Foundational supports for children, and their families, carers and kin: Questionnaire

Introduction

Thank you for your interest in this questionnaire about Foundational Supports for children with developmental concern, delay and/or disability and their families, carers and kin.
This questionnaire takes about 15 minutes to complete.
You can answer the questions online or request a printable copy of the questionnaire and email us your responses. You can also attach documents, or audio or video files if you want to at the end of the form.
If you have questions about the survey, need help or want to send us your answers via email you can contact The Social Deck at foundationalsupports@thesocialdeck.com. The Social Deck are supporting the Department of Social Services to do this engagement process.
About Foundational Supports

Governments are working together to design and deliver additional supports in the community. These are known as Foundational Supports.
They are specific supports that are additional to mainstream services and supports accessed through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
There are different types of foundational supports. This questionnaire asks questions about Foundational Supports for children with developmental concern, delay and/or disability and their families, carers and kin.
Foundational supports for children include General Supports as well as Targeted Supports. Targeted supports would be for children with developmental delay and their families. These children would not be in the NDIS and need more assistance than mainstream services and General Foundational Supports.
What is this questionnaire about

The questions are mainly for families, carers and kin of children aged under 9 who have developmental concern, delay and/or disability. However, organisations and other interested individuals can also take part in the questionnaire or skip the questions to upload a submission.
We will ask about:
- How you get information and advice about support you or your child might need and how to access it?
- How you can be supported to connect with and navigate services, make decisions, and take part in the community?
- What the barriers are to getting support for your child or family?
- What additional supports you need and what that might look like?
- How supports outside of the NDIS could work better together including with mainstream settings like childcare?
When we say ‘your child’ we are referring to a child or children that you are a parent or guardian of or who you may care for.
We suggest you refer to the Consultation Paper when you are completing this questionnaire as this provides more detailed information about what these supports might include. Some information from the paper is included in the introduction to the questions.
An Easy Read version of the paper is also available. If you would like a copy of this emailed or sent to you by post, please contact foundationalsupports@dss.gov.au
Instructions

There are 5 main sections to this questionnaire.
1. About you
2. Information and advice
3. Capacity building for children and families
4. Improving access to supports for children and families
5. How supports work together with other settings and services
You will be asked different kinds of questions:
1. Questions about yourself as an individual or the organisation you represent.
2. Questions to help Governments consider what additional supports for children and families, carers and kin need to include and how they might be delivered.You can skip questions or leave them blank to move on. If you don’t want to answer questions, you can skip to upload a document or audio or video file.
Privacy

We are not collecting names or personal information of individuals.
If you respond as an organisation, you may provide the name of the organisation.
We have developed a Privacy Collection Notice regarding this consultation. It provides information about how we handle the information we collect as part of this consultation. You can read the Privacy Collection Notice regarding this consultation.
If you have any questions or concerns about this process, please email Foundational.Supports@dss.gov.au.
If you need support

If participating in this consultation raises any concerns or you feel distressed we encourage you to access the Help and Support page.
If you require support to access the Consultation Paper, including paper copies or telephone assistance, please email Foundational.Supports@dss.gov.au.
If you require translation services you can contact Non-English speakers | Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National).
There is more information about other ways to engage on the DSS Engage website.

Privacy Notice(Required)
I have read and agree with the Privacy Notice regarding this consultation and the department’s Privacy Policy.
- Yes

Are you answering these questions:
- as family member, carer or kin of a child or children who has developmental concern, delay and/or disability
- as a representative of an organisation.

Section 2. General Supports - Information, advice and capacity building

This section includes questions about General Supports. These are covered in the first section of the Consultation Paper about supports for children and their families, carers and kin. It is about Information, advice and capacity building for children and families.
You can skip these questions and go directly to upload a document, audio or video file. You can also choose not to answer any question by leaving the space provided blank.
Information from the consultation paper

General Foundational Supports for children, families, carers and kin includes:
- Trusted accessible information to connect children and their families to the right supports for them – like information, advice and resources, peer support groups, or social and emotional support for parents and carers.
- Giving families and carers the tools and information they need to support their children. This could include support with setting up routines, access to short courses and to practical parent support workshops or programs.

Section 3. Improving access to supports for children and families

This section covers the second section of the Consultation Paper about Targeted Supports.
Targeted supports operate between mainstream services (e.g. in areas like early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings and schools) and the specialist supports accessed through the NDIS. They might include specific supports like:
- Low intensity or periodic child and family-centred allied health supports including access to speech pathology, physiotherapy, psychology, occupational therapy or other services.
- One-on-one support for people caring for children by giving them skills and information. This could include self-advocacy skills, connecting families with supports and services, practical strategies and emotional support.
You can skip these questions and go directly to upload a document, audio or video file. You can also choose not to answer any question by leaving the space provided blank.
What would make it easier to get supports and services for your child or family?
Please write your answer in the box provided.
Which supports beyond General supports outlined early, have you found to be the most useful to support your child and family?
We would love to know about any specific examples of programs or supports you may have used and rely on.
This might be services providing allied health, family capacity building, supports offered through school or early childhood settings or in the home.
Please write your answer in the box provided.
What support is needed that isn’t available to you now or wasn’t available to you in the past (depending on where you are in your journey)?
Please tell us any specific supports you need for your child or family that you haven’t been able to access through mainstream services or the NDIS.
Please write your answer in the box provided.

Section 4. How supports work together

Information from the consultation paper

Governments are thinking about how Targeted Supports for children, families, carers and kin might work together and be delivered. They will consider options to use existing services and infrastructure to deliver these supports where children live, learn and play. These services may be provided in group settings (helped by an allied health worker or a multidisciplinary team) or individually in a child’s natural environment. This shifts away from a mostly one-on-one therapy model in clinical settings, which is not seen as best practice early intervention for most children
If you don’t want to answer these questions, you can skip to the final questions.
How could supports (mainstream, NDIS and Foundational Supports) be better connected and integrated, so you experience a more streamlined pathway to accessing supports for your child and family?
Please write your answer in the box provided.
How could supports in early childhood settings be more accessible for children and families?
Please write your answer in the box provided.
Do you have any ideas about how different sectors (e.g. disability, health, early childhood settings and education) can work together to better support children with developmental concern, delay and/or disability, and their families and carers?
Please write your answer in the box provided.

Section 5. Other feedback
Do you have any other feedback about supports for children and families, and how supports might be delivered?
This could include how people access information advice and referral services for children and families. It could also include ideas about how families and children access allied health services or ideas related to one-to-one support for people caring for children with developmental delay who do not have substantial reduction in functional capacity or children, including skill building and self-advocacy supports.
Please write your answer in the box provided.

Would you like to upload a written document, audio or video file with your feedback?
If yes, please upload in the field provided
Max. file size: 10 MB.
Do you consent for us to use wording in your responses as quotes in our reports? No information that identifies you or any organisations will be included in quotes.
- Yes
- No
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Consultation period

Foundational supports for children, and their families, carers and kin: Questionnaire

Step 1 of 11

Introduction

About Foundational Supports

What is this questionnaire about

Instructions

Privacy

If you need support

Section 1. About you

Section 2. General Supports - Information, advice and capacity building

Information from the consultation paper

Section 3. Improving access to supports for children and families

Section 4. How supports work together

Information from the consultation paper

Section 5. Other feedback