Submission to the
Inquiry into the
Thriving Kids
Initiative
2 October 2025
Dear House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability,
The Australian Association of Psychologists incorporated (AAPi) appreciates the opportunity to provide recommendations to the Committee from the perspectives of psychologists who work with children and families. We have responded directly to the most relevant terms of reference. We are in an unfortunate position where the developmental needs of children are not adequately supported through Medicare or other services. Limiting funding for psychology services is inappropriate and will increase the burden of developmental delay and disability on individuals, families, and communities. We urge the Committee to address the lack of funding for psychologist assessment and treatment services to support the development of children and consider our recommendations for addressing this and the inequities in the provision of what funded services are available.
Terms of Reference
Examine evidence-based information and resources that could assist parents identify if their child has mild to moderate development delay and support parents to provide support to these children.
Identifying and supporting children with mild to moderate developmental delay requires a coordinated, evidence-based approach that empowers parents and leverages the expertise of allied health professionals, particularly psychologists. The most appropriate source of information and support regarding child development is through individualised supports delivered by allied health practitioners and medical practitioners involved in the child’s care. Early education settings, such as childcare and schools, are also instrumental in identifying concerns and escalating assessments. For this to be effective, the work of allied health practitioners, such as psychologists, needs to be embedded with adequate funding for the services that they provide.
Funding Assessment Services
Early identification is crucial for improving developmental outcomes. Australian psychologists play a central role in developmental surveillance and assessment, using validated tools such as:
- Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)
- Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development
- Griffiths Developmental Scales
- Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales
- Wechsler assessments such as the WISC-5, WIAT-IV and WPPSI-IV
These tools enable psychologists to assess cognitive, motor, language, and social-emotional domains, facilitating the distinction between transient delays and more persistent developmental concerns. It is currently an extremely expensive process to have these assessments done, with the majority done through schools and child health services due to the prohibitive cost. For many, this is still not possible due to funding issues within those
settings that mean services cannot meet community needs. If these assessments were funded through the Medicare system for children identified by their GP as having delays, early intervention to remedy these issues could be provided assertively and earlier, improving outcomes for children and families.
Funded Support for Parents
Psychologists provide more than assessment. They offer therapeutic support, psychoeducation, and coaching to parents. This includes:
- Helping parents understand their child’s developmental profile.
- Teaching strategies to support communication, emotional regulation, and social skills.
- Supporting parental mental health, which is often impacted by the stress of navigating developmental concerns.
Funding and Access to Services
Access to psychological services is contingent on adequate funding. Key funding models include:
- NDIS Early Childhood Approach: Supports children under 9 with developmental concerns, even without a formal diagnosis.
- Medicare-funded plans: Such as the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC), Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Eligible Disabilities, and Better Access programs, which allow limited sessions with psychologists. Some of these programs could be effective in meeting this need if the requirement of needing a specialist referral (i.e. Paediatrician or Psychiatrist) referral were removed and replaced by a GP referral, as well as removing the requirement for diagnosis to be pre-existing. It would also be necessary to increase the number of capped sessions to provide early intervention services. Five sessions as per the EPC system remain alarmingly inadequate.
- State-based initiatives: Including integrated child and family centres and targeted early intervention programs.
Medicare programs recognise the importance of allied health support. Still, they are impacted by annual and lifetime limits, low rebates, and a lack of bulk-billing incentives, as well as inadequate funding for travel, barriers to collaborative care and case conferencing, and ineffective referral pathways. Access to Medicare psychologist services is significantly restricted to those who can pay out-of-pocket costs, may not support effective and accessible team care, and sessions available may run out before early intervention services can be completed. Addressing these access barriers is essential if the move to mainstream/Thriving Kids is facilitated through Medicare.
Despite available funding options, psychologists often face challenges such as long waitlists, limited funding for early intervention, and inequitable access in rural and remote areas. Advocacy for sustainable funding models is essential to ensure timely and equitable support.
Examine the effectiveness of current (and previous) programs and initiatives that identify children with development delay, autism or both, with mild to moderate support needs and support them and their families. This should focus on community and mainstream engagement, and include child and maternal health, primary care, allied health playgroups, early childhood education and care and schools.
Several Australian programs have demonstrated effectiveness in identifying and supporting children with developmental delay or autism with NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) that previously supported children under 7 with developmental concerns, though many with mild to moderate needs were found to be better served through mainstream systems.
Given the intended cohort for accessing Thriving Kids includes Autistic children, it is important that any model of care that is developed is neurodiversity affirming and strengths based. There is significant evidence that shows the harm caused by behavioural modification programs that encourage masking of autistic traits and forced compliance. These harms include higher psychological distress, identity suppression, increased risk of abuse, increased risk of burnout and suicidality later in life. Neurodiversity-affirming care models have been shown to improve mental health outcomes by leveraging autistic strengths and avoiding deficit-based approaches (Cherewick, M., Matergia, M, 2024, Wagland, Z., et al, 2025), Lerner, D., et al, 2023).
Evidence shows that early, tailored, and family-inclusive interventions improve developmental trajectories and reduce long-term support needs.
Identify equity and intersectional issues, in particular, children who identify as First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse.
Children from First Nations and CALD backgrounds face systemic barriers in accessing developmental support:
- Closing the Gap targets highlight persistent disparities in early childhood development, school readiness, and health outcomes (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2025).
- Evidence emphasises the need for culturally safe services and community-led approaches. See joint Early Childhood Australia and SNAICC – Voice for our Children position paper, 2019.
- Access issues and the need for ‘in situ’ services. There is a need to provide services in settings that are easily accessible by children and families due to financial and resource barriers, as well as physical barriers that are faced by those with disabilities. The social model of disability is very clear that social barriers to access do increase disadvantage and disability. Funding adequately remunerated outreach services in settings where children already are, such as homes, early childhood centres, and local community centres, is essential to ensure equitable access.
Intersectionality compounds disadvantage. Children may face multiple layers of exclusion due to disability, race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Addressing these issues requires co-designed services, culturally responsive workforce training, and inclusive policy frameworks.
Identify gaps in workforce support and training required to deliver Thriving Kids.
Delivering Thriving Kids effectively will require addressing significant workforce challenges, such as a lack of funding for team-based care or case conferencing, to ensure that children’s treatment needs are addressed holistically and effectively. There is clear evidence that therapy interventions provided directly by allied health providers, such as psychologists, are the best practice for achieving outcomes related to childhood development. Incentives to facilitate access to psychologists in rural and remote regions are also essential, so that children can receive the necessary intervention regardless of their location.
Draw on domestic and international policy experience and best practice.
Best practices from Australia and globally strongly indicate the need for inclusive, family-centred care systems (World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund 2023). Systematic reviews also highlight the effectiveness of early behavioural, developmental, and rehabilitative interventions (Smythe, T., et al. 2024, Liu, S., et al. 2025).
Identify mechanisms that would allow a seamless transition through mainstream systems for all children with mild to moderate support needs.
Early education environments such as childcare centres and kindergartens are often the first to notice developmental concerns. Psychologists collaborate with educators to:
- Interpret behavioural observations.
- Provide professional development on child development and trauma-informed care.
- Develop individualised learning and behaviour support plans.
This integration is supported by initiatives like the School Readiness Funding in Victoria, which allocates resources based on educational disadvantage and includes psychological services as part of the support menu. Inclusive Education strategies, such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Individualised Education Plans (IEPs), and co-teaching models, are also essential. Adequate funding within schools is also crucial to ensure that allied health services are provided at sufficient levels to improve function.
Mechanisms to ensure smooth transitions include ensuring adequate funding for collaborative partnerships between early childhood services, schools, and allied health professionals such as psychologists.
Conclusion and Recommendations
To deliver on the promise of Thriving Kids, the following actions are recommended:
- Invest in parent education and accessible screening tools.
- Scale evidence-based early interventions through mainstream services.
- Embed cultural safety and intersectional equity in all program designs.
- Strengthen workforce capacity through targeted training and incentives and prioritise utilising appropriately skilled and trained allied health professionals, including psychologists.
- Adopt integrated, family-centred models informed by global best practice.
- Ensure seamless transitions via collaborative planning and inclusive school environments.
Thank you for allowing us to provide our recommendations to the inquiry. We look forward to working with the Committee.
Sincerely,
Amanda Curran Chief Psychologist Australian Association of Psychologists Inc. 0488 770 044 amanda@aapi.org.au www.aapi.org.au
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2025) Closing the Gap targets: key findings and implications, catalogue number IHW 294, AIHW, Australian Government.
Cherewick, M., & Matergia, M. (2024). Neurodiversity in Practice: a Conceptual Model of Autistic Strengths and Potential Mechanisms of Change to Support Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing in Autistic Children and Adolescents. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 8, 408–422. Springer
Early Childhood Australia and SNAICC, 2019, Voice for our Children position paper. (https://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SNAICC-ECA-Early-Years-Position-Paper-.pdf).
Field, S. L., Williams, M. O., Jones, C. R. G., & Fox, J. R. E. (2024). A meta-ethnography of autistic people’s experiences of social camouflaging and its relationship with mental health. Autism, 28(6), 1328–1343. SAGE Journals
Global report on children with developmental disabilities: from the margins to the mainstream. Executive summary. Geneva: World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Lerner, M. D., Gurba, A. N., & Gassner, D. L. (2023). A Framework for Neurodiversity-Affirming Interventions for Autistic Individuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 91(9), 503–504. PDF
Liu, S., Zhu, M., Yi, Caiying., & Zeng, D. (2025). Early rehabilitation interventions for global developmental delay in children: a narrative review. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 13, (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2025.1576324/full).
Miller, D., Rees, J., & Pearson, A. (2021). “Masking is life”: Experiences of masking in autistic and nonautistic adults. Autism in Adulthood, 3(4), 330–338. APA PsycNet
Sedgewick, F., Hull, L., & Ellis, H. (2021). Autism and Masking: How and Why People Do it, and the Impact It Can Have. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. University of Bristol
Smythe, T., Scherer, N., Nanyunja, C. et al. Strategies for addressing the needs of children with or at risk of developmental disabilities in early childhood by 2030: a systematic umbrella review. BMC Med 22, 51 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03265-7
Wagland, Z., Sterman, J., Scott-Cole, L., Spassiani, N., & Njelesani, J. (2025). Promoting Neurodiversity-Affirming Care for Autistic Children: A Scoping Review. Neurodiversity, 3, 1–23. SAGE Journals