Child development services in Hunter New England

About our Child Development Team

The Child Development Team (team) is a specialist child development unit for families with children aged 18 months to 12 years. Our tertiary (highly specialised) multiskilled team is community-based. 

We specialise in providing development assessments for children who are experiencing difficulties in 2 or more areas of their development. 

Families living in the following LGAs (Local Government Areas) can access our services: 

• Newcastle
• Lake Macquarie
• Port Stephens
• Maitland
• Cessnock
• Dungog
• Singleton.

We also run paediatric medicine outreach clinics in:

• Charlestown
• Muswellbrook
• Nikinpa (Toronto).

Our services and team

There is no cost for our services. We conduct assessments for children with multiple or complex development needs, including:

• learning disorders
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Global developmental delay
• Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

As all children are unique, we explore many factors and developmental difficulties that may have affected the child and family, including:

• psychosocial difficulties
• trauma and adverse experiences
• attachment disruption
• language disorders
• difficulties with fine and gross motor skills
• sensory preferences
• living skills 
• anxiety and cognitive ability.

Please note: We are an assessment only service and do not offer therapy or ongoing management. We provide onward referrals and recommendations after completing our assessments.

Our team understand the challenges faced by children with developmental difficulties and their families. We may provide counselling to address these unique needs while seeing your child, including:

• counselling
• parent education
• support or case management.

You can discuss if this is helpful during your child and family's time with us.

Sparks program

Sparks is a specialist service for families with children aged under 10 who may have problems with or display harmful sexualised behaviours. A referral is required for this service. 

Learn more about the Sparks program. 

Our team

Our team of clinicians include:

• Paediatricians
• Psychologists
• Social workers
• Speech pathologists
• Occupational therapists.

Referrals

We do not accept direct referrals from parents and carers.

We accept referrals from:

• health professionals
• education professionals 
• day care, pre-schools and schools
• non-government organisations.

Download our child development team referral form. 

Please use the SeNT eReferral to send referrals to Hunter New England LHD. If your GP (General Practitioner) management system does not support SeNT, you can fax it to (02) 4924 6401.

Call (02) 4924 6400 or email HNELHD-ChildDevelopmentTeam@health.nsw.gov.au for initial enquiries.

National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) Early Intervention supports

We strongly encourage parents with a child under age 7 who meet our criteria of significant concerns in 2 or more developmental areas is also referred to their local NDIA Early Childhood Early Intervention provider. 

After we receive a referral

Our team reviews and discusses the referral at our weekly intake meeting. 

If the child meets the criteria, we offer the parents or carers an initial interview to see how we can best help the child and family. If accepted, we will add the child to our waiting list to see a team clinician.

After the interview we may refer your child to another service that can help your child and the family.

Contact us

Phone:(02) 4924 6190 or (02) 4924 6400

Email:HNELHD-ChildDevelopmentTeam@health.nsw.gov.au 

Fax: (02) 4924 6401

Street address: Harker Building, Longworth Avenue, Wallsend NSW 2287

Postal address: Locked bag 1014, Wallsend NSW 2287

Service hours: 9am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday

This service has wheelchair access.