Submission No 78
INQUIRY INTO FOUNDATIONAL AND DISABILITY SUPPORTS AVAILABLE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Organisation: Exercise and Sports Science Australia Date Received: 27 July 2026
Partially Confidential
ESSA
Exercise & Sports Science Australia
27 July 2026
NSW Parliament
NSW Select Committee 6 Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000
Foundational and disability supports available for children and young people in New South Wales
Dear Chair,
Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to this important inquiry.
ESSA members provide paediatric therapy for disabled children and young people in NSW and across Australia. Approximately 1500 Accredited Exercise Physiologists work across the nation as providers in NDIS and in the private sector. Their work includes client assessments and reporting; preparation of clinical exercise plans; supervision of exercise programs to improve functional capacity in mobility; support families and carers to assist their children; aid behavioural change and help children develop to greater independence and self-management.
The Chief Exercise Physiologist (CEP) has written to the NSW Premier expressing his concern that procurement for foundational supports for these children is not clinically informed and appropriate. The Department of Communities and Justice has focussed on Non-Government Organisations as the primary supplier of supports. As the letter points out, the NGOs have a narrow, limited capacity of disciplines (usually 3) that do not comprehensively meet the needs of children with developmental delays.
There is an extensive body of evidence validating the efficacy of exercise physiology supporting children with developmental disabilities. The CEP provided references including -
“..a 48 week study (Toscano et al 2017) highlighted the benefits of exercise as an important therapeutic intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and showed beneficial effects on metabolic indicators (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total cholesterol), autism traits, and parent-perceived quality of life.
This specialised support cannot be substituted by other allied health therapies.
Other jurisdictions across the country have adopted procurement and foundational support strategies that prioritise evidence based care over a provider scheme that will compromise clinical therapy and likely add to the burden on the public health system. We recommend to the Inquiry, it reviews other states and territories (notably WA) approach to Thriving Kids and foundational supports for children who will soon be migrated from the NDIS to state programs.
ESSA has also written to the government highlighting the case of the redacted family from Murwillumbah. redacted is a two-year old boy with developmental delays, who is taken by his parents to Burleigh Heads to receive specialist paediatric care, including Exercise Physiology. These specialist therapies are not available in northern NSW. In April, ESSA sought clarification from the state member, Hon Janelle Saffin MP, regarding the future cross-border arrangements to maintain access to these supports. Amplifying the uncertainty, the redacted have been advised redacted will continue to participate in NDIS, but that redacted will be reviewed with 2 weeks notice. ESSA calls on the Inquiry to consider the services gaps across the state and the
urgency of standing up critical elements of Thriving Kids including inter-governmental agreements to enable cross-border utilisation of specialist paediatric therapies not otherwise available in specific areas of NSW.
ESSA understands the need to operationalise NSW’s Thriving Kids foundational supports with a need to use resources carefully, however the commencement of the State services should not be compromised through a failure to assess optimal clinical care.
ESSA would welcome the opportunity to appear before the Committee, and the redacted family could be available remotely to provide lived experience of these issues.
Yours sincerely
Scot MacDonald General Manager Policy and Advocacy
Attached — Copy of letter to Premier Minns from the Chief Exercise Physiologist (6th July 2026)