What are the Helping Children with Autism and Better Start Packages?

The Australian Government is committed to improving the quality of life for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and other disabilities, and their families and carers, and recognises the value of early intervention for children aged 0 to 7 years.

The Government recognises that providing help and support to address the individual needs of these children early in their life will make it easier to attend school and participate in everyday activities.  The high cost of intensive and targeted treatment can be a barrier for parents and carers, preventing many from accessing early intervention services.

The Government is delivering the Helping Children with Autism (HCWA)/Better Start package to help address these issues.

Who is eligible for this service?

Families and carers of children aged 0 to 7 years diagnosed with an ASD or other disability (diagnosed before their 6th birthday) will be eligible for a funding package of up to $12,000 per child (up to $6000 per child per financial year) toward the cost of early intervention services.

This includes children in rural and remote areas and children from Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

Families and carers will be able to determine the proportion of their funding package they would like to allocate toward the cost of each service. Families also have the option to top up the funding themselves towards the cost of the service.

How can I start my child on this program?

Once your child has been diagnosed as having an eligible disability, you will be linked up with the Autism Advisor/Better Start program. This program offers a team of specialists providing a free advisory service to:

  • provide support and information to families/carers
  • provide information about all services that you can access
  • organise payment of the Early Intervention funding and the Rural and Remote funding of an extra $2000 if applicable.

You will then receive a letter of introduction to the services you are eligible for.

Our Therapy Manager will then meet with you to work out a therapy service to suit the individual needs of your family.

Why is this program important for my child?

The planned outcomes of this program are:

  • increased access to early intervention for children aged 0 to 7 years diagnosed with an eligible disability;
  • improvement in the overall wellbeing of the child;
  • improved strategies and skills for parents and carers to meet the needs of the child; and
  • improved capability of children to attend formal school and participate in everyday life.

What does the GBSS Inc Early Intervention Service Offer?

We are an approved service for providing the HCWA/Better Start Early Intervention program and our occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech pathology teams have extensive experience and knowledge in this area.

Our services include:

  • developmental and social learning interventions – building relationships and developing social emotional capacities;
  • therapy-based interventions – communication and social development, sensory motor development and self-regulation through sensory strategies;
  • family-based interventions – working with families to develop skills in working with their children.

How will the GBSS Early Intervention Service work?

After you have met with our Therapy Manager (or delegate) for the initial information session our multi-disciplinary team will:

  • carry out comprehensive occupational therapy (OT), physiotherapy and speech pathology (SLP) assessments using standardised assessments and observations to get a good understanding of your child’s individual strengths and areas of need.
  • plan a therapy intervention with families/carers to suit your child’s individual situation. This includes setting goals, the best way to work with your child, the best place to work with your child and how often we will review the program. This is called an Individual Service Plan.
  • start individual therapy sessions, which will use a combination of specifically designed interventions, e.g. sensory-motor; strategies for modulation of sensory processing dysfunction; strategies to develop communication and social skills and engagement, concentration and attention to tasks, play skills, cognitive development, self-help and daily living skills, and fine and gross motor skills; and training and mentoring of family and carers to develop their skills.
  • analyse and recommend any adjustments and supports necessary to your child’s environment to help them to function to the best of their ability, e.g. design and making of resources such as communication aids, and recommendation and purchase of specialised equipment to support the therapy program. This requires therapy consultation time.
  • run specialised small play therapy group sessions (3 to 5 children) using play-based strategies to develop relationships, developmental skills, engagement with others and objects, and concentration. Another focus is to teach the peer group to be more accepting, responsive and inclusive of children who relate and play in different ways.
  • teach others (families, childcare workers, Allied Health Assistants) the strategies to achieve the desired outcomes of play so that skills learned by the children can be transferred to their regular environments.
  • run transition programs – these are methodically planned in a timely way to assist with successful transitions to Prep/Year 1. A transition to school program supports the delivery of an intervention at school.

Where can the GBSS Early Intervention program take place?

Our Therapy intervention and family support sessions may be held at our GBSS base (44 Short St, Stanthorpe), in children’s homes, at childcare centres or kindergartens, playgroups and Preps. Our centre operates 9:00 to 3:00 pm Monday to Friday, and sessions are negotiated to suit each child.

We provide therapy programs to the Stanthorpe and Warwick regions and Tenterfield, NSW.

Who works in the GBSS Early Intervention program?

Our therapy team includes our:

  • Therapy Manager and Occupational Therapists
  • Speech Language Pathologists
  • Physiotherapist
  • Allied Health Assistants (AHAs), who assist in the delivery of therapy interventions and resource making. This presents good value for money for allocated funding while still ensuring consistent and quality programs. The AHAs are trained, supervised and monitored by our therapists.

What can I use my HCWA and Better Start funding for?

You can use your individual package of funding for the following:

  • Therapy services – these include assessment of need, therapy reports and consultation as requested by parents. Early intervention services can be delivered in various settings according to the child’s needs. This may include home visits and the use of innovative approaches to service delivery, such as e-therapy or therapy via video conferencing.
    • Our service works with your child in 8 week blocks of therapy. At the end of this period, we will provide you with a summary report that covers the interventions that were delivered to the child, an outline of the progress achieved and an indication of the interventions/therapies that may be required in the future. We will also provide you with a program plan for the term on request.
  • Resources – Up to 35% of a child’s early intervention funding can be used for the purchase of resources. This means that up to $4200 in total out of the $12,000 can be used for resources, up to a total of $2100 in any one financial year. The therapist needs to recommend the resource and it needs to be directly linked to the therapy program. We may charge an administration cost in the recommendation and supply of these items.
  • Parent training – sometimes we may recommend parent training to help you to understand and apply therapy interventions that are beneficial for your child.

Cancellation of sessions – the Helping Children with Autism and Better Start funds may not be used to cover cancelled sessions. We require notice of cancelled sessions as early as possible.