What a developmental assessment looks at
Children develop at different speeds, so one late skill is rarely a worry on its own. A developmental assessment looks at the whole picture across several areas, compares your child with typical development for their age, and identifies where extra support would make the biggest difference.
- Gross motor: sitting, crawling, walking, running, balance
- Fine motor: grasping, using hands, drawing, early self feeding
- Communication: understanding words, using sounds, words and gestures
- Cognition: problem solving, play and learning
- Social and emotional development: interacting, attention, regulation
- Self care and adaptive skills: eating, dressing, toileting, sleep routines
Common tools
Assessors choose tools based on your child's age and the question being asked. Screening tools give a quick check, while full assessments measure development in detail.
- Ages and Stages Questionnaires: a parent completed screening tool, often used by child health nurses and GPs
- Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, fourth edition: a detailed assessment for babies and toddlers
- Griffiths Scales of Child Development, third edition (Griffiths III): a detailed assessment for children from birth to 6
- Vineland-3: an interview about everyday adaptive skills, used across all ages
- PEDI-CAT: a parent questionnaire about everyday function, which the NDIA prefers for children 16 and under
Who does it and what happens
Assessments are done by a paediatrician, a psychologist, or allied health professionals such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, sometimes together as a team. Public child development services also assess young children.
Expect play based activities with your child, observation, and questions for you about everyday life at home, care or kinder. It can take one or more sessions. You should get a report that explains the results in plain language, including where your child is doing well.
How developmental assessments are used for the NDIS
Under the NDIS Act, developmental delay applies to children younger than 6 whose delay, caused by an impairment, substantially reduces their functional capacity in self care, language, cognitive or motor development, and who need planned support over an extended time. A formal diagnosis is not required.
For developmental delay and global developmental delay, the NDIA's preferred evidence is, in order: a diagnosis under the current DSM, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, then the PEDI-CAT for children 16 and under. An early childhood partner can help you work out what evidence you need and whether early supports, without joining the NDIS, may suit your child first.
Who pays for a developmental assessment
The NDIS does not fund diagnostic assessments. Assessing and diagnosing a child is the health system's job. Options include your GP, child health nurse, public child development services and paediatricians, with Medicare rebates available for some services. Private assessments can be costly, so ask for a full quote including the report.
Once your child is an NDIS participant, assessments that help plan or review their supports, such as checking progress before a reassessment, can be paid from their Capacity Building budget. Speech pathology and occupational therapy have a 2026/27 price limit of $193.99 an hour in most of Australia.
Thriving Kids and the changes from 2028
From 1 October 2026, Thriving Kids supports started rolling out outside the NDIS for children 8 and under with developmental delay or autism and low to moderate support needs. Nothing changes about NDIS access for children until 1 January 2028. From then, new applicants in that group will be supported through Thriving Kids instead, while children with high support needs can still access the NDIS. A clear, current developmental assessment helps either way.
Tips for parents
- Write down your concerns and examples before the appointment
- Bring reports from your child health nurse, early education centre or therapists
- Describe a typical day, including the hard parts
- Ask what the results mean for everyday life and what support is recommended
- Ask when a review would be useful, as young children change quickly