Child care for kids with additional needs in Perth: getting started

Finding child care for a child with additional needs in Perth takes more groundwork than a typical enrolment, but a structured approach makes it far less overwhelming. This is general guidance to help you get started; funding eligibility and specific support arrangements depend on your child’s individual circumstances.

Where to start

Begin with a clear, honest picture of what your child needs day to day: physical support, communication support, behavioural strategies, medical management, or a combination. Having this written down, even informally, makes it much easier to have a direct, specific conversation with a provider rather than a general one about whether they “take” children with additional needs. Start this search earlier than you would for a typical enrolment; if you are also timing it around a return to work, our guide on choosing child care after parental leave covers the broader timeline this search sits inside.

What to ask a provider

• What direct experience does your team have with a need similar to my child’s?
• How do you develop and review an individual support plan, and who is involved?
• What is your educator-to-child ratio when additional one-on-one support is needed?
• Have staff had specific training relevant to my child’s needs, and how recently?
• How do you communicate with families about a child’s day, progress and any incidents?

Area to check	What a strong answer sounds like
Experience	Specific examples, not a general “we’re inclusive” statement
Individual support plan	A clear process, reviewed regularly with your input
Staffing	Extra support arranged where genuinely needed, not assumed to fit standard ratios
Training	Recent, relevant training named specifically
Communication	Regular, honest updates, including on harder days

Funding support

Support schemes exist to help fund additional assistance within an education and care setting for children who qualify, covering things like extra staffing support or specific equipment. Because eligibility criteria and application processes are specific and can change, treat any figure you hear informally as a starting point and confirm the current process directly with the relevant scheme or your provider’s enrolment team.

Trial visits matter more here

For most families, a single tour is enough to get a feel for a centre. For a child with additional needs, it is worth asking for one or more trial visits before committing, ideally at a time that reflects a typical day rather than a quiet, specially arranged slot. Watch how staff actually interact with your child, not just how they describe their approach in the office.

If it does not work out the first time

It is genuinely common to need to try more than one provider before finding the right fit. This is not a reflection on your child or on you as a parent; different services have different strengths, and finding the right match sometimes takes a couple of attempts. Keep notes on what worked and did not at each place you try, since this makes the next conversation more specific and productive.

Building a relationship with your team over time

Once you find a provider that genuinely fits, the relationship tends to work best when it is treated as an ongoing partnership rather than a one-off enrolment decision. Ask how often the individual support plan is reviewed and whether you will be part of that conversation, not just informed of the outcome afterward. Share updates from any other professionals involved in your child’s care, such as a therapist or paediatrician, so the centre’s approach stays aligned with what is happening elsewhere. Small, regular check-ins tend to catch issues earlier than waiting for a formal review to roll around.

Connecting with other families

Other parents navigating a similar search are often one of the most useful sources of practical, specific information, from which providers have genuinely experienced staff to what a real day-to-day week looks like beyond the brochure. Local parent groups, whether in person or online, focused on additional needs can be worth seeking out early in your search, both for provider recommendations and for the reassurance of talking to someone who has been through the same process.

Where to look

Browse the special needs and inclusive care category to see providers across Perth Metropolitan with a stated focus in this area, and use the questions above as your starting point for a direct conversation with each one. Our methodology explains how we weigh the same kinds of signals when scoring providers.