Early Childhood

With changing circumstances, you may have questions about early childhood supports and services.

We have also answered questions about your plan and using your budget.

Access

If your child is under 7 years of age, an Early Childhood partner is the first point of contact for any queries you may have regarding your child’s support needs.

Enter your postcode on the locations page to find your local Early Childhood partner.

Your local Early Childhood partner will help you work out the supports that meet your child and family needs.

If an NDIS access request is needed, they will support you through this process.

If you live in area where there is no Early Childhood partner, you’ll need to call the NDIA on 1800 800 110 to connect with your local NDIA office.

We are still processing access requests. If your child’s access request is approved, your Early Childhood Partner will call you to book a planning meeting.

In line with recent Government advice, we are reducing our face-to-face interactions. Planning meetings are occurring over the phone or by email.

Plans and plan reviews

There are many different ways to participate in an NDIS planning meeting and share information about your child’s development, including over the phone and via email.

You may already have information from your child’s GP, child health nurse or medical specialists but you don’t need any reports to commence your first planning conversation.

The information you have already provided as part of the access process will support your planning discussion.

If you want to gather more information, many GPs, medical specialists and allied health providers are offering telehealth or telepractice, with many services available under the Medicare Benefits Scheme during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Families are encouraged to talk to their Early Childhood Partner if they have questions about preparing for their planning meeting.

If your child’s plan is nearing its end date, we will call you to discuss your child’s current support needs.

At this stage, the process is to undertake a plan review to discuss and consider any changes.

For children under 7, a plan review is usually required every 12 months as it is important to take into account any upcoming transitions, milestones or changes in your child’s goals and support needs, such as starting school.

If your child’s current plan ends without a review, it will be automatically extended by 12 months to make sure your child has the funding they need.

Your child’s extended plan will have the same core and capacity building budget funding as their current plan.

We will work with you to review your child’s plan as soon as possible to ensure the supports in their plan are appropriate for your child’s needs.

If your child’s plan has been automatically extended, their new plan will replace the extended plan and you will receive a copy of your child’s new plan in the mail.

No. Plan reviews are continuing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, however, how your child’s plan review is conducted may have changed because of physical distancing.

Where you may have had a face-to-face plan review meeting in the past, your child’s planning or plan review meeting will be held over the phone, or if you would prefer, by email.

If your child’s plan has been automatically extended, their new plan will replace this plan and you will receive a copy of your child’s new plan in the mail.

You can talk about the length of your child’s new plan with your Early Childhood partner.

No, you will not be disadvantaged if you haven’t used your funds because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

At your child’s plan review, you will have the chance to discuss your child’s circumstances, what your child’s developmental and functional needs are and what your goals are for your child’s future.

After your child’s plan review, your funding may change in their next NDIS plan, but this is determined by your child’s developmental and functional needs, not by assessing unspent funds from your previous plan.

Capacity building supports are considered the highest priority for children under 7 years of age because of the impact that timely early childhood intervention can have on the long term outcomes for children with developmental delay or disability.

This is why ECEI plans will generally have funding concentrated in the capacity building and consumable budgets.

Core Supports, if required, are usually for consumables such as nappies or low technology communication supports. In some cases there will be funding to provide support in the home or to assist with giving a parent or carer a break from their caring role.

If your child’s support needs change, we can conduct a change of circumstances plan review. This may include a review of the funds in your capacity building budget and/or core support budget.

To help us work with you on any changes, or to include different supports in your child’s plan, you can provide us with additional information and evidence. We can work with you to develop a new Plan based on the information provided.

If your child’s plan does not include Core funding and you need to purchase low cost assistive technology to support telepractice, your provider can claim from the capacity building budget using a new line item for low cost assistive technology. This line item is for claiming only. It will not be added to your child’s plan.

Services and supports

Many early childhood intervention providers are using telepractice to deliver services.

These providers have teams who are skilled in coaching families so they can support their child’s development at home and in the community.

Early intervention providers have teams who are skilled in coaching families so they can support a child’s development remotely.

This might include videoconferencing, emails, text messages, phone calls or sending video or photos. Talk to your provider about the options available to you.

Some specialised therapy supports may need to be completed in person (such as a wheelchair fitting or orthotics prescription). To maintain physical distancing , this should only be in cases where it is an immediate priority.

You can talk to your early childhood intervention provider about your child’s assistive technology needs.

Your child’s funding is designed to support them to work towards their NDIS Plan goals.

NDIS funding cannot be used to pay family members for care.

Core supports are for your child’s disability related support needs.

These needs may have changed if your child is engaged in home based learning and is not attending school.

Existing core supports can be used flexibly to provide disability related support such as in home support or a break from your caring role, where this would usually happen if your child was at school.

If your child’s support needs change, we can make changes to your child’s NDIS plan by conducting a change of circumstances plan review. This may include a review of the funds in your child’s capacity building budget and/or core support budget.

You can also use your child’s capacity building budget flexibly to determine the best way to access the disability related supports your child needs.

For example; while it is not the role of a support worker to provide education to your child, if you have funding for a support worker to provide in-home support, you can use those hours flexibly to better support your child’s immediate disability-related needs and daily tasks.

This might include shifting your support hours to a more suitable time or your support worker assisting with practice of daily tasks related to early childhood intervention such as following their daily routine.

We encourage you to talk to your support worker or provider about using your child’s hours flexibly during this time.

It’s important that you talk to your provider about your child’s immediate support needs.

You can change the amount and frequency of early childhood intervention support you get to fit with your family routine.

Let your provider know what will work best for you and your family.

Many providers are using telepractice to deliver early childhood intervention. Talk to your provider about the options available to you.

All NDIS providers are expected to follow NDIS rules, codes and policies.

The NDIS Commission have produced a COVID-19 factsheet for NDIS participants that provides information to explain:

what you can expect from your NDIS providers
your rights
how to make a complaint about a provider
what resources are available from the NDIA
where to find more information and resources about coronavirus (COVID-19).

Many providers are using telepractice so that they can continue to deliver early childhood intervention.

Telepractice can be in real time, like over FaceTime or Zoom, or it can be over time, like sending videos or emails.

Telepractice encourages the use of capacity building practices, like coaching, which are best practice approaches and well known to support children and families make progress towards their goals.

Working with their provider, parents and carers can problem solve together, and find solutions that are practical and effective in a child’s everyday routine.

It’s important that you talk to your provider about the telepractice solutions that will best support your child.

Plan flexibility

It is important for families and participants to continue to feel connected and be able to access early childhood intervention supports during this time.

To help you to continue to receive NDIS funded supports and services during this period, we have temporarily broadened the flexible approach to purchasing low cost assistive technology (AT) items.

You can now use existing NDIS funding to purchase a low-cost AT item such as a smart device if it will maintain your child’s access to NDIS funded early childhood intervention support and you don’t already have access to a suitable item.

Your provider will need to confirm the device is necessary for your child’s disability related supports and services to continue while you are maintaining physical distancing requirements.

There are some exclusions that need to be considered. Further details can be found on the Using your budget page.

Some participants will have a $1500 low cost AT budget in their current plan, however most people should not need to spend more than $750 on electronic devices needed to maintain existing NDIS services.

In the case of computer tablets or smart devices for telehealth or participating in online supports, advice from AT specialists is that most NDIS participants will not need more than a standard tablet, which costs no more than $600.

If your child has a core budget, they can use this flexibly to purchase assistive technology.

If your child’s plan does not include core funding and you need to purchase low cost assistive technology to support telepractice, your child’s provider can claim from the capacity building budget using a new line item for low cost assistive technology. This line item is for claiming only. Additional funds will not be added to your child’s plan.

In relation to internet charges and data costs – it continues to be Scheme policy that daily living expenses like groceries, rent, bills, including internet charges are a personal expense. As such, you can’t use your child’s plan funding to pay these costs.

If your child’s plan does not include core funding or the core funding is not sufficient for their current needs, please contact us to discuss whether you require a plan review to move some funding around within your child’s plan.

This is why ECEI plans will generally have funding concentrated in the capacity building and consumable budgets.

You can use the capacity building budget in your child’s ECEI plan flexibly to purchase a range of early childhood intervention supports in the frequency and intensity that suits your child’s developmental needs.

You may want to think about your child’s NDIS plan and consider alternative ways to get the disability related supports your child needs.

You can purchase supports your child needs in a variety of different ways.

For example, if your weekly one hour early childhood intervention session no longer meets your child’s needs, you could check in with your provider for a shorter session twice a week.

Your child’s provider may offer new programs and supports that suit your child better; you can talk to them about changing to a support that works best for your child.

There are also a wide range of other early childhood activities and programs now available on line and on free to air TV that you can explore for you and your child.

Although early childhood intervention may look different at the moment, progress towards your child’s plan goals can continue.

Yes. You can use the capacity building budget in your child’s ECEI plan flexibly to purchase a range of early childhood intervention supports in the frequency and intensity that suits your child’s developmental needs.

We encourage you talk to your early childhood provider to see how you can implement early childhood intervention strategies at home.

If your child’s support needs change, we can conduct a change of circumstances plan review. This may include a review of the funds in your capacity building budget and/or core support budget.

To help us work with you on any changes, or to include different supports in your child’s plan, please share additional information and evidence with us. We can work with you to develop a new plan based on the information provided.

Please discuss your needs with you Early Childhood partner or call the NDIS on 1800 800 110 to discuss any urgent or important changes to your child’s plan.

No. Your child’s NDIS funding is to support them to achieve their NDIS plan goals. It can’t be used for work entitlements – like personal or annual leave.

The Government has announced a range of support measures for eligible people affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

More information is available at Services Australia .

The NDIS does not replace other systems, such as childcare or schools.

Education systems continue to be responsible for supports like resources and training for teachers, aids and equipment to make the curriculum accessible.

Core Supports are for your child’s disability related support needs.

These needs may have changed if your child is engaged in home based learning and is not attending school.

Existing core supports can be used flexibly to provide disability related support such as in home support or a break from your caring role where this would usually happen if your child was at school.

If your child’s support needs change, we can conduct a change of circumstances plan review. This may include a review of the funds in your child’s capacity building budget and/or core support budget.

We encourage you to talk to your education provider about your child’s specific education needs.

Decisions to close schools are made by the relevant education authorities, State and Territory governments for government schools, and individual independent schools.