Child and family health in Western Sydney

Our nurses help families with:

• health and development checks for babies and children
• breastfeeding and feeding support
• sleep and settling strategies
• coping with crying
• immunisation information
• home and child safety
• play and early learning
• emotional health and wellbeing for parents, carers and children.

We also run parent and carer groups on:

• sleep and settling
• parenting across developmental stages
• emotional wellbeing.

Home visits

If your appointment is at home, your child and family health nurse will phone you on the day to let you know what time they will arrive.

Centre visits

If your appointment is at a Child and Family Health Centre:

During your appointment, your nurse will:

• talk with you about how things have been going at home.
• review your child’s Blue Book Child Health Record
• discuss your child’s health, growth and development
• ask how you and your partner are coping with being parents.
• offer guidance and parenting support including referrals to other services.

A free and confidential interpreter service, including Auslan, is available. Ask staff to arrange an interpreter for you.

You can ask your child and family health nurse to help you access parent support groups and how to enrol. There are different groups covering issues like early parenting, parenting for different ages, breastfeeding support and emotional wellbeing groups. 

For your first appointment, please bring:

• your Medicare card
• your child’s Blue Book Child Health Record
• complete the age-appropriate questions in your child’s Blue Book before your appointment
• you can discuss any questions or concerns with your child and family health nurse during your appointment.

A child and family health nurse will contact you after you return home with your new baby.

You can also call the Central Referral Service on 1800 600 681 to request an appointment.

Our therapists support children to develop movement, coordination and independence through everyday activities such as:

• climbing, walking and balance
• drawing, writing and fine motor skills
• getting dressed and helping around the home.
• playing and socialising with other children.

You will meet your occupational therapist. All our occupational therapists are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Sometimes your occupational therapist might bring a university student who is training to become an occupational therapist. The student is on placement to learn and gain experience.

When you arrive at the Community Health Centre, the receptionist will greet you.

During the appointment, your occupational therapist will:

• talk with you about your child’s medical, social and developmental history
• discuss your child’s strengths and areas where they may be having difficulty
• complete an assessment with your child.

After the assessment, your occupational therapist will discuss your child’s goals and possible treatment options. Together, you will decide what to focus on to help your child develop their skills.

A free and confidential interpreter service, including Auslan, is available. Ask staff to arrange an interpreter for you.

Please bring:

• your Medicare card
• your child’s Blue Book Child Health Record.
• copies of any reports or documents about your child, including:
  • letters or reports from your local doctor or paediatrician
  • hearing assessments
  • reports from other health professionals your child has seen, such as psychologists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists or paediatricians.
  • school counsellor reports, school reports from the past 12 months, and any psychometric (IQ) testing reports.
• any questionnaire we have sent you to complete — please bring it with you to your appointment.

Call the Central Referral Service on 1800 600 681 to request this service.

Our speech pathologists support children to:

• understand and use words to communicate
• speak clearly and be understood
• manage stuttering or voice difficulties
• feed and swallow safely.

During the appointment, your speech pathologist will:

• talk with you about your child’s medical, social and developmental history
• discuss your child’s strengths and areas where they may be having difficulty
• play and interact with your child to see how they communicate
• complete an assessment with your child.

After the assessment, your speech pathologist will discuss your child’s goals and possible treatment options. Together, you’ll decide what to focus on to help your child build their communication skills.

A free and confidential interpreter service, including Auslan, is available. Ask staff to arrange an interpreter for you.

Please bring the following items to your child’s first appointment:

• your Medicare card
• your child’s Blue Book Child Health Record
• any reports or documents from your child’s local doctor or paediatrician
• any hearing assessment reports
• assessments or reports from other health professionals your child has seen, such as psychologists, paediatricians, occupational therapists or speech pathologists
• school-related information, including reports from the last 12 months, testing by a school counsellor and any psychometric (IQ) testing reports
• any completed questionnaires we may have sent you before the appointment.

Call the Central Referral Service on 1800 600 681 to request this service.

We provide counselling for:

• adjusting to parenthood for you and your partner
• parenting strategies and managing your child’s behaviour
• family relationships and family conflict
• managing emotions
• anxiety and depression symptoms
• managing stress
• self-esteem, shyness and low confidence
• grief and loss
• experiences of trauma and abuse, including domestic and family violence
• migration and cultural stress.

Who we support:

• children
• adolescents
• parents and carers of children 0 to 18 years.

You will meet your counsellor, who has qualifications in social work, counselling or psychology. Our psychologists are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

At times, a student counsellor may join your session. Students are completing university placements with our team.

Please bring the following items to your child’s first appointment:

• your Medicare card
• copies of any reports or assessments from other professionals, such as psychologists, paediatricians, occupational therapists, speech pathologists or school counsellors
• any questionnaire we have sent you before your appointment.

Counselling sessions are usually held at one of our Community Health Centres.
Sometimes, your counsellor may visit you at home or meet you in a community venue, such as your child’s preschool.

A free and confidential interpreter service, including Auslan, is available. Ask our staff to arrange an interpreter for you before your appointment.

Parents and carers play an important role in how children think, feel and act. Counselling for children will always involve parents or carers. Sometimes, it may be helpful for your child to speak with the counsellor on their own. Your counsellor will talk with you about this before the session.

Kids Gym supports children’s development through play-based learning. Each 60-minute session includes:

• a welcome and warm-up song
• outdoor play to build gross motor skills such as jumping, running and climbing
• craft activities to develop fine motor skills such as drawing and cutting with scissors
• story time to support language development
• fruit time to promote healthy eating habits.

A free childcare service is available for younger siblings under 2 years of age.

Kids Gym is run by an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist. You may also meet our speech pathologists and child and family counsellors, who often visit the group.

Qualified childcare workers are available to care for siblings under 2 years old.

When you arrive at the Community Health Centre:

• a receptionist will greet you and let the Kids Gym staff know you’ve arrived
• you’ll be asked to wait in the waiting area until the session begins
• During the session, you’ll join activities with your child and have the chance to meet other families.

You can talk to Kids Gym staff about any concerns you have about your child’s growth, behaviour or development.

A free and confidential interpreter service, including Auslan, is available. Ask staff to arrange an interpreter if you need one.

Bring the following items to each session:

• comfortable footwear and a hat for outdoor play
• clothing suitable for craft, painting or messy play
• a piece of fruit or vegetable to cut up and share during snack time.

Kids Gym sessions are held during school terms on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Different group times are available.

Kids Gym is held at:

Mount Druitt Community Health Centre
Corner of Buran Close and Kelly Close
Mount Druitt NSW 2770

Parking is available near Mount Druitt Library or at Westfield Shopping Centre.

Bookings are essential. To register, call (02) 9881 1220 and leave your name and phone number.

A staff member will call you back to confirm your booking.

Our audiometry (hearing) nurses conduct comprehensive hearing tests. These tests help with the early identification of ear disease and hearing problems.

Audiometry nurses can also make referrals to other health professionals and educators.

You will meet with one of our audiometry (hearing) nurses. All our nurses are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

During the appointment, your nurse will:

• talk with you about your child’s health
• explain how the hearing tests work
• test your child’s hearing
• discuss the results once the tests are complete.

Please bring the following items to your child’s first appointment:

• your Medicare card
• your child’s Blue Book Child Health Record.

A free and confidential interpreter service, including Auslan, is available. Ask staff to arrange an interpreter for you.

Hearing services are offered at the following Community Health Centres:

If you think your child might have hearing problems:

• Speak to your child and family health nurse. They can refer you to the hearing service if testing is needed.
• You can also contact the Central Referral Service on 1800 600 681 to ask for a hearing test.

This service is part of the Statewide Eyesight Preschooler Screening (StEPS) program.

The StEPS program offers all children aged 4 and 5 years a free vision check.

Children often don’t realise they have vision problems. The best way to detect issues early is by testing each eye separately.

Finding and treating eye problems early can greatly improve your child’s vision and learning outcomes.

You will meet one of our StEPS vision screeners. All our nurses are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

During the appointment, your vision screener will:

• talk with you about your child’s health
• explain how the vision test works
• test your child’s vision
• discuss the results with you after the test.

A free and confidential interpreter service, including Auslan, is available. Ask staff to arrange an interpreter for you.

• your child’s Blue Book Child Health Record

We provide the StEPS program at:

• local preschools and child care centres
• Community Health Centres in our local area.

We visit preschools and child care centres in our local area to provide screening.

If you would like to request a vision test:

• call (02) 8759 4150
• speak to your child and family health Nurse or GP if you’re concerned about your child’s eyesight.

Health professionals check your child’s overall health and development, including:

• height, weight and oral health
• communication, thinking and problem-solving skills
• gross and fine motor skills, and more.  

These early checks help identify health or developmental concerns before school starts.
You can also refer to your child’s Blue Book Child Health Record for information on recommended health checks.

Note: Vaccinations are not part of this program.

The Brighter Beginnings team will contact your service to book in the health and development check and provide you will all information including online forms.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Sharing program information with families.
• Promoting completion of online consent forms ahead of the health and development check.
• Identifying a suitable space in your service for the health and development check.
• Attending and supporting children throughout the health and development checks.

Educators are required to be present when children are assessed. 

As a parent or carer, you will receive a consent and pre-screening form when the program is scheduled at your child’s preschool or childcare centre.

After the check, you will receive a report with information on your child’s growth and development.

If your child needs extra support, health staff and educators will help connect you with the right services.

For more information or to take part in the program email WSLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au

It can be hard to tell if a child’s weight is healthy just by looking.

A healthy weight means your child’s height and weight are within a range that supports normal growth and development for their age.

A growth assessment helps health professionals check if your child is growing as expected. It can also identify possible growth or nutrition concerns early.

Health professionals use growth charts to compare your child’s measurements with averages for children of the same age.

All NSW Health Child and Family Health teams include growth assessments as a routine part of care. For example, if your child sees a speech therapist, their height and weight may also be measured and recorded.