Cat 1 · 30 days
appointment within 30 calendar days. - Child in out of home care, where there is imminent threat of breakdown of current foster placement due to the complexity of the child's developmental concerns
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Child Development Services · Refer Your Patient
Learning difficulty/disability in children ≥ 6 years
Copied from the official Gold Coast Health condition page (27 Aug 2026). Hospital triage assigns the official category. Live source: Refer Your Patient — Learning difficulty/disability in children ≥ 6 years.
CPC windows
Cat 2 · 90 days
appointment within 90 calendar days. - Definite history of loss of academic ability suggestive of neurological disease. Child excluded from school due to these concerns - A child: - at risk of entering the child protection system (0 – 18 years of age) - currently in out of home care (OOHC) (0 – 18 years of age), or - Adolescents transitioning to adult healthcare following an out of home care experience (15 – 25 years of age), where they have previously been on a waiting list for this problem and were removed without receiving a service
Cat 3 · 365 days
appointment within 365 calendar days. - Child with suspected moderate to severe learning difficulty / disability who requires timely assessment for purpose of diagnostic formulation, accessing NDIS and / or support for verification of disability in education setting - Educational psychology assessment suggests intellectual impairment and the child has never been seen by a paediatrician for assessment - Suspected attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity
Essential referral information
Referral will be returned without this. If a mandatory test cannot be obtained, say so in the referral.
- Description of the learning or disibility concern - WISC or other formal assessment within the previous 3 years or detailed information regarding learning abilities (such as NAPLAN report or reading, spelling, maths age equivalent levels) (provided by the school or another external provider). This is not required if there is a concern about developmental regression. - Review by school/private psychologist outlining area of difficulty - Nature of parent's concerns - Are there significant behavioural or emotional issues suggesting that this referral would be better assessed under a behavioural category? It is acknowledged that behavioural difficulties can be secondary to learning problems - Report presence or absence of concerning features - Is the child able to actively engage in learning? Is their reduced school hours attendance, recurrent suspensions, at risk expulsion due to their learning and / or associated behavioural challenges - Is there definite history of developmental regression, and if so what specific loss of skills has been noted? - Is the child expected to be in out of home care supervised by Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services for more than 6 months? - Confirmation of out of home care OOHC (where appropriate)
Out of scope / wrong door
The following conditions are out of scope for this service: - Children who require developmental monitoring/surveillance (in the absence of developmental delay) should be referred to GP or Child Health Nurse. - Educational assessment of school age children - Services that should be initially provided by primary care or community based allied health care for children, including well infant care and advice, parenting and behaviour management for young children, developmental services for children with mild developmental delay - Health screening assessments including on entry to foster care - Acute paediatric concerns - Developmental Allied Health intervention services will not be provided for Children who are eligible for Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) / National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) For children who are non-Australian citizens but still meet clinical criteria for an underlying disability as defined by ECEI/NDIS, CDS Gold Coast is unable to provide long term allied health intervention services. - Allied health developmental intervention services are not provided for children who are school-age (prep to year 12)
Parent service: Child Development Services
Send outpatient referrals to
- Smart Referrals preferred (Best Practice or Medical Director)
- Medical Objects GQ42150009Z (lookup qh → QHEALTH, GOLD COAST HEALTH OUTPATIENT)
- HealthLink EDI Qldgchsd
- Fax (07) 5687 4497 — Booking and Referral Centre
- Post: Booking and Referral Centre, Gold Coast University Hospital, 1 Hospital Boulevard, Southport QLD 4215
- Clinic enquiries 1300 559 083
HealthPathways
Sign in for localised assessment and management. HealthPathways does not send the referral. Register: gchealthpathways@health.qld.gov.au