Submission: Inquiry into the Thriving Kids Initiative
AHPA submitted a response to the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative. Our response focused on the essential role of allied health services within Thriving kids to support children with developmental delay and disability to optimise their development, health and wellbeing. The success of thriving Kids relies on improving the accessibility to allied health. AHPA presented five key recommendations for the inquiry:
Allied health professionals are engaged in the design and delivery of the Thriving Kids initiative through formal and ongoing engagement with the Thriving Kids Advisory Committee.
That all children and their families/carers have access to a wide range of inclusive, accessible, and evidence-based allied health services and supports at a level of volume and intensity to support developmental outcomes. Service models must account for the different needs and service structures of regional and rural communities.
That new allied health Medicare items reflect the real cost and duration of services for children with developmental delay, support collaborative team-based approaches and family-focused interventions, are not limited by arbitrary annual or lifetime limits, and have referral processes that reflect access pathways.
Allied health supports be embedded in mainstream early childhood and school settings nationally to provide consistent access to staff and child-focused capacity building supports, activity and environmental adaptation advice, and to support therapeutic interventions.
A robust monitoring framework for Thriving Kids is developed by the Commonwealth and jurisdictions, supported by the establishment of a formal and ongoing monitoring function with allied health sector representation, to ensure that the new program is meeting the needs of children and families.
Download our submission to read the full response, including our feedback on the terms of reference.