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"Walking together in kindness" artwork produced for Gold Coast Health by Riki Salam, We are 27 Creative.
Gold Coast children are now being offered free vision, hearing, speech and language screening during kindergarten to identify any developmental concerns early and support their transition to school.
The Healthy Kindy Kids (HKK) program has launched in Gold Coast, bringing important health checks directly into government-approved kindergartens and making it easier for families to access early support.
Gold Coast Health allied health assistants deliver the checks under the supervision of senior health professionals.
Ella Spark is one of the allied health assistants and said screening kids early is an opportunity to identify any concerns before they start school.
“With parental consent, children take part in a series of simple, play-based activities, including a hearing game using headphones and a tablet, a language game and a vision check using a camera-like screening device,” she said.
“The face-to-face screening takes approximately 20-30 minutes, while speech development is assessed through a questionnaire completed by parents or carers.
“If we identify any concerns, we provide families with information and guidance on the next steps, including referrals or recommendations for further assessment and support where appropriate.”
The program follows a successful pilot across five Townsville kindergartens last year, with 11 kindergartens currently signed up in the Gold Coast region.
This includes Little Scholars West Burleigh, where four-year-old Reef recently had his screening with Ella.
“As a parent, I think early screening is so important because it gives us the opportunity to identify any potential concerns with our children’s development before they become bigger challenges,” his mum, Tjana, said.
“Knowing we can identify areas that our children may need a little bit of extra support in early on is really reassuring.
"It’s allowing us to give them the best possible start, especially as they prepare for school.”
Research shows that vision, hearing, speech and language difficulties are common among kindergarten-aged children, and identifying these concerns early can make a significant difference.
By bringing the free screening directly into kindergartens, families can have easier access to important health checks and get their children the support they need.
“As a busy working mum, I think having these screenings available at kindy is absolutely fantastic,” Tjana said.
“Having the screenings done in an environment where our children already feel comfortable, safe and familiar makes such a difference. It takes away the stress of travelling to appointments and makes these important services so much more accessible for families.”
The Queensland Government is investing $37.5 million over five years to expand the program statewide.
Once fully rolled out, the program will offer free screening to up to 60,000 children each year, helping more Queensland children start school with confidence.
Healthy Kindy Kids is expected have statewide availability planned by the end of 2028.
