FOIOFFICIAL24/25-2169 DOCUMENT 19 Knowledge Article
For Internal Use Only The contents of this document are OFFICIAL.
EC Early intervention supports for early childhood guide (EC Guide)
Guidance in this document is not approved for use unless you view it in PACE.
When we say, early childhood intervention, we mean early intervention supports for early childhood which is an NDIS support (external) we fund in NDIS plans for children younger than 9.
This article provides guidance for a planner delegate and review officer to understand:
• the draft budget and early childhood intervention
• how to use the Early intervention supports for early childhood guide (EC Guide)
• early childhood intervention at an intensive level.
Recent updates
14 April 2025 New article to support decision making about early childhood intervention for children younger than 9.
Before you start
You have read and understood:
• article EC Early intervention supports for early childhood overview
• article EC Understand the key worker role in the delivery of early intervention supports
for early childhood
• article Understand and update the plan conversation support tool
• article EC Interpreting provider reports and recommendations
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For Internal Use Only • Our Guideline - Reasonable and necessary supports (external)
• Our Guideline – Mainstream and community supports (external)
• Our Guideline – Creating your plan (external)
The draft budget and early childhood intervention
In PACE, the draft budget is developed based on:
• the Typical Support Package (TSP) for first plans. This considers information gathered
within the Community Connections case, and the additional cases required to apply for
the NDIS
• a replication of the previous plan budget for plan reassessments.
The draft budget includes funding for early childhood intervention which is an NDIS support in the support category Capacity Building - Improved Daily Living.
A delegate will need to review the draft budget against the support needs of the child and the reasonable and necessary criteria to determine whether an adjustment needs to be made. They can use the EC Guide below to help determine a reasonable and necessary amount of support.
For information on what is early childhood intervention, read article EC Early intervention supports for early childhood overview.
Occasionally, in addition to early childhood intervention, other NDIS supports may be required in some children’s plans. For example:
• to support families to sustain their caring role refer to EC PEC - Carers - Sustaining
informal supports
• for Assistive Technology refer to Add or update capacity building assistive technology
(AT) supports in a plan approval case
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For Internal Use Only • for Disability related health supports refer to Understand disability related health supports
– capacity building supports
Overview for determining early childhood intervention
It’s important to think about all the available information when making decisions about the amount of early childhood intervention that will be included in an NDIS plan. This includes information from:
• the child’s family
• providers and any other professional reports
• utilisation of previously funded NDIS supports to understand whether early childhood
intervention received has supported progress, and the outcomes achieved.
This information can be used to identify a child’s strengths, areas requiring support and support needs.
Whilst it’s important to think about provider information and family requests for early childhood intervention, the delegate may not be satisfied that the amount of NDIS supports requested meets all the reasonable and necessary criteria. It’s crucial to remember that funding for NDIS supports in a plan isn’t based on an amount required for specific program models adopted by some providers, or provider quotes. Delegates base decisions on the individual needs of a child, and consider the amount of NDIS supports that meet the reasonable and necessary criteria, taking into account the role of informal, community and mainstream supports.
For guidance when determining an amount of early childhood intervention to include in a plan, a delegate can refer to the examples in the EC Guide below.
The Plan Conversation Support Tool (PCST) must be used for all new plans and plan reassessments regardless of the TSP confidence level to help adjust the draft budget. Make sure the total of the PCST budget matches the final budget in PACE. Read more about the PCST in article Understand and update the plan conversation support tool.
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For Internal Use Only Introduction to the early intervention supports for early childhood guide (EC Guide)
The EC Guide in the next section provides some examples of how the amount of early childhood intervention NDIS support can be calculated. These examples:
• suggest an amount of funding for NDIS support sufficient for the family to access
appropriately qualified providers who deliver early childhood intervention using a best
practice approach, including the key worker model. Refer to article EC Understand the
key worker role in the delivery of early intervention supports for early childhood.
• are based on a fixed hourly rate for Early Intervention supports for Early Childhood -
Early Childhood Professional from the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits
2024-2025. Some allied health professionals can claim a higher rate, such as
physiotherapists and psychologists. The examples in the EC Guide have factored this in
so, in the examples, no further adjustments are required for these disciplines.
Note: Reasonable and necessary decisions are always individualised and, whilst delegates can refer to the EC Guide, individual circumstances must always be considered. The examples in the EC Guide are based on a 12-month plan.
There are 6 tables in the EC Guide. Each table provides an example based on an identified number of developmental areas requiring a high and medium to low level of early childhood intervention for a child.
Each table includes an example of how an amount of funding for NDIS supports can be calculated for:
-
a base level of early childhood intervention
-
early childhood intervention to support early childhood education and care settings
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For Internal Use Only 3. early childhood intervention for transition to school (table 1-5) OR early childhood
intervention in the home and other natural settings (table 6)
A base level of early childhood intervention
A base level of early childhood intervention can be calculated from how many developmental areas require a high and medium to low level of early childhood intervention. Refer to article EC Early intervention supports for early childhood overview. It’s important to check all available information when determining the level of NDIS support required. Some examples of places to find relevant information are provider reports, the Personal Environmental Circumstances (PEC) case or the Check In case.
Remember: funding for early childhood intervention is the NDIS support required in addition to that provided by informal, community and mainstream supports.
Early childhood intervention to support early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings
When making reasonable and necessary decisions about early childhood intervention it’s important to think about whether a child is currently attending, or there are plans to attend, ECEC. This includes childcare, preschool, or similar settings. Refer to article EC PEC - Daily Supports.
For children attending ECEC:
• remember that the service is responsible for costs associated with the reasonable
adjustments required to accommodate the child with developmental delay or disability.
Read more in Early childhood development (external)
• think about whether it’s reasonable and necessary to include an amount of funding for
early childhood intervention to help educators build their capability to support a child’s
specific, individual needs. This may be required to support educators with strategies, so
the child maximises their independence and participation in ECEC. This support must be
considered an NDIS support and not used for regular support directly to the child in the
ECEC centre as that’s the responsibility of the ECEC service.
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For Internal Use Only Early childhood intervention to support transition to school
Transitioning to school is a significant milestone for children and families. Children are more likely to experience a successful transition when the ‘team around the child’ work together. Read more about using a key worker model in article EC Understand the key worker role in the delivery of Early Intervention Supports for Early Childhood.
A delegate may determine that funding for early childhood intervention to support transition to school is required. This is typically included for the half year leading up to school commencement and extending through the first term once the child has started school. This helps make sure supports are in place to help with the child’s inclusion into the new educational setting.
When a child’s plan reassessment date occurs during the transition to school period, a delegate might think about a pro rata amount of funding for this support to be allocated across two plans.
The age at which a child can start school, and the compulsory schooling age can vary depending on the state or territory. Read Choosing a school and when to start (external).
Total amount of early childhood intervention
Obtain a total amount of NDIS support for early childhood intervention by adding:
• s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies
Remember:
• the early childhood intervention in a plan is to support a child’s development and
functioning in daily life and build a family’s capacity
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For Internal Use Only • a child and family will likely benefit from a break from early childhood intervention across
the course of a year. As such, a delegate may calculate support across 48 weeks of the
year rather than 52.
NDIS support for provider travel may also be required for a child who lives in a remote or very remote area Modified Monash Model, MMM 6/7.
The EC Guide
The examples in the tables below are a guide for an amount of NDIS support for early childhood intervention a delegate might include in a participant’s plan, according to their individual support needs.
Note: For 7 and 8 year old children the delegate will need to determine the developmental areas requiring a high or medium to low level of early childhood intervention as these won’t be identified in the PEC. For additional guidance on determining this, go to article EC Early intervention supports for early childhood overview.
Table 1: 1 area requiring a high level of NDIS support for early childhood intervention and 1 requiring medium to low
Support Example hours of early childhood intervention
Early childhood s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies intervention: including a key worker model
Early childhood education and care settings support
Transition to school support
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For Internal Use Only Example: A child who needs a high level of early childhood intervention for language and communication skills development and medium to low level for emotional development.
Table 2: 1 area requiring a high level of NDIS support for early childhood intervention and 2 to 3 requiring medium to low
Support Example hours of early childhood intervention Early childhood [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/foi-library/releases/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/) intervention: including a key worker model
Early childhood education and care settings support
Transition to school support
Example: A child with a need for a high level of early childhood intervention for self-care skills and medium to low for language development, physical development and fine motor skill development
Table 3: 2 areas requiring a high level of NDIS support for early childhood intervention and up to 3 requiring medium to low
Support Example hours of early childhood intervention s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies Early childhood intervention: including a key worker model
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For Internal Use Only [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/foi-library/releases/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/) Early childhood settings support
Transition to school support
Example: A child with a need for a high level of early childhood intervention for physical development and self-care skills. The child also needs a medium to low level of early childhood intervention for social skills development.
Table 4: 3 areas requiring a high level of NDIS support for early childhood intervention and up to 3 requiring medium to low
Support Example hours of early childhood intervention s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies Early childhood intervention supports: including a key worker model
Early childhood settings support
Transition to school support
Example: A child needing a high level of early childhood intervention for physical development, self-care skills and language and communication. They also need a medium to low level of early childhood intervention for social skills development.
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Table 5: 4 or more areas requiring a high level of NDIS support for early childhood intervention
Support Example hours of early childhood intervention s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies
Early childhood intervention: including a key worker model
Early childhood settings support
Transition to school support
Example: A child needing a high level of early childhood intervention for communication, social skills, self-care skills and physical development, and some medium to low early intervention supports need with cognitive development.
NDIS support for early childhood intervention at an intensive level
Sometimes a child and family may need an amount of NDIS supports for early childhood intervention, which is greater than an amount typically calculated for a child who needs a high level of early childhood intervention for 4 developmental areas (table 5). When this occurs, we refer to the support as intensive early childhood intervention.
Funding intensive early childhood intervention is only likely to need consideration when:
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For Internal Use Only • a child has support needs that are much greater than those of other children their
age with developmental delay or disability, AND
• there are many developmental delay or disability related barriers, and a child requires
very substantial NDIS support to participate across all areas of their daily life, relative to
their age. They need a lot of person to person support for most of their day. This
includes, in their home, community, and to participate in early childhood education and
care or school, AND
• the child and family need intensive early childhood intervention in addition to the
supports that are the responsibility of mainstream services to provide, such as
reasonable adjustments or inclusion supports
• the family are requesting this level of support.
For a child going to school or legally required to be at school, it’s unlikely that intensive early childhood intervention will be reasonable and necessary unless there are very exceptional circumstances. This is irrespective of whether the intention to offer the support is outside of school hours such as school holidays. An example of when intensive early childhood intervention might be considered for a school age child is when there’s evidence from the state’s education department to show the child has a formal exemption.
Any obligatory attendance in a mainstream setting described in the exemption letter, such as at preschool or school should be factored in when determining the level of intensive early childhood intervention.
Table 6 offers some considerations for, and examples of, determining a level of intensive early childhood intervention. These are examples only and decisions need to be made based on individual needs of each child and family. For help with considering provider recommendations go to EC Interpreting provider reports and recommendations.
Table 6: Intensive early childhood intervention
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Examples of considerations for determining an amount of Support intensive early childhood intervention s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies
Early childhood intervention: including a key worker model
Early childhood education and care settings or school support
Support in the home and other natural settings
A plan which includes intensive early childhood intervention typically goes for 12 months, with a plan reassessment to review outcomes and determine further needs. A pro rata amount can be calculated if intensive early childhood intervention is required for a time limited period within
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For Internal Use Only the duration of the plan. For example, intensive early childhood intervention may be required during the child’s preschool year and no longer needed once they’ve transitioned to school.
Using NDIS support for early childhood intervention
The examples in the EC Guide are based on a child’s NDIS support needs and included in a plan at the rate for Early Childhood Professional in the NDIS price guide in the support category Capacity Building - Improved Daily Living. However, once a plan is approved, funding can be used flexibly, for example, to access early childhood intervention provided in a group setting and/or therapy assistance guided by an allied health professional. The funding for NDIS supports needs to be used in line with the intent of the NDIS plan, to support progress towards plan goals, and this should be communicated to families.
Early childhood intervention typically reduces over time
A child’s developmental delay or disability NDIS support needs usually change over time.
It’s reasonable to expect that for most children, the level of early childhood intervention in their plan will reduce over time as they develop skills and benefit from NDIS supports alongside informal, mainstream and community supports. In addition, their families and carers will also have built their skills in supporting the child’s individual needs. This includes when intensive early childhood intervention is funded. Intensive early childhood intervention funding is intended to be time limited. It’s important that families understand that early childhood intervention usually reduces over time and the reasons for this.
Plan reassessments are an opportunity to think about:
• information from families to see if a child’s support needs have changed
• provider information about the child’s current functional capacity
• outcomes of support provided
• current mainstream and community participation.
Next Steps
Consider changing the draft budget if required. Refer to article Change the draft budget.
Article labels
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