New funding programs supporting kids with disability to navigate entry into school

The Albanese government is looking to support children with disability outside the NDIS with programs to help them become school-ready. And Indigenous kids are a particular focus.

Amanda Rishworth, Minister for Social Services.

First Nations’ children with disabilities or developmental issues will be helped to become school-ready with a new $15 million four-year funding commitment from the Albanese government to develop culturally-specific supports.

The new funding is in addition to $16 million to be spent by 2025 under the National Early Childhood Program to help 0-8 year old children with a disability or emerging developmental concern, whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or not, to prepare for school or other learning environments.

The new Indigenous-specific support package would focus on breaking down barriers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families looking to access education and other services for children with disabilities.

“The funding … will help ensure there are services specifically targeted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that are culturally sensitive and readily accessible,” NDIS minister Bill Shorten said.

Bill Shorten

“The activities funded will also assist in meeting … the Closing the Gap National Agreement, which focuses on helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children thrive in their early years.”

The second tranche of funds under the NECP was a four-year budget commitment of the previous government and aims to help children with disabilities or developmental issues such as being on the autism spectrum manage in educational environments, including being able to socialise with their peers.

It will support programs including playgroups and facilitated group art, music and imaginative play.

“Parents, carers and peak bodies were consulted in the design of the NECP to make sure it truly reflects the needs and experiences of families,” social services minister Amanda Rishworth said.

“As a Government our core principles are to leave no one behind and hold no one back and these grants align with that.”

The funding falls outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Disability advocates have been concerned that the NDIS has become an “oasis in the desert”, leaving people with disability who don’t qualify for the scheme with little support through other programs.

The latest NDIS quarterly statement notes that 44 per cent of the 19,300 new entrants to the scheme were children aged 6 or under. There are now almost 83,000 NDIS participants aged under 7. Overall around 115,000 children in Australia aged 0-6 have some level of disability, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The government is calling for applications for the NECP grants and is currently designing the parameters for the Indigenous-specific funding, which will be opened up next year.