Letter to your MP

The main points covered include the following:

•   Lengthy Child Development Centre wait-lists and wait-times for both assessment and therapy

•   Lack of Medicare coverage for private speech and language pathology services a

•   Impossible to coordinate therapy and educational programming services when options for delivering those services are minimal

•   Specialised speech and language programmes such as that available at an Language Development Centre are inaccessible to many due to the stringent entry criteria necessitated by the cap of 200 students per LDC

•   Other options for appropriate educational programming are limited by the general ineligibility for teacher assistant services

•   Minimal access to language specialist teaching support in the regular classroom except by way of IEP development

•   For many children the implementation of an appropriate IEP is compromised by what a classroom teacher, without additional teaching support, can realistically provide within the demands of the regular classroom programme

The Standing Committee’s report is to be tabled in the WA parliament before the end of the year

For enquiries regarding the SPEECH (WA) submission or other lobbying issues, please contact us here.

Lobbying Focus

As parents of children with speech and language difficulties we are the ones who can demand and effect change so that our children have access to the therapy and educational services that will allow them to achieve their potential.

In our current lobbying campaign we continue the focus on three main issues:

1. The need to increase the amount of private speech therapy covered by Medicare. Currently Medicare offers 5 partially covered sessions through the Enhanced Primary Care Plan
2. The need for children with speech and language impairment to be eligible for additional DET resources and teacher assistant support
3. The need to increase the number of places at Language Development Centres

As a parent, does the lack of choices for your child frustrate or anger you?

There is something you can do to feel like you have some say when it comes to what services your child receives. WRITE YOUR STORY! Nothing is more powerful than expressing the reality of what your family goes through to ensure that your child gets a chance to develop, learn and succeed.

You can start at the federal level by making the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing aware of the need for Medicare to cover much more speech and language therapy. The wait time for publicly-funded therapy in the Child Development Centres could be greatly reduced if families had greater access to private therapy covered by Medicare.

Just write your family’s story from getting your child’s speech and language needs assessed to where you are now in accessing therapy services. Put that story in a letter demanding that Medicare cover more private therapy services so that children can get the help that they need when it counts the most.

Send your story to:
The Hon. Nicola Roxon
Federal Minister for Health and Ageing (responsible for Medicare)
MG 50
Parliament House
Canberra, ACT 2600