CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Dr SCAMPS (Mackellar) (10:18): When it comes to the NDIS, the key requests from parents and caregivers in my electorate of Mackellar is that small local providers be able to continue supporting their children as they transition to the Thriving Kids program. Local private providers like Kids First, Beachie Speechie, Kids Plan-It and Occupational Therapy Helping Children provide a significant proportion of early intervention, school participation support and developmental services for children across the Northern Beaches.

These services are embedded within our local community. They're embedded in the schools and in the families. They have built strong connections based on trust with the kids they support and have intimate knowledge of their clients' abilities and needs.

If experienced private providers are excluded from meaningful participation in Thriving Kids, with procurement structures only favouring large non-governmental organisations, then many smaller medium-sized paediatric practices will simply not survive. This risks children losing access to trusted therapists, families facing longer waitlists, schools losing established allied health partnerships and underserved areas losing already limited access to support.

For many neurodivergent children and kids with developmental delays, continuity of care and trusted relationships are critical to engagement and progress. I'm deeply concerned that the private practices that have supported Northern Beaches families for years have been advised by the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice that they were unsuccessful in progressing to the next stage of procurement without explanation.

This has left these providers and the families they support devastated and distressed. Understandably, they're asking about how this decision was made despite the overwhelming feedback from parents, caregivers and disability advocates that local private practices must be retained under Thriving Kids. Any decision to exclude smaller local providers is not grounded in the realities of service delivery.

A sustainable system requires a mixed ecosystem of support, including government services, NGOs and experienced private allied health providers. I urge the New South Wales government to ensure procurement accessibility for private providers to maintain continuity of care, workforce sustainability, timely access to services and the preservation of existing therapeutic relationships.