QUEENSLANDERS WITH DISABILITY NETWORK
NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US
31 October 2025
Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability
House of Representatives
Dear Committee Secretariat,
Please find below Queenslanders with Disability Network’s (QDN) response to questions on notice as requested. | can be contacted on redacted should any further information be required.
Yours sincerely
redacted
Michelle Moss
Chief Executive Officer
QDN
Questions on notice 1
Queensland residents identified a number of issues with regard to equity of access. Many of these issues exist because of the demographics of Queensland where there is a large population base in the southeast of the State and a largely decentralised population of rural, regional and remote communities outside of this corridor. The key issues include the following:
First Nation and CALD barriers – As highlighted in our submission, First Nation people often faced barriers due to the inability of employees of service providers to stay over a long period of time. This eroded trust and created barriers between service providers and parents and carers because of the lack of relationship building.
People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds faced challenges in accessing early intervention supports. This is due to language barriers and cultural differences surrounding disability as they do not have a deep understanding of the signs of disability or developmental delay, how the system in Australia works or what supports are available.
Lack of service providers – Residents in rural and remote communities faced this problem. Carers based in Queensland regions told of having to travel from remote areas to the city to receive services for children with disability.
Other services, such as telehealth were also seen as costly due to the need for Starlink services that often cost more. This meant opportunities to access support via online and digital services were limited for people in these communities.
This meant that foundational supports for younger people in these regions were patchy and it was difficult to navigate the levels of support being provided due to lack of understanding and access.
System navigation issues – Throughout QDNs engagement across Queensland to discuss foundational supports, people across all communities highlighted the need for local navigators or places for families to go for information. The further away people were from an urban centre, the harder it was to navigate the system of foundational supports that currently exists.
Without a centralised community hub of information, many parents and carers found it difficult to self-navigate through systems that were often fragmented and not communicated with each other.
For more information, please also review QDNs submission into this inquiry which highlights the equity of access gaps that exist for many Queenslanders.
Question on Notice 2
To assist the committee, QDN has provided feedback on a number of examples of services within Queensland as recognised by key stakeholders.
Services in Queensland – Kalwun
At the focus group with First Nations groups, they said that Kalwun on the Gold Coast (an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health org) has a purpose-built health centre that provides wrap around services for young children, and it is great.
Kalwun provides the following services:
- Doctors
- allied health services
- dental services
- community health programs
- child protection initiatives
- family support services
- kinship and foster care support
- early education programs
- playgroups
- aged care and disability support
- in-home care
- wellness centre
- community housing
- housing support.
For more information on Kalwun, please visit Home - Kalwun Development Corporation
Services in Queensland – Village Connect
Village Connect at Logan is a community-led organisation that provides culturally appropriate and safe spaces for families, including families where grandparents and kin play a central role in the child’s life.
Village Connect employ Māori and Pasifika people as ‘connectors’ and they play an integral role in providing much need wholistic support to people. Families who obtain
support through Village Connect, expressed frustration that Village Connect does not achieve more funding to provide more culturally responsive supports to families who are in need.
For more information on Village Connect, please visit Village Connect
Services in Queensland – Mt Isa Educational Precinct
Place-Based Educational Precinct – Mount Isa
The Mount Isa Educational Precinct, based at the Queensland Department of Education facility on Miles Street, represents a locally driven, place-based initiative designed to improve educational and life outcomes for children and young people in the region. The precinct model, leverages the co-location and coordinated engagement of education, government, and community service providers to address entrenched challenges in school attendance, student engagement, and interagency support.
Purpose and Objectives
The precinct initiative was established in response to longstanding issues facing children and families in remote communities like Mount Isa, including poor school attendance, fragmented service delivery, and difficulties navigating transitions between school stages and into employment or further education. The precinct seeks to drive improvements across three core domains:
- Student Attendance and Engagement
- Coordinated Case Management
- Transition Support
Services in Queensland - FASD
The Tracking Cube Project with community in Mt Isa, Townsville and Gold Coast
A partnership between Queensland Mental Health Commission, Griffith University and other partners. Pilot initiative has been established to equip communities with the necessary tools to navigate their children’s neurodevelopmental health.
Information links from two websites about the project below:
Expanding the Tracking Cube across sectors | Queensland Mental Health Commission
The Tracking Cube - YourTrack
About the pilot
The Commission is partnering with Griffith University and investing more than $1.6 million to identify and support those with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), sooner. The pilot will also demonstrate how the Tracking Cube can create a central coordinating system within communities, integrating early learning, education, child safety, and youth justice sectors with healthcare.
The two-year pilot will be implemented in Mount Isa, Townsville, and the Gold Coast.
What is the Tracking Cube?
FASD is a neurodevelopmental condition resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure, affecting people across Australia. It is estimated that over 2 per cent of Australian babies may be born with a form of FASD. Early support can improve the health, developmental and social outcomes for children with FASD.
Yet, it has been underdiagnosed because limited specialists can complete the assessment. This makes assessment and diagnosis time consuming, expensive, and difficult to access—particularly in rural, regional, and remote communities, where specialists are not readily available.
The Tracking Cube is designed to help communities monitor children’s neurodevelopmental health locally and to assist non-specialists in community organisations working across early learning, education, child safety, and youth justice settings to identify and support children living with FASD sooner.
How does it work?
The Tracking Cube model involves a comprehensive neurodevelopmental assessment, which is broken down into six manageable parts (or tiers).
- Tier 1: Informed consent
- Tier 2: History taking
- Tier 3: Rapid assessment
- Tier 4: Collaborative information
- Tier 5: Feedback and support
- Tier 6: Specialist assessment
Tiers 1-5 can be completed by community providers who can access the digital tracking system to use evidence-based tools and workflows. Providers can monitor, track and support children’s neurodevelopment within their own services.
When concerns are flagged that require specialist opinion or support, the digital system helps simplify the referral process and shares information between service providers, increasing coordination of care for children and families.
Wait times for specialist FASD clinics can be 2-3 years long. The Tracking Cube helps services work better together, cutting wait times to 6 months and enabling community-based support services to provide timely care.