WA election 2025: Vouchers for kids glasses and speech therapists in schools part of WA Liberal promise

The WA Liberals are promising to spend almost $110 million to “revolutionise” early childhood health, in a major cost-of-living pitch to young families. Leader Libby Mettam and Shadow Early Childhood Minister Donna Farragher on Sunday will announce nine initiatives, including vouchers to pay for the glasses of young kids and trialling speech therapists in 100 primary schools. Ms Mettam is using the pledge to double down on a key campaign theme — that the health system was “broken” and people were worse off, despite the longest boom in WA history. The pitch — ahead of the March 8 State election — aims to bring down paediatric wait-times, which for some services in WA reached nearly two years. In November, the Government revealed the median wait time in Perth for a paediatrician was more than 22 months, ten-and-half months for speech pathology, six months for an audiologist and nearly two years for a clinical psychologist. With 4080 children on the waitlist as of November for a speech pathologist, the Liberals are promising to spend $8.8m on a two-year trial of a speech therapy service in 100 primary schools. It will involve four speech pathologist teams, each made up of nine pathologists and one coordinator. There are currently five language development centres, with the Liberals promising to “investigate an appropriate location” for a sixth to boost capacity. To help parents with the cost of glasses — which some children purchase and then no longer require — the party will spend $4m to provide 20,000 students from kindergarten to Year 3 with $200 vouchers towards glasses. The West Australian previously revealed that less than a third of the 27,000 calls to Kids Helpline in 2023 were answered, with the Liberals reaffirming their $6m commitment to boost the organisation’s capacity. The suite of initiatives includes a $5 million spend to enhance GPs training in ADHD care, as well as $250,000 over four years for ADHD WA to expand. Ms Mettam said families were currently travelling over east to get ADHD diagnosis and treatment and that improved GP training would allow parents to get “treatment more quickly, closer to home, often at a lower cost”. “It will also free up paediatricians to focus on more complex cases, and other paediatric issues, helping to fix our broken health system,” she said. Kids’ hearing is also covered, with a $26.8 million promise over four years in funding for the Earbus Program to “expand the reach of their mobile clinics state-wide”. The program operates mobile ear clinics or buses, often servicing Aboriginal children in remote communities where middle ear disease is a severe issue. Ms Mettam said current child health wait times were unacceptable in “a State as wealthy as WA” and only her party had a plan to “fix Labor’s broken health system”. “Our plan to revolutionise access to early childhood development services will ease pressures on families’ budgets, equip our kids with the tools to succeed, and reduce the need for more costly interventions later in life,” she said. She also accused Labor of having “gutted” regional services. “From the Earbus, to Kids Helpline, Children’s Dental Services, and Mobile Allied Health services, we are committed to restoring regional services,” she said. Two mobile allied health clinics for children will be funded to the tune of $5.3 million, in a further bid to reduce wait-times. The party is also promising $30.4 million on 10 new Child and Parent centres — spread out in Perth and regional WA — saying while the Barnett Government established 21, the Cook and McGowan terms have delivered just one new centre. Rounding out the package is a previously announced pledge to spend $19 million to fund five mobile dental units in the Goldfields, Mid-West, Pilbara, and other remote communities. Ms Farragher said every dollar spent in early childhood delivered a significant return on investment. “The simple fact is however that the longer a child has to wait for early intervention and support, the greater impact it has on their overall development and wellbeing,” she said. “Our children don’t have time to wait. “Our commitment is not just about immediate assistance; it is about shaping a future where every child has the tools to succeed, ensuring a more prosperous and equitable Western Australia for generations to come.”