Where the module fits
The NDIS Practice Standards are made up of a core module and several supplementary modules. The supplementary modules cover high intensity daily personal activities, specialist behaviour support, implementing behaviour support plans, early childhood supports, specialised support coordination and Specialist Disability Accommodation.
The early childhood supports module applies to providers registered to deliver early childhood supports to NDIS participants, under the registration group for early intervention supports for early childhood (0118). It does not replace the core module. Auditors check both.
The seven outcomes
Each outcome has quality indicators that an auditor uses to check whether the provider meets it. In short:
- The child: supports respect the child's legal and human rights, build functional skills and help the child take part in everyday activities with their peers
- The family: supports are family centred, culturally inclusive, responsive and focused on the family's strengths, and the family's knowledge of their child is respected
- Inclusion: supports happen in the child's natural environments and routines, such as home, childcare and community, and help the child take part in family and community life
- Collaboration: the family, the provider and other providers work as one team around the child, including a key worker if the family wants one
- Capacity building: supports build the knowledge and skills of the family and other people in the child's life, through coaching and teamwork
- Evidence informed practice: strategies rest on validated practice and current research, and staff keep their skills up to date
- Outcome based approach: the child has a documented support plan with functional outcomes, developed and reviewed with the family
What it looks like in practice
The module reflects the best practice approach to early childhood intervention. Instead of a therapist working with a child alone in a clinic for an hour, much of the work happens in the places the child already spends time, with the people who are there every day.
A provider meeting the module will usually:
- Assess the child's development in everyday routines, not only through tests
- Agree goals and priorities with the family and write them into a support plan
- Give the family a copy of the plan in language and terms they understand
- Coach parents, educators and carers so strategies carry on between sessions
- Share information with the family's other providers, with the family's consent
- Measure and report progress in ways that make sense to the family
- Plan transitions, such as starting school, with the family and other services
How it is audited
Early childhood supports need a certification audit by an approved quality auditor against the core module and this module. Auditors look for evidence such as support plans, records of family involvement, policies on child safety and risk, staff qualifications and professional development, and feedback from families.
Child safety sits inside the module as well as the core. Providers must manage risk with a focus on a safe environment for children and comply with state and territory laws on reporting risk of harm to children. Some individuals or partnerships certified only for early childhood supports are exempt from the mid term audit.
Do unregistered providers have to meet it?
No. The module only binds registered providers. Many therapists who work with children are unregistered and can still be paid by self managed and plan managed participants. They must still follow the NDIS Code of Conduct.
Families often use the module as a checklist anyway. A provider who works in your child's routines, coaches you, works with your other providers and measures functional outcomes is following the same principles whether or not they are registered.
Early childhood supports and the 2026 reforms
Thriving Kids started rolling out on 1 October 2026 for children 8 and under with developmental delay or autism and low to moderate support needs. Until 1 January 2028 children can still apply for the NDIS under the current rules, and children already in the NDIS keep their plans.
Registration rules are also changing. From 1 July 2027 mandatory registration expands to higher risk supports, and the final list of supports in scope is still being worked out. Early childhood providers should watch both reforms closely.
Tips for providers
- Map your current practice against each of the seven outcomes before your audit and fix gaps early
- Keep support plans with clear functional outcomes and evidence that families helped write and review them
- Record coaching and capacity building, not only direct therapy time
- Have a written process for working with other providers and for transitions
- Say clearly in your service agreement and listings whether you are registered for early childhood supports, since families ask