Early Childhood Intervention and the NDIS: examining inequality in access, plan allocation and use in the early childhood period

Timely access and use of effective early intervention services for children with developmental concerns and disabilities is crucial to reduce inequities in social and health outcomes. This project looks at data for all children (under 6 years) who use the NDIS funded Early Childhood (EC) program and examine whether there are social inequities in who is eligible for EC program support, the type of support and whether there are inequities in timely access to supports and spending of NDIS plans.

Findings will be used to inform future research on policy, process and funding changes to optimise early childhood intervention.

Project Team:

Leads: Dr George Disney, Senior Research Fellow, Disability and Health Unit, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
Dr Bridget O’Connor, Post-doctoral fellow, Healthy Trajectories Child and Youth Disability Research Hub
Team: Prof. Christine Imms, Karen Dimmock, Dr Joanne Griggs, Dr Anita D’Aprano, Dr Alys Mendus, Prof. Lisa McKay-Brown, Catherine Bain, Dr Charmaine Bernie, Dr Yi Yang

Contact: george.disney@unimelb.edu.au