they may reinforce reductionist approaches to distress and crisis, increase surveillance and control, as well as extracting data and wealth from people seeking care. In this paper, we argue that lived experience‐led governance and collaborative development of these technologies and services will enhance the best opportunities and mitigate against the biggest risks. This paper provides a commentary emerging from work by authors with lived experience, and those without, that explored accountability in digital mental health technologies and services. The commentary offers guidance to anyone interested in supporting lived experience‐led, and collaborative governance of, digital mental health technologies. This guidance, drawing on interdisciplinary and lived experience‐led research and grey literature, assists readers in understanding why collaboration should take place, when, where and with whom, on what issues this could start, and how collaborators should approach this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financing human service delivery through social impact bonds (SIBs) is the subject of some critical commentary in the academic literature, but this tends to be largely theoretical rather than empirically based. This paper presents empirical evidence of how SIB financing can promote positive social and economic outcomes for governments, not‐for‐profit providers, individual service beneficiaries and society more broadly. The paper presents some of the results of an evaluation of the Aspire SIB, which financed an innovative intensive case management program providing housing and wraparound supports over a 3‐year period for people experiencing chronic homelessness. Aspire participants experienced significantly improved outcomes and decreased service needs, delivering downstream cost savings across several areas of government service delivery. This paper describes how the SIB financing mechanism underpinned the success of Aspire by promoting flexible, collaborative, outcome‐focussed and data‐informed responses to a challenging, multi‐faceted social problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual revictimisation has devastating consequences for victim/survivors, yet there is limited research exploring women's experience of revictimisation in regional/rural areas. Using a community‐based participatory research (CBPR) approach, this paper reports on a qualitative study that employed a material feminist lens and Nixon's theory of "slow violence" to explore women's lived experiences of sexual revictimisation. In‐depth interviews were conducted with victim/survivors (N = 11) living in regional and rural areas of Australia. Findings show that the failure of family, community and services to respond appropriately to participant's disclosures of violence and abuse was deeply entangled with rural infrastructure, isolated landscapes, fear of social isolation, victim‐blaming discourses, idealisation of men in the community and limited relationship and sexuality education (RSE) in schools. These components collectively formed a manifestation of "slow violence," which accumulated over the participants' life spans and gradually normalised relational violence. This paper draws attention to a complex interplay of cultural, material and interpersonal elements, including the culture and spaces of rural/regional communities, that establish conditions enhancing the likelihood of women experiencing sexual revictimisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is much research on the topic of child maltreatment more broadly in Australia, a nuanced understanding of intergenerational child maltreatment is needed to improve our responses. Little work has considered all four intergenerational patterns of child maltreatment: cycle maintainers (maltreated parents with maltreated children), cycle breakers (maltreated parents with non‐maltreated children), cycle initiators (non‐maltreated parents with maltreated children) and a comparison group (non‐maltreated parents with non‐maltreated children). We use this terminology to maintain consistency with international literature, but acknowledge that these terms minimise the complexity inherent in contact with child protection systems. Research has mainly focused on maintainers, which hinders our ability to appropriately support all families and limits our understanding of individuals breaking the cycle. This paper outlines key knowledge gaps and identifies strategic areas of focus for researchers and policymakers. There is an urgent need for more emphasis on building resilience and strengths, the provision of more integrated and holistic support for families, and consideration of sex differences. We highlight the need for more research on this topic, particularly led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and hope that the recommendations in this paper can be revisited and updated as this important research base grows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on care increasingly emphasises the “care‐less” or “uncaring” nature of state‐coordinated interventions imposed on marginalised communities. However, these perspectives tend to eliminate discussions about modes of care (Fox, Critical Social Policy, 15, 1995, 107) or the ways in which care is differentially experienced and performed. This paper argues for scholars to think multimodally about care, proposing a typology of four different modes of care: care‐as‐gift, ‐burden, ‐control and ‐cure. The paper makes a case for locating these modes of care within a post‐capitalist political horizon to respond to the demand to “unburden care.” That is, the political demand to provide the economic and social conditions that best enable caregiving and reduce gendered pressures on caregivers. The paper develops these arguments through the post‐productivist thought of Kathi Weeks (2011, The problem with work: feminism, marxism, antiwork politics, and postwork imaginaries. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press) and a critical discursive examination of care representations made by submitters to two parliamentary inquiries into the Australian “pre‐employment” programme ParentsNext—a labour market activation programme that targets single‐parent caregivers “at risk of welfare dependency.” The paper contributes a critical and multimodal approach to better conceptualise competing framings of care's value and the ways in which the state can (un)burden caregiving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focussed on literacy and the literacy experiences of people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness. Drawing on 23 in‐depth interviews with people who have lived experience of homelessness in Sydney, Australia, the paper examines literacy, literacy needs and interest in literacy programmes from a social practice perspective of literacy. Amartya Sen's (1999) capability approach is drawn on to examine the multidimensional barriers that impede access to literacy. Our findings show literacy needs and how literacy is understood and valued in the lives of people with lived experience of homelessness. We show the ways that spatial and temporal conditions enable and create (im)possibilities for the realisation of literacy as a capability. We also discuss how the capability is imagined to fit into existing worlds, as both an instrumental tool, as well as for personal satisfaction and broader participation in social life. Our interviewees also point to the possibilities of literacy learning and programmes supporting the realisation of other capabilities, emphasising the prospects of achieving multiple capability realisations through program design. We show how the findings bear out the principles of a social practices pedagogy in adult literacy programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Codesign is an increasingly common term in Indigenous education policy settings. However, it is unclear exactly what it means and how it is enacted. This systematic review examined 15 papers relevant to codesign in the context of Indigenous education, clearly distinguishing between codesign as a process and a method. These papers provide a snapshot of the various ways codesign is conceptualised, enacted as a process and evaluated in Indigenous education settings. In this paper, we respond to these three areas of codesign to inform a more nuanced framework to help policymakers and practitioners in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research demonstrates that businesses that are Indigenous‐owned are far more likely to employ Indigenous people than non‐Indigenous‐owned businesses (Hunter, 2015). The majority of the literature on Indigenous employment uses a deficit discourse, describing factors that prevent or exclude Indigenous people from non‐Indigenous‐owned organisations. There is markedly less literature using a strength‐based approach, detailing how Indigenous‐owned businesses create workplaces without barriers to Indigenous employment. Through 32 semistructured interviews with Indigenous business owners, managers, and Indigenous employees of Indigenous‐owned businesses, this paper provides insights into how participants' businesses create workplaces that are more supportive of, and conducive to, Indigenous employment. This paper finds that Indigenous approaches to governance inform an organisational level of cultural competence, which creates tailored and specific practices that support better Indigenous employment outcomes. This resonates with the concept of Indigenous ways of "knowing, being, and doing," and how this framework encompasses participants' approaches to business operations. In the light of increasing public and private policy commitments to improve Indigenous employment outcomes, it is imperative that the Indigenous business sector's best practice inform said policies, given its successes. However, inherent in these findings are broader discussions into more systemic and societal issues that go beyond workplace policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we assess the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the Australian visual arts sector. We base our analysis on the responses of over 1500 visual artists and arts workers to a survey conducted by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA), the national peak body for the visual and media arts, craft and design sector in September 2021. NAVA employed this online survey to study the relationship between the pandemic and both the incomes and mental health of artists and arts workers. Using regression analysis, we find that there has been a significant impact for both artists and arts workers, with the severity of the impacts varying by gender, age and the availability of state‐based and Australian Government support programmes. Reduced hours and loss of contracted work and commissions due to the pandemic were both related to declines in income and mental health outcomes for artists and for arts workers. Housing stress was associated with a higher likelihood of a significant or extreme mental health impact for artists and arts workers. In addition, artists' incomes and mental health outcomes were impacted when faced with a reduced ability to sell, although some artists were able to increase their online profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research seeks to understand the challenges faced by settlement service providers (SSPs) in assisting humanitarian migrants to secure appropriate employment. In‐depth interviews with 26 SSPs identified that current impediments to facilitating humanitarian migrants' employment related to employment support programmes; settlement service partnerships; cultural appropriateness of services; employment readiness, experience, skills and knowledge; social support and networks; and limitations of funding and service agreements. While employment is recognised as key to effective settlement, the findings of this study show that employment services are not currently a focus of settlement services, that is, most employment services delivered by settlement services were coordinated as part of job preparedness or readiness programmes. The paper argues for government to ensure financial and human resources to enable SSPs to deliver services that can formally recognise and overcome barriers to humanitarian migrants' employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional racism within Australia, grounded in the country's settler‐colonial structure, has sidelined Indigenous interests in public policymaking since federation. In an attempt to redress this, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was endorsed by the Australian government in 2009. UNDRIP is an authoritative international standard that could inform the ways that governments engage with Indigenous peoples and protect their rights. This paper introduces Indigenist Critical Policy Analysis (ICPA). While mainstream policy evaluation assesses whether policies and processes have met the governments stated objectives, ICPA assesses whether they uphold or violate Indigenous rights. ICPA involves reviewing policy documents against the key principles and specific Articles of UNDRIP. Presenting a worked example of ICPA, the NSW Regional Health Strategic Plan 2022–2032 is assessed against the five phases: (1) Orientation; (2) Close examination; (3) Determination; (4) Strengthening practice; and (5) Indigenous final word. This analysis finds that the Strategic Plan is poorly aligned with UNDRIP. Specifically, there is little evidence that Indigenous values influenced or held any authority in the process. ICPA offers a practical approach to analysing policy for compatibility with Indigenous rights under international law that could be used by Indigenous organisations and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia, there is insufficient exploration and understanding of how we can strengthen the critical role played by Indigenous fathers. This paper argues that for Indigenous fathers to feel supported in childrearing, greater attention must be given to their social and cultural determinants of health and well‐being. To gain insights into the challenges experienced by Indigenous fathers and the support they require in fatherhood, we primarily apply thematic analysis to data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC). The findings reveal that most fathers identify a social or cultural health and well‐being determinant challenging their fatherhood journey. We examine these results and suggest why and how appropriately focussing on the social and cultural determinants of health and well‐being will enhance and support Indigenous men in fatherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An appreciation of Aboriginal land rights in New South Wales (NSW) is characterised by two dominant narratives. One is that land rights are central to achieving and advancing recognition and support for the existence and survival of Aboriginal peoples in the settled spaces of south‐eastern Australia. In this view, Aboriginal land rights realise intrinsic political power. The second dominant narrative is that the land estate restituted to Aboriginal people's Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs) is to be "activated" and "leveraged" for economic prosperity of collectively defined groups and shared to support and sustain individuals and families. This perspective holds that land enables realisation of wealth and prosperity. Although these narratives are based in truth, they have served to make some important work and values held by Aboriginal people less visible in any evaluation of the benefits of land rights. It is this less visible work, the work of care that is unique to Aboriginal worlds and made possible by the resources and structures of LALCs realised through the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, 1983, that is the focus of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss a rapid‐fire study involving Indigenous and non‐Indigenous stakeholders from the urban Indigenous health sector who collaborated to produce an "Urban COVID‐19 Systems Map." The map outlines the behaviours, actions and responses that stakeholders identified as mitigating or exacerbating COVID‐19 risks in urban Indigenous communities. Data were collected and analysed during the height of the pandemic in 2021. We begin by introducing the characteristics of system thinking—the methodology that informed our research—and consider its use in Indigenous health research more broadly. We then outline our utilisation of system thinking and discuss how it was applied to the three workshops. System thinking contributes to collaboration and collective debate amongst stakeholders and aims to produce holistic understandings of complex problems, such as pandemics. This article provides a reflective overview of the benefits and challenges of applying system thinking in Indigenous health research whilst also sharing some of the research findings. We argue that centralising the voices of stakeholders, particularly Indigenous stakeholders, is critical to developing and implementing effective and culturally appropriate responses to pandemics and is equally as important to the preparedness for future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenced by a harm reduction philosophy, the then Victorian Labor Government announced the establishment of the state's first medically supervised injecting room (MSIR) in North Richmond in late 2017. But, public and political opinion remains sharply divided as to the merits of the MSIR. One influence on policy development appears to be media commentary on the MSIR and the wider illicit drugs policy debate. This paper compares the official editorials of the two daily Melbourne newspapers, the Herald Sun and The Age regarding the MSIR, from November 2017 until November 2022. Based on 33 articles (Herald Sun, N = 28; The Age, N = 5), our findings identify philosophical differences between the two newspapers as reflected in their sources of information, language and highlighted issues. The Age was mostly supportive of both the introduction of the North Richmond MSIR and proposals for a second site. The Herald Sun's position was more ambiguous, ranging from qualified support for the North Richmond MSIR to strong opposition to further sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than three decades, official and independent enquiries have documented the poor outcomes experienced by many young people transitioning from out‐of‐home care (OOHC) in Australia, known as care leavers. Yet, until 2017, most of the state and territory governments cut off financial support to these vulnerable young people at no later than 18 years of age and failed to provide them with the ongoing material and relationship assistance into early adulthood guaranteed to most of their non‐care peers. Australia was regarded internationally as a leaving care laggard. This paper examines the remarkably effective advocacy strategies used by the Home Stretch campaign, formed in 2016, to persuade all Australian jurisdictions to extend OOHC until 21 years. By the end of 2022, every state and territory had agreed to introduce some form of extended care, and Australia was recognised as a global leader in leaving care policy and programmes provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of conviviality: the practice and negotiation of sharing space in suburbs with diverse populations. Australia has a growing Muslim population and reports of Islamophobia remain widespread. While there is some evidence, however, that forming intercultural connections can foster more positive attitudes toward religious minority groups, we know little about how Muslim and non‐Muslim communities share space in Australia. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative investigation into how conviviality is perceived in Australian suburbs with high concentrations of Muslim residents. Following qualitative, thematic analysis of 15 interviews with multicultural service providers who work with Muslims in Melbourne, Victoria, we conclude that conviviality is fostered by a sense of community between people who share similar backgrounds as well as increased opportunities to form intercultural social connections. We discuss the scholarly and policy implications of these findings, with consideration of existing arguments about the practices of sharing space in Australian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been instrumental in driving the development of the concept and practice of supported decision making. An important feature has been the development of "supported decision making pilots." This paper identifies, describes and analyses pilot programmes providing support for decision making for people with cognitive disabilities in Australia and internationally between 2016 and 2021. It finds that challenges included providing support for socially isolated people and adequately resourcing those programmes. However, most pilots reported positive outcomes for decision makers, adding to the evidence base for claims to be made about the positive impact of supported decision making on the lives of people with disabilities. The pilots demonstrate that, internationally, there is an emerging set of programmes that seek to promote supported decision making incrementally through developing focussed community awareness and practice. While still small‐scale, time‐limited and experimental, with different levels of rigour in practice and evaluation, they provide some foundation and a preliminary evidence base for larger interventions and reforms in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Training and supervision of disability support workers (DSWs) has, in most developed countries, been the primary means of supporting quality of service, adequate worker skill and prevention of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of both service users and DSWs. However, in Australia, there is no requirement for DSWs to obtain a minimum level qualification. This paper examines service user perception and decision making in relation to training and supervision of their DSWs. We report findings from semi‐structured interviews with 30 National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants. These findings suggest that users of disability services do not universally prioritise formal DSW supervision and training. Many interviewees described that being able to train and supervise DSWs themselves achieved better support outcomes and reduced power differentials in receipt of services. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of recent policy reviews and the need to refocus safeguarding schemes on providing people with disability with the tools they need to ensure the quality and safety of their services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standardised tests of academic basic skills are an established feature of contemporary Australian schooling. Assessment results are widely reported and directly influence educational policymaking. Furthermore, Australian national educational priorities are linked to educational system accountability via the results of standardised tests. Given the influence and importance of assessment data, this paper aimed to collate publicly available data from four assessment programmes undertaken by Australian students, and document long‐term trends in average achievement across all available assessments. Results are reported from three international assessments, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), along with the only Australian assessment, the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy. Of these four, only PISA demonstrated systematic declines in average scores over time. For the remaining three programmes, results in the primary school years showed initial improvements that were subsequently maintained over remaining iterations of the tests. In secondary school, students' average results neither declined nor increased appreciably over time. The consensus of the four largest assessment programmes undertaken by Australian students since 1995 thus fails to support the prevailing narrative of a broadscale decline in academic skills attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is a world leader in providing valuable resources that support multilingual access to healthcare services. However, the COVID‐19 pandemic revealed that these resources are not always effective in ensuring that linguistically diverse citizens have access to information in a crisis. In this paper, we consider whether authorities around the world have implemented effective approaches that might be adapted to enhance multilingual communications in public health crises in the Australian context. Using a systematic literature review, we identify strategies implemented by governments and public health authorities to effectively support communication in a range of languages during public health emergencies. Four databases were searched and resulting studies analysed. We found that substantial bodies of the literature document the communication needs of culturally and linguistically diverse communities and the role of community and religious organisations in providing that support. However, there is almost no attention to the role that governments or public health authorities might play in implementing strategies to address those needs. Analysis of the studies suggests that public health authorities could benefit from working more collaboratively with community organisations to establish communication strategies that are timely, trustworthy, efficient and capable of cultural and linguistic nuance in public health emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has created major challenges globally. The social work and human services profession has been required to rapidly respond to policy and social changes. This research aimed to understand how the pandemic has affected social work and human services staff within Melbourne, Victoria. In this paper, we analyse the practice and policy implications of these responses, and outline learning for the human services sector. We draw on interviews with social work and human services practitioners, exploring their experiences during the pandemic, including social and economic impacts on service users and agencies, and organisational and practice changes. Participants highlight compliance requirements, digitalisation of services, loss of social connection for service users and service impacts. In addition, participants highlight how people from low socioeconomic backgrounds were immensely affected throughout COVID‐19 lockdowns. However, this research also identifies service benefits, resulting from the rapid adjustments made by agencies that need further exploration for future practice. This article highlights how, despite the challenges posed by COVID‐19, agencies and workers developed innovative responses to this crisis. Drawing on these insights can help to understand how such initiatives can be implemented in the future. This article contributes to knowledge about innovation in a time of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early Islamic scriptures mention the use of corporal punishment parenting strategies to rectify behaviour in children. However, many Islamic scholars strongly warn against employing corporal punishment as a discipline strategy. This discussion paper aimed to examine the misconceptions surrounding the use of corporal punishment as a parenting strategy in religious teachings and explores the sociocultural norms that act as a barrier to effective Islamic parenting practices. This discussion asserts that parenting practices engaging corporal punishment discipline strategies are not an inherent part of Islamic doctrine and both historic and contemporary Islamic scholars endorse alternative, peaceful parenting strategies in line with Islamic values. Dissemination of a holistic understanding of religious teachings regarding parenting strategies within the Muslim population is needed. It discusses the recommendations for educational opportunities to encourage and promote effective parenting strategies, which aim to avoid the use of corporal punishment in Muslim communities and nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Justice Reinvestment aims to prevent young people coming into contact with the criminal justice system through place‐based, data‐driven and evidence‐based community solutions developed through community‐based leadership and partnerships. The initiative also advocates for strategic changes to the justice system, with any savings reinvested into successful community programs. This paper will discuss the historical, international and local perspectives of Justice Reinvestment, recent Commonwealth funding opportunities, and how well these initiatives work for young people in New South Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides the first known “heatmap” representing Australian public narratives across a range of groups experiencing disadvantage developed from a comprehensive literature review of primary Australian studies between 2020 and 2021. Eleven narratives were identified across 14 population groups with the most frequent being deficit narratives, misrepresentation of the issue and ‘absent’ narratives (group being described not represented in the narrative). The most frequently described groups were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people living with a disability, racial minorities and women. The heatmap resonated with three global review‐level studies and findings of supplementary qualitative interviews. Examination of relationships between the heatmap and empirical Australian disadvantage data enabled identification of missing and misleading public narratives. Attempts to disrupt such narratives can improve the understanding of disadvantage by more truthfully reflecting the lives, experiences and challenges of groups experiencing disadvantage. Updates to the heatmap can enable analysis of the impact of disruption strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines household earnings arrangements and parenthood. Previous research has shown that parenthood is associated with a motherhood wage penalty with women withdrawing from the labour market or reducing their work hours. But few studies have examined within‐couple relative earnings and breadwinning arrangements across the transition to parenthood. We identify three types of households—"female‐breadwinner households" (where women earn more than 60 per cent of the couple's annual labour income); "male‐breadwinner households" (where women earn less than 40 per cent of the joint income); and "equal‐earner households" (where women earn 40 per cent to 60 per cent of the joint income). Using longitudinal data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and fixed effects models, we find a substantial decrease in the percentage of couples in equal‐earner households in the year prior to and after parenthood that is largely replaced by an increase in the percentage in male‐breadwinner households. We observe little return to pre‐parenthood earnings arrangements for equal‐earner and male‐breadwinner households. For female‐breadwinner households, we observe a gradual return to pre‐parenthood arrangements. These results provide evidence that parenthood is a major milestone contributing to gender inequality and highlight the importance of policies for reducing the impact of parenthood on women's earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While "good refugee" stories have the potential to soften attitudes toward forcibly displaced people, there are hidden implications associated with this construct that must be considered. Based on 60 qualitative interviews with asylum seekers and refugees, this paper examines the ways forced migrants adopt and reproduce "good refugee" discourses that unintentionally position their belonging as contingent upon upholding narrowly defined, and arbitrary, ideals about deservingness. By critically analysing this discourse, we highlight the importance of reconsidering the construction of refugees' deservingness along moral and neoliberal lines and instead present a case for approaches that focus on rights‐based, humanitarian grounds for refugee resettlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns about institutional child sexual abuse within Jewish communities have been documented in two recent national enquiries into child sexual abuse, in Australia, and England and Wales. Yet to date, there has been little analysis of how media reporting informs public awareness of these concerns, and potential programme and policy responses. This paper examines media reports of the high‐profile case of ultra‐orthodox Jewish school principal Malka Leifer who was found to have sexually abused several girls in her school in Melbourne, Australia. It draws on five Australian media publications (two specifically Jewish and three mainstream newspapers), from the initial committal hearing in September 2021 until the completion of her trial and conviction in July 2023. Our findings highlight the importance of child safety processes as being aligned with the specific religious and cultural context of faith‐based communities in order to be effective in preventing institutional child sexual abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the experiences of behaviour support practitioners providing positive behaviour support (PBS) under the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), including perceived barriers and enablers of practice, and ongoing support needs. It reports on data provided by NDIS PBS practitioners (n = 392) in a cross‐sectional mixed methods survey employed to examine the characteristics and experiences of behaviour support practitioners working across Australia. Qualitative data from open‐ended questions were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The key barriers to practice included “the current service systems,” “engaging and collaborating with stakeholders” and “limited PBS expertise across the sector.” Enablers of good practice related to “organisation systems and practice supports/tools,” “practice supervision” and “quality training and professional development opportunities.” Ongoing support needs identified included the need for “further PBS training,” “improved service systems” and “access to clinical supports and practice guidance.” Findings suggest that whilst some practitioners report positive experiences, a large majority experience significant barriers to their PBS practice. They describe potential supports to overcome these barriers, which emphasise the need for further PBS training, clinical supervision/oversight and more efficient service systems. Findings have implications for PBS practice, policy and research in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]