Health and development checks in early childhood services

Health and development checks are very important. They help you track how your child is growing and developing by looking at how they play, learn, speak, act and move.

Having health professionals regularly check your child's health and development in their early years will also help find what support they might need early – before they start school.

The Blue Book has information on the recommended checks for your child.

Free 4-year check in preschool and long day care services

At the moment, about 2 in 5 children are starting school developmentally off track. We also know many children in NSW are not getting their 4-year health and development check.

Increasing the number of children who complete the 4-year health and development check can help families:

get information they need to support their child's health, growth and development
seek help where needed, before their child starts school.

To make it easier for families to get this check, the NSW Government is rolling out free health and development checks for 4-year-old children at their preschool or long day care service.

What to expect from the checks

Health professionals will check your child's health and development, such as:

their listening and talking skills
their social skills and behaviour
their gross and fine motor skills
their learning, thinking and problem-solving skills
how their bodies are growing, such as their height, weight, and teeth.

No vaccinations are given.

Consent from a parent or carer is needed. You will need to sign the consent form when it arrives, to make sure your child gets their free check.

You will get a report after your child's check. It will have information on how you can keep supporting their growth and development.

Where is this program available?

Preschools and long day care services will let parents know when this program is coming to their service.

The 4-year check is also available through your doctor or your local child and family health service.

Information for Early Childhood Education and Care services

By registering your interest for this program, more children can get this important check.

The program is starting in these local health districts:

Local health district	Contact
Central Coast	CCLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Far West	fwlhd-brighterbeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Illawarra Shoalhaven	ISLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Hunter New England	HNELHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Mid North Coast	MNCLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Murrumbidgee	MLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Nepean Blue Mountains	NBMLHD-4yearoldchecks@health.nsw.gov.au
Northern NSW	NNSWLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Northern Sydney	NSLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
South Eastern Sydney	SESLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
South Western Sydney	SWSLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Southern NSW	SNSWLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Sydney	SLHD-brighterbeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Western NSW	WNSWLHD-BrighterBeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au
Western Sydney	WSLHD-brighterbeginnings@health.nsw.gov.au

Each local health district has a team dedicated to delivering the program. The team in your district will get in touch about bringing the program to your service.

You can also email your local health district to let them know you'd like to host the program at your ECEC service in 2024.

Please keep in mind that local health districts are dealing with a high volume of requests and will do their best to get back to you as soon as they can.

If you aren’t sure what your local health district is, contact earlychildhooddevelopment@det.nsw.edu.au.