Collaboration delivers early speech and language support to regional WA

Article

Contributor

Feb 23, 2026

Save

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.

Don’t miss a thing

Child safety depends on listening to early childhood professionals: national summit agrees key demands

An Early Childhood Education Summit held at the University of Sydney and online on Saturday 21 February 2026 has endorsed a statement of ten reform demands aimed at strengthening child safety and structural oversight in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector.

Early Learning service fined $20,000 after children left premises

Sparrow Nest Early Learning No 4 Pty Ltd, the approved provider of Sparrow Early Learning Yarrabilba, has been fined $20,000 following a successful prosecution relating to supervision and child safety failures.

Tasmanian Labor proposes five-day kindergarten and universal pre-school reform

Tasmanian Labor has unveiled a major early childhood reform package centred on five-day kindergarten in public schools and universal pre-school access for three-year-olds, positioning early learning as both an education and workforce participation priority.

Australian Childhood Foundation welcomes funding for Amplify program after evaluation shows strong impact

The Australian Childhood Foundation has welcomed the Victorian Government’s decision to re-fund the Amplify program, following evaluation findings that demonstrate strong outcomes for children and young people experiencing family violence and homelessness. The first-of-its-kind pilot, co-designed with young people with lived experience and delivered by Melbourne City Mission, provides dedicated support to unaccompanied help-seeking children and young people navigating trauma without a protective parent.

G8 Education FY25: Occupancy decline, safety reform and sector outlook

The 2025 financial year has marked a complex and defining period for Australia’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. The FY25 results and strategic repositioning of G8 Education, Australia’s largest ASX-listed provider, operating 395 centres, offer a clear signal to commercial investors, approved providers, large operators and policymakers about the pressures reshaping the operating environment.