Collaboration delivers early speech and language support to regional WA

Access to speech therapy services in regional Western Australia remains a significant challenge, with many families facing waiting lists of more than a year. To help address these shortages, the Y WA has partnered with the University Department of Rural Health South West (UDRH SW) and Edith Cowan University (ECU) to host a final-year ECU Speech Pathology student at the Y WA Timbertots Early Learning Centre (ELC) in Manjimup.
Final-year student Chantel Baptista is attending the centre several days per week over a nine-week placement, working with children in the Toddler and Kindy rooms. Under the guidance of qualified Speech Pathologist and clinical educator Emily Jackson, Chantel will provide early speech and language interventions during the most critical years of children’s learning and development.
The placement offers a dual benefit, delivering valuable early intervention support to families while providing students with hands-on experience in a real-world early learning environment. The program also strengthens centre capacity by supporting educators and developing resources that can be shared across all Y WA Early Learning Centres.
Chantel, who is not local to Manjimup, is being supported with accommodation and supervision funded by the UDRH SW, a Commonwealth supported initiative to build a sustainable health workforce in the South West. Emily from the UDRH SW said, “While around 30 percent of Australians live in rural areas, only about 4.5 percent of Speech Pathologists work in these locations. We are committed to attracting and retaining future healthcare professionals in the South West and hope students gain positive experiences that encourage them to consider rural practice.”
Y WA Timbertots ELC Director Amanda Bennett said the program responds to a growing need for accessible early intervention services in regional communities. “Programs like this deliver much-needed support directly into the centre at no cost to families, while also empowering educators with practical skills and strategies. This helps lay strong foundations for success at school and beyond.”
Y WA CEO Dr Tim McDonald said the Manjimup placement builds on successful previous collaborations with speech pathology students in the Perth metropolitan area and Broome. “This placement in Manjimup has been more than a year in the making. We are also working towards expanding regional placements to towns such as Karratha and Kalgoorlie, strengthening outcomes for regional families while building local workforce capacity across the health and education sectors.”
The Y WA Timbertots ELC also delivers the School ReadY Literacy and Language Program, developed by Y WA to equip educators with the resources and coaching needed to support children’s oral language and pre-literacy development every day.


















