Committee Secretariat
Standing Committee on Health, Aging, and Disability
PO Box 6021
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Friday 3 October 2025
Submission to the Inquiry into the Thriving Kids Initiative
Dear Chair and Committee Members,
First Voice welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative. We commend the Committee’s efforts to establish a national framework of supports for children aged eight and under with mild to moderate developmental delay and autism, and their families.
While our focus is on children with hearing loss, we urge the Committee to exercise caution in integrating children with diagnosed or undiagnosed hearing loss into the Thriving Kids framework without appropriate differentiation. Although deafness loss can contribute to mild to moderate development delays, hearing loss is a distinct disability that requires specialised assessment and intervention. Noting this, to ensure children who have been picked up with a hearing loss at 3 to 5 years old, we have collective years of expertise in counselling and supporting families whose children experience hearing loss for the first time, and if necessary, provide support to those who also have diagnosed developmental challenges in addition to hearing loss. We recommend that our expertise in this space be incorporated into the design and delivery of Thriving Kids programs.
About First Voice
First Voice is a member-based organisation advocating for evidence-based early intervention services that empower children who are deaf or with hearing loss to develop listening and spoken language skills. Our goal is to enable these children to achieve fluent spoken communication, access mainstream education, pursue employment of choice, and integrate socially within the hearing world. In short, to thrive.
We champion the right of all deaf children to listen and speak.
First Voice represents five leading member organisations across Australia, collectively supporting over 1,000 children with hearing loss—one of the largest cohorts receiving early intervention services globally. Our Australian members include:
- Can Do Group (SA)
- Hear and Say (QLD)
- NextSense (NSW, VIC, NT)
- Telethon Speech & Hearing (WA)
- The Shepherd Centre (NSW, TAS, ACT)
Our members are among the most respected and longstanding providers of early childhood hearing services in the region. First Voice plays a leadership role in shaping public policy and clinical practice and maintains an active research agenda in partnership with academic institutions to advance hearing-related outcomes for young children.
Response to Terms of Reference
Our submission addresses two key terms of reference:
1. Evidence-based resources to assist parents in identifying and supporting children with mild to moderate developmental delay
First Voice centres employ experienced family counsellors and therapists who guide parents through the early stages of concern pre and post diagnosis of hearing loss. Evidence from sources including National Acoustic Laboratories, Murdoch Children’s Institute, et al, suggests there are 1 in 300 children who have suspected hearing loss by 3 to 5 years of age. It may be secondary to the identification of mild to moderate developmental delay, but we advise the Committee to note that it is easy for hearing loss in this age cohort to be overlooked in the absence of standardised early childhood hearing screening programs across Australia.
However, First Voice has the expertise to identify and support children with hearing loss, who could have a developmental delay due to lack of access to sound and communication. At First Voice, our priority is to ensure that children receive hearing screenings and checks at the point of triage. We’re concerned that the Thriving Kids program’s onboarding process may overlook this crucial step, potentially placing children and their families into support pathways that aren’t tailored to their developmental needs
Our experience includes delivering hearing tests directly or facilitating connections with Hearing Australia. Regardless of the level of hearing loss, we ensure families receive counselling, support, and access to appropriate diagnostic services and support systems tailored to each child’s needs. Our teams are highly skilled in managing hearing-related developmental concerns and can contribute meaningfully to the triage process within any future Thriving Kids initiative.
We recommend that Thriving Kids establish clear referral pathways that incorporate hearing assessments, alongside funding mechanisms to support First Voice centres in this critical role. This will help ensure families receive timely, targeted guidance for both hearing loss and broader developmental challenges.
Our experience in providing hearing tests direct or connecting with Hearing Australia, then regardless of the hearing loss diagnosis, provide counselling, support, then provide access to the relevant diagnostic services, and support systems for the child and their family. Our teams are particularly skilled in addressing hearing-related developmental issues and can play a vital role in the supporting triage process for any future Thriving Kids program.
We recommend that Thriving Kids incorporate clear referral pathways that includes hearing testing, and provide funding mechanisms to support First Voice centres in this key role of early identification and support, ensuring families receive timely and appropriate guidance for both or either hearing loss and/or developmental delays
2. Effectiveness of current and previous programs supporting children with developmental delay and autism
We caution against the inclusion of children with hearing loss—particularly those with mild to moderate or undiagnosed conditions—within general developmental delay programs without proper assessment. Hearing loss is a specialised condition that, while it may contribute to developmental delay, requires distinct intervention strategies.
We are concerned the noise and increased awareness of Thriving Kids program to families who will immediately dump their child into Thriving Kids believing they have a developmental delay without the information to check their child’s hearing.
Bundling children with hearing loss into broader developmental programs risks misdiagnosis and inadequate support. We strongly advocate for a clear distinction between Thriving Kids and pathways for children with permanent hearing loss. Children with diagnosed hearing loss should be referred to formal early intervention and communication development services, where tailored support—including hearing devices and language therapy—can be provided.
Australia has a world class hearing support pathway, involving newborn hearing screening, Hearing Australia, and an established hearing stream through the NDIS to ensure critical early access to individualised therapy supports for children with hearing loss. It would represent a significant loss for the Australian Government if this critical pathway were excluded from the future Thriving Kids scheme. Overlooking very early access to hearing therapy supports can lead to significant delays in communication development, as evidenced by the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study, which highlights the crucial impact of timely intervention on language and learning outcomes.
Similar to our concern about the “communication and community noise” (especially online) impacting family decisions, we are very concerned Thriving Kids will disrupt this streamlined and very successful pathway which will compromises the narrow time window impacting a deaf child’s listening and spoken language development.
In conclusion, First Voice supports the goals of the Thriving Kids initiative and offers its expertise to help shape a system that provides the key onboarding step to check for, recognise, and responds to the unique needs of children with hearing loss should they be identified as part of the Thriving Kids pathway.
We urge the Committee to ensure that specialised pathways for children with hearing loss remain distinct and accessible, and they are not inadvertently subsumed into broader developmental frameworks without appropriate assessment and targeted, specialised support.
Yours sincerely,
Co-Chairs
First Voice
Dr Aleisha Davis
CEO
The Shepherd Centre
Chris Rehn
CEO
NextSense