11 November 2025
Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability Via email: Health.Reps@aph.gov.au
Dear Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability
Re: Thriving Kids inquiry hearing questions on notice
Thank you for the opportunity for Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) to appear at the redacted: s22 on Monday 20 October 2025. We appreciated the opportunity to discuss with the Committee the integral role of allied health within the future Thriving Kids initiative. Below outlines some further information from the questions we took on notice.
Models of care and existing allied health programs.
AHPA recommends that a future Thriving Kids program includes allied health within the models of care including as part of identification, assessment, capacity building and child and family therapy. Allied health should be incorporated across settings including in mainstream settings such as early childhood and schools. At present we see inconsistent involvement of allied health in services across Australia. Future service design should consider implementation of nationally consistent frameworks that can be tailored to local contexts.
In the hearing the reference was made to the South Australian based programs. In South Australia there are a number of programs that provide access to allied health such as Children’s centres occupational therapy and speech pathology program for early intervention. Other states and territories also run a variety of programs where allied health services can be accessed for example Tasmania offers Child and Family Learning Centres.
In terms of mainstream school supports, access to allied health varies significantly both across and within jurisdictions. Some states and territories offer very limited access to allied health within mainstream schools whereas others offer much more. Examples of some existing school-based supports include Language Development Centres in Western Australia and the Specialist Disability Support in Schools Program in Queensland. Moving forward, allied health services must be fully integrated within mainstream school settings, to support all children to thrive.
Many of our member organisations submissions to the Inquiry refer to a range of programs allied health professions are involved in, and we recommend these are referred to for additional examples.
Primary Health Network programs
Across Australia’s PHN’s there have been a variety of allied health programs. In 2022 the National PHN Allied Health in Primary Care Engagement Framework was launched which aims to strengthen the engagement between PHNs and allied health sector. Further information is available here: https://thephn.com.au/what-we-do/allied-health/framework
As part of implementation of this Framework a living library of allied health case studies has been established. This library is designed to show the value of allied health and share ideas between PHNs. The library lists a wide variety of allied health programs delivered by PHNs. This includes programs that provide support to address developmental delay, such as the Thriving and on Track (ToTs) program delivered in Brisbane South PHN, Tiny Tots Talking in the Western Sydney PHN and First Nations Early Intervention Speech Pathology Program in Central and Eastern Sydney PHN. 2022 case studies: https://d34ae0kamx009d.cloudfront.net/assets/src/uploads/images/The-Framework-Case-Studies-2022_2024-10-25-043129_vpau.pdf 2023 case studies: https://d34ae0kamx009d.cloudfront.net/assets/src/uploads/images/The-Framework-Case-Studies-2023_2024-10-25-043304_zccn.pdf 2024 case studies: https://d34ae0kamx009d.cloudfront.net/assets/src/uploads/images/The-Framework-Case-Studies-2024_2024-11-25-224448_jptp.pdf
PHN programs are subject to funding applications and are funded for a specific period of time. Ongoing funding then needs to be balanced against other current priority issues for regions. Unfortunately, some programs that are delivered by PHNs can’t be sustained once funding is ceased. Within the examples housed in the above library there is a section on implications for policy which can include suggestions for how to improve the sustainability of programs. These could provide practical considerations for establishing sustainable Thriving Kids initiatives.
Several examples in the above case study documents highlight the challenges with sustainability of allied health programs, particularly those that rely on MBS funding. For example, the Supplementary Allied Health Services (SAHS) in Alice Springs delivered by the Northern Territory PHN had to scale back the allied services offered over the years due to funding availability, although referral rates remained steady. This program was decommissioned in August 2024.^i A number of PHNs such as Brisbane South PHN and WA Primary Health Alliance, have delivered programs embedding social work in general practice.^ii Whilst these programs have shown valuable outcomes, the financial sustainability is difficult. The Brisbane South PHN case study highlighted that relying purely on MBS funding for this was not feasible.
AHPA looks forward to continuing to engage with the Committee throughout the inquiry and stands ready to support the development of a Thriving Kids initiative, where all children with development delay and disability have access to allied health services to optimise their health, development and wellbeing.
Yours faithfully,
redacted
Bronwyn Morris- Donnovan Chief Executive Officer