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EC Early intervention supports for early childhood overview
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 early childhood partners, planner delegates, planner (non- partnered area) and review officers about:
• early childhood intervention
• developmental areas
• identifying support needs across developmental areas
• reasonable and necessary and early childhood intervention.
Recent updates
14 April 2025 Guidance updated to:
• new article title – previously EC: PEC - Capacity Building – Early childhood supports
overview
• provide consistency across early childhood capacity building resources for all children
younger than 9
• include links to 3 new articles: EC Early intervention supports for early childhood guide
(EC Guide), EC Interpreting provider reports and recommendations and EC Understand
the key worker role in the delivery of Early intervention supports for early childhood.
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For Internal Use Only Before you start
For additional information on the Personal and Environmental Circumstances (PEC) case and capacity building early intervention supports for early childhood refer to:
• article EC Early intervention supports for early childhood guide (EC Guide)
• article EC Interpreting provider reports and recommendations
• article EC PEC – Capacity building – Health and wellbeing
• article EC PEC – Capacity building – Regulated restrictive practices
• article EC PEC – Capacity building – How to complete early childhood supports
questions
• article EC PEC - Carers - Support coordination
• article EC PEC – Carers - Sustaining informal supports
• article EC PEC – Core – Equipment and consumables
• article EC PEC – Daily supports
• article EC PEC – General overview
• article EC PEC – NDIS Pathway Hearing Stream
• article Record more information – PEC younger than 7
• article Complete personal and environmental circumstances case
• article Record information for Capacity Building
• Our Guideline – Creating your plan (external)
• Our Guideline – Reasonable and necessary supports (external)
• Our Guideline – Mainstream and community supports (external)
Early childhood intervention
Early childhood intervention is an NDIS support (external) we include in NDIS plans for children younger than 9. They help the important people in a child’s life to support their child with developmental delay or disability to maximise their independence and participation in daily life. Early childhood intervention builds on learning opportunities as part of a child’s everyday activities in their:
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For Internal Use Only • home and where the family spend time together
• community, like playgrounds, shops, and friend’s homes
• mainstream settings, like childcare, preschool and school.
The early childhood intervention included in an NDIS plan is for the additional, professional support that is required to support a child’s development and functioning in daily life. They are for support related to a child’s developmental delay or disability. They don’t replace, but are in addition to the support informal, community and mainstream networks provide.
NDIS support for early childhood intervention includes:
• therapy and specialised supports provided by early childhood intervention professionals
• key worker support for the child and family, provided by one of the early childhood
intervention professionals.
For further information on the role of a key worker refer to article EC Understand the key worker role in the delivery of early intervention supports for early childhood and Early childhood tip sheet - Key worker model case study (PDF 119KB).
Understanding developmental areas for children younger than 9
To understand a child’s need for NDIS support for early childhood intervention you should firstly think about their strengths and how any delays in developmental areas impact their participation and independence in daily activities and in the community.
Information to understand the child’s strengths and support needs can come from multiple sources. For example:
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For Internal Use Only • families during information gathering or from a family statement. Families know their child
best and offer important information about what’s going well for their child and any
concerns they have
• early childhood education and care settings, for example childcare, preschool or school
• providers and other professionals involved with the child, for example, a paediatrician.
Early childhood partners, and delegates will need to understand:
• what the child can do
• where there are barriers to participation in everyday activities at home, in the community,
an early childhood education and care setting or school
• the areas in which a child’s functioning is significantly delayed compared to similar age
peers.
Relevant information will be recorded in PACE in the Personal and Environmental Circumstances (PEC) case, Daily Support and Capacity Building steps, or the Check-In case. It may also be included in any available provider and other professional reports we have on record and for some first plans, this includes the Evidence of developmental delay form.
When identifying NDIS supports to include in a plan, the child’s strengths and any need for early childhood intervention across the following developmental areas should be considered:
Physical development – how a child moves around, such as, crawling, walking, and running; and how they use their hands to pick up things.
Self-care – how a child looks after themselves or their own needs, such as, how they bathe, dress themselves, eat, drink, use the toilet and sleep.
Cognitive development – how a child understands and remembers information. How they learn, practice, and use new skills. How they problem solve, go between activities and places, play with toys, and develop their safety awareness.
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Receptive and expressive language – how a child communicates with other people to express their wants, needs, preferences and ideas. How they understand and use words, gestures, signs, and facial expressions to do this.
Emotional development – how a child recognises, understands, expresses, and regulates their feelings and their sensory needs. How they build their confidence, self-identity and wellbeing. Whether there are any behaviours that are challenging or behaviours of concern, and how these are managed.
Social development – how a child builds and nurtures relationships with family and with others. How they develop their interests, interact, and connect with others through play and childhood activities, and make friendships with peers.
Hearing and vision Additional supports may be required for children who have met the disability or early intervention requirements for an impairment for which there are significant hearing or vision related needs. It’s important to recognise that the functional impacts of these impairments are often reflected in other developmental areas. While hearing and vision aren’t developmental areas, support in these areas, where required, is important for engaging with the child and maximising their inclusion in daily activities.
Only select hearing or vision as an area of need when funding in addition to what’s been allocated to support developmental areas is clearly required. This will avoid duplication of supports and maximise value for money when determining what’s needed to meet each child’s individual needs.
• Hearing - Children who are deaf or hard of hearing. These children may need additional
support. This assistance early in a child’s life is crucial for effective communication,
reducing potential language delays, and ensuring the child can interact with their family
and peers. For new plans and plan reassessments for participants younger than 7, newly
diagnosed with a permanent hearing loss please refer to article EC Guide - Supporting
children younger than 7 who are deaf or hard of hearing (including under the priority
hearing stream) and article EC PEC - NDIS Pathway Hearing Stream.
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For Internal Use Only • Vision - Children who are blind or have low vision. These children may need additional
support from their caregivers to understand their vision needs. This support may involve
adapting the environment or play materials to help the child learn skills for independence
and safety.
• When making decisions about other NDIS supports and appropriate level of support
included in the plan refer to relevant articles. For example Understand disability-related
health supports – capacity building supports or article Add or update capacity building
assistive technology (AT) supports in a plan approval case.
Informal, community and mainstream support When determining a level of early childhood intervention to include in a plan, it’s important to make sure we’re only including funding for the additional, professional support required to support a child’s development and functioning in daily life. We should recognise that support can also be provided by informal, community and mainstream supports which do not require NDIS funding.
• Informal support includes assistance provided by family and friends. These supports
are often the first layer of assistance, offering daily care, emotional support, and basic
learning experiences.
• Community supports are local resources such as playgroups, community health
services, and recreational activities that facilitate a child’s social interaction and
community engagement.
• Mainstream supports are supports provided through mainstream services including
educational institutions and healthcare services, which play a crucial role in a child’s
overall development and well-being.
Reasonable and necessary
The delegate will review information about the child’s informal, community, and mainstream supports, their strengths and areas where development is delayed. Then, NDIS supports can be considered which will complement and enhance existing supports rather than replace them. This approach supports the child’s independence and community involvement, ensuring they
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For Internal Use Only receive the most suitable support for their individual needs. It also helps to build the capability of families and other people who support the child in everyday activities.
If NDIS support for early childhood intervention is required for a developmental area, the early childhood partner will choose in the PEC whether they believe that the level required is high or medium to low. For first plans this will help inform the TSP and the delegate will make a final decision.
Note: For children who are 7 and 8, the PEC questions don’t ask directly about support required for each developmental area as they do for children younger than 7. To determine this, a delegate will need to gather this information from responses to other PEC questions as well as information captured in other areas of PACE.
Refer to article: EC PEC – Capacity building – How to complete early childhood supports questions and Complete personal and environmental circumstances case
When identifying a level of NDIS support for early childhood intervention, we must think about the child’s existing support systems. We must also think about the amount of NDIS support required over the course of the plan to support the child’s development and functioning in daily life.
For school age children, careful consideration must be given to the responsibility of the education system when determining whether a developmental area needs high or medium to low level of early childhood intervention NDIS support. Children spend a large part of the week at school where support is provided to learn and develop, sometimes with additional support funded by the education system. For example, learning to follow routines and get along with peers.
Also, many children who are school age will have been an NDIS participant for a number of years. NDIS supports for early childhood intervention is intended to also be used to support important adults in the child’s life to build their capability to support the child’s development. For school age children, delegates should look at whether developmental areas that previously required a high level of early childhood intervention, could now be considered as requiring a medium to low level of early childhood intervention.
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Examples of when a developmental area might need a medium to low or high level of NDIS support for early childhood intervention:
Medium to low level of early childhood intervention for a developmental area is typically when a shorter period of early childhood intervention is needed followed by occasional monitoring (such as every second month) over the duration of the plan. This may be applied when support for a developmental area should be addressed predominantly by their existing informal, community and mainstream supports. However, the child and family also need a small amount of early childhood intervention NDIS support to support the developmental area.
High level of early childhood intervention for a developmental area is typically required when regular, frequent, and sustained early childhood intervention for the area is needed over the duration of the plan. The NDIS support required is in addition to informal, community and mainstream support.
When assessing the need for NDIS support for early childhood intervention, it’s important to think about how a delay in one developmental area might impact another developmental area.
For example, if a child needs regular, frequent and sustained support for language and communication skills, this may be impacting their social skills. As a result, we’d include a high level of early childhood intervention for communication skills. However, there may be a medium to low level of early childhood intervention needed for social skills, or none at all, if other supports like informal, community, and mainstream services are adequate. This approach helps determine a level of NDIS support that prevents duplication of services and encourages the family to choose supports that are value for money by concentrating on areas needing the most support.
Next steps
Read article: EC Early intervention supports for early childhood guide (EC Guide).
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