What is a Key Worker?

A key worker leads a team of therapists and practitioners delivering early childhood intervention services. This approach facilitates a holistic approach to support children with a disability and/or developmental delay aged under nine years of age.

The key worker is the main point of contact for your child’s broader care team of therapy services, coordinating the sharing of knowledge and skills between the team, which may include a:

• Speech Pathologist
• Occupational Therapist
• Physiotherapist
• Behavioural Support Practitioner
• Habit Coach.

The key worker will work closely with your family to understand your child’s life, their priorities and their aspirations. They will deliver therapeutic services on behalf of other allied health professionals, building trust and ensuring consistency for your child by being a familiar face providing most of their therapy services.

The key worker model is considered best practice for achieving positive outcomes for your child and family. Having a trusted early childhood intervention professional onboard is often believed to be the driving factor in meeting the goals of NDIS participants.

Understanding the Key Worker Model

The most impactful way to achieve positive outcomes for your child is to have a skilled early intervention team working collaboratively to support them and their unique needs.

In order to ensure effective communication between parties, a key worker is appointed as the primary point of contact for your child and family. The key worker is experienced in early childhood development and is qualified to deliver therapy services to your child directly, drawing expertise from specialists where required.

The benefits of the key worker model include:

• A familiar face: an emphasis on less but stronger relationships with practitioners enables your child to form a bond with and learn to trust their key worker, allowing your child to reach their goals sooner. This is particularly helpful where children struggle with transitions or change.
• Tailored therapy: An NDIS key worker gets to know your child on a deeper level, allowing them to personalised therapy services to your child’s individual interests to promote engagement.
• Streamlined NDIS service: Coordinating your child’s services through one person simplifies the NDIS process. From onboarding to communicating and scheduling appointments, key worker services make everything more straight forward.
• Family advocate: The key worker approach will better equip your family with the ability and confidence to advocate for your child’s best interests, providing you with information that is easy to understand so that you can make informed decisions.
• Empowered Intervention: Your key worker will empower you to implement therapeutic strategies into your everyday family routine and connect you to other resources and services where required.
• Better outcomes: Consistency of practitioners and services and a personal, family centred approach results in better long term outcomes for your child and family. The key worker ensures all members of the support team are working towards the same outcomes for your child.

What is Their Role with Your Child and the NDIS?

If your child has funding for early intervention services as an NDIS participant, you may early childhood supports delivered by a key worker and broader therapy team. The key worker will make reports to the NDIS where required.

What is a key worker expected to undertake?

1. Meet with you to get an understanding of your child’s development and daily life and discuss your priorities.

2. Create a Child and Family Support Plan that outlines the specific strategies and services required to help the family achieve their goals.
3. Review the plan each year with the family and make the necessary adjustments depending on your child’s progress.

Do You Have Funding for a Key Worker in Your NDIS Plan?

Funding for a key worker is typically included in the NDIS plan under the early childhood supports line item as Capacity Building Supports.

Specific details and wording may vary. If you are unsure, contact your Early Childhood Partner for clarification.

Do Adults Have Key Workers Too?

Our early intervention services support children aged up to and including eight years old who are funded through the NDIS. For those aged above nine years and adults, Everyday Independence offers occupational therapy, speech pathology, physiotherapy, positive behaviour supports, habit coaching and group programs to promote their independence and wellbeing.

What Makes a Great Key Worker?

The key worker role encompasses a range of skills to deliver the best interventions to your child to help them reach the best possible outcomes.

A great key worker will be able to:

1. Form a bond with your child and family
2. Help you get the most out of your NDIS funding
3. Communicate excellently in order to manage the broader team
4. Demonstrate knowledge of early childhood development
5. Bring a range of other skills to the role from previous experience as either teachers, speech pathologists, occupational therapists or other allied health professionals
6. Assist children to develop skills such as fine motor skills and play skills by understanding how children learn

Does Everyday Independence Offer a Key Worker in My Area?

We have child and family teams working in 40 therapy hubs in communities across Australia. Click here to find your closest therapy hub.

Sessions are delivered in a space familiar to your child, such as their home, school or community. This helps your child develop skills in a real-world setting, and enables the key worker to identify any barriers that may be holding them back from being included.

The key worker model promotes better communication between services, increased satisfaction with services and improved child and family functioning.

How to Get Started

Speak to our friendly team on 1300 179 131 or complete an online form and we’ll be in touch to discuss how we can assist your family.

Our mission is to make inclusion possible for all Australians! For more information about our services, visit our early childhood supports page.