In the paper, the problem of decentralised model-reference adaptive control, for linear time-varying large-scale systems, is investigated by using a variable-structure control approach. The global reaching condition of the sliding mode of a composite system is derived and a new scheme of decentralised control is proposed. This scheme can guarantee the stability of a sliding manifold of the composite system. Furthermore, a modified scheme is given which makes the weighted sum of the sliding manifold motions converge to the prospective speed. Finally, a numeral example is calculated.