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Support for children with a disability in Bayside

If you are one of the many families in Bayside with a child with special needs, there’s information here to help you to find:

Need some help? Call us on 039 599 4632 if you want to talk about the services we provide or find out more about other support available.

Support organisations

A number of organisations can assist parents of child with a disability looking for guidance and support. Here are a range of ones which can help you with providing care.

ECEI (children under 7)

If your child is aged 0-6 years and has a disability, or if you are concerned with their development, they may be eligible to receive support through the Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) program of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The Early Childhood Early Intervention approach has been designed to identify the type and level of early support your child needs. Providing quality support early in your child’s life reduces the possible need for longer term care. 

Two seated women and a boy in a disability chair laughing together

In Bayside, the Brotherhood of St Laurence is the local Early Childhood partner, providing advice and support on behalf of the NDIS.

Brotherhood of St Laurence will work with your family to determine the best supports for your child and family, will assist you to identify local services, and, if required, will help you to request an NDIS 'plan' to fund services (eg speech therapist, physiotherapist) and equipment (wheelchairs, digital technology).        

You can contact the Early Child Early Intervention team at the Brotherhood of St Laurence on 1300 275 323. 

Read about the ECEI process

Children over 7

Brotherhood of St Laurence is also the Local Area Coordinator for the NDIS, for people aged 7 – 65 years.  They will assist you to see if your child over 7 is eligible for NDIS support.

To contact the Brotherhood of St Laurence - Local Area Coordinator, call 1300 275 634 or email ndis.info@bsl.org.au

Visit the NDIS website

Association for Children with Disability

The ACD empowers families of children with a disability to access the support needed to live a fulfilling life and to uphold their child’s right to reach their full potential.

ACD is the leading advocacy and information service for families of children with any type of disability living in Victoria.

Phone: 03 9880 7000

Visit the ACD website

Moira

Moira a not-for-profit organisation that provides support services for both individuals with a disability and their families including case management, outreach and accommodation.

Visit Moira's website

Scope

Scope is also a not-for-profit organisation that exists to support people with physical, intellectual and multiple disabilities achieve their goals in life. Their mission is to enable each person to live as an empowered and equal citizen. They support people with physical, intellectual and multiple disabilities and developmental delays to achieve their goals. Across Victoria, Scope provides services to thousands of people with disability across more than 100 locations.

Visit Scope's website

Activity resources

Bayside Toy Library

Young girl with brown hair smiling and holding onto toddler walker at Toy Library

 

The Bayside Toy Library is a not-for-profit toy lending service (for children aged between 3 months and 10 years), which provides families with access to a variety of educational toys to assist with childhood development.

Fun is fundamental to what they do, but they also have whole host of specialist resources selected by trained health professionals. From soft stairs to support learning to climb in a safe environment to sensory toys, Bayside's Toy Library caters for a range of needs.

Address

212 Dendy Street, Brighton East VIC 3187

Visit the Toy Library's website

AAA Play

A teenage boy and girl watching a young boy with a disability kick a soccer ball

 

Access for All Abilities is a website connecting people with disabilities to sporting activities in Victoria. This site is intended to help you the visitor find out more about the activities that may be suitable for you or your family members and friends.

Visit AAA Play's website

Playgroup Victoria

Playgroup brings young children, parents, families and communities together to learn and develop through informal play activities and social interaction. Playgroup help parents and caregivers build social and support networks that encourage and assist them in their valuable parenting role.

At playgroup you get to meet other people going through similar experiences, ease the isolation that can come with caring for young children and find out about local community, health and support services.

Locations: Brighton, Brighton East, Hampton and Beaumaris

Visit Playgroup's website

An inclusive Bayside community

Young family and carer in shallow water with young child with a disability laying in chair

We are working to make Bayside a more accessible place for people of all abilities; and a place where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy community life. For information about all-abilities recreation, sports, accessible beaches and playgrounds in Bayside please refer to these links. 

All-abilities sports programs

We're proud to support a range of all-ability sports programs throughout Bayside. Hit the link above to read more about them and how to join a club.

Playground upgrades

Find out here about the playgrounds in Bayside which we have recently upgraded to make them more accessible, safe and fun.

Accessible beaches

Back in November 2019 we rolled out access matting at Hampton Beach and Half-Moon Bay, with floating wheelchairs available to hire during the summer months. Read more here.