Healthy Kindy Kids expands to the Gold Coast to support more Queensland children before school

Gold Coast families will have health services when they need them with free vision, hearing, speech and language checks for kindergarten children through the Healthy Kindy Kids program.

This cost of living initiative also helps prevent kids falling behind when they start school.

Healthy Kindy Kids is currently being delivered at five approved kindergartens in Townsville and will roll out to 11 across the Gold Coast, including Little Scholars School of Early Learning in Burleigh.

The expansion is part of a $37.5 million investment over five years which, once fully implemented across the State, will benefit up to 60,000 children each year.

Healthy Kindy Kids provides free health screenings in a familiar setting for kindergarten students, helping families identify potential concerns before children start school and connect them with the right support early.

Screenings are performed by Queensland Health allied health assistants under the supervision of senior health professionals.

Results from the Townsville pilot highlighted the value of early screening, with more than 70 per cent of children screened identified as requiring follow-up support in at least one area, and some needing support across two or more areas.

Clinician Nikkita said screening children in kindergartens helps identify potential concerns early and supports families to take the next steps before children start school.

“Early screening is important because it can help identify vision, hearing, speech or language concerns before children start school, giving families the opportunity to access support as early as possible.”

Gold Coast parent Tjana Burrett said early screening gave families reassurance and helped identify any areas where children might need extra support before starting school.

“As a busy working mum, trying to juggle work, appointments and everyday family life can be challenging, so having these screenings available at kindy is absolutely fantastic,” Tjana said.

“By having the screenings done in an environment where the children already feel comfortable, safe and familiar makes such a difference, takes away the stress of travelling to appointments and makes these important services so much more accessible for families.”

Healthy Kindy Kids will continue to expand across South East Queensland before being rolled out more broadly across the State, supporting more children to get the best possible start to learning.

For more information visit: Healthy Kindy Kids - qld.gov.au

Last updated:

20 October 2026