Thousands of young children with disability now have access to up to $12,000 to help with early intervention.

Thousands of children with disability have been given a better start in life with the commencement of the federal government’s new early intervention program, Better Start for Children with Disability.

Under the initiative, which began last month, eligible children can register to access early intervention funding of up to $12,000 (to a maximum of $6,000 per financial year).

Better Start will provide the funds to children aged under six years who have been diagnosed with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Fragile X syndrome, moderate or severe vision or hearing impairments including deafblindness.

Families will have until their child turns seven to use the early intervention funding.

To help support children living in regional, rural and remote communities, the Government is delivering an extra one-off payment of $2,000 to help meet the higher costs of accessing services away from home.

New Medicare items will also be available to eligible families with children aged under 13 years to develop treatment and management plans. Families will also have access to additional allied health treatment services, such as speech pathology, occupational therapy and physiotherapy, until their children turn 15 years.

Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, Senator Jan McLucas, said targeted early intervention can make a huge difference to a child’s development.

"Access to high quality services in the early years is critical for helping children with disability to better participate in everyday life and prepare them for school,” Senator McLucas said.

In the recent Federal Budget, the Gillard Government committed $146.5 million over four years to deliver the Better Start for Children with Disability initiative.

“For the first time, children will have access to early intervention services and therapies such as speech pathologists, audiologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, orthoptists and psychologists through Better Start,” Senator McLucas said.

“Better Start will help reduce the financial burden on parents and carers of children with a disability by making vital early intervention services and therapies more affordable.”

For more information on Better Start visit www.fahcsia.gov.au.