Lifestart is an Australian registered charity that provides early intervention and school age years inclusion support programs and supports to children and young people 0 – 24 years living with disability or developmental delay.
[1] Lifestart began in 1996 when eight families whose children attended the Macquarie University Early Intervention program decided to set up an Early Childhood Intervention service which would be a model of best practice in service provision and family support.
They won a tender from the NSW state government which allowed them to set up a small service in Turramurra, and was later named the model program for the state of NSW.
The service now covers the Sydney metropolitan area as well as the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, and the Blue Mountains.
Services are provided within the home, the child’s school or daycare, at one of Lifestart’s centres, or within the community (e.g. supporting inclusion into a swimming program).