Better disability support for families and kids.
A Plain English version of this page is available here.
Parents of kids with disability face an unrelenting fight to make sure their kids grow up happy and healthy.
It shouldn’t be this hard.
That’s why a re-elected Andrews Labor Government will deliver a $207 million package to transform specialist schools - and the lives of their students, carers and families.
It’s a package that builds on what we’ve already done - upgrades to every single specialist school in the state, and more support for students in the classroom.
But there’s more to do.
Parents have told us that one of the biggest challenges is finding after-school and holiday care.
That's why we'll extend outside hours care to every single specialist school in the state - with the next 25 rolling out from 2024.
Kids with disability and their families often juggle multiple specialist appointments and checkups, racing from one side of town to the other.
That's why we'll bring those services to them by creating spaces onsite at every specialist school for allied health appointments.
And while the NDIS has been delivering for people with disability, a lot of the time parents feel like the system is designed to be hard to navigate. We'll help them out by introducing NDIS Navigators in all 89 of our specialist schools. They’ll be employed by the Victorian Government, but will work for families to help them navigate the system.
Labor's package also includes:
$8.1 million for more extracurricular activities in specialist schools
$11.3 million to deliver scholarships to attract more speech pathologists and occupational therapists to regional areas
$2 million for professional development for health care workers, including how to communicate with people with autism
$8.2 million for TAFE transition officers to support students with disability
$25 million fund to build aqua-therapy pools at specialist schools
$800,000 to establish a Premier Advisory Committee, including providing caring support - giving participating parents and carers one less thing to worry about
$100,000 for specialist schools to apply for access to Proloquo2Go, an app for people who are non-verbal
Undertake a review into the current eligibility processes specialist schools, including current cognitive thresholds, so that more families can choose the school that best suits their needs
Abolish the age threshold for a "proof of age" card, which is currently 17 years and 11 months, so that parents of non-verbal children or children with an intellectual disability who wish for them to carry ID can do so.
And we'll deliver more pats, more often - with $5 million funding to train more therapy animals.
We'll make sure more kids and young people with disabilities - and their families - get the care and support that they need.
Because we're doing what matters.