Key Worker · Thriving Kids ready

One trusted person. A whole team, coordinated around you.

A Key Worker is your single, trusted point of contact who holds the whole picture and coordinates the team around your child or your family, so you are not managing seven separate experts. At The Centered Space, every clinician is a trained Key Worker, and we already work the way the new Thriving Kids approach describes.

Children, young people and adults Family-centred and affirming Brisbane, Gold Coast & Northern NSW, plus telehealth
Lucy, our occupational therapist and team leader, and a trained key worker.
What a Key Worker doesOne contact
Holds the whole picture for your family
Coordinates the team so you do not have to
Builds your confidence, not your dependence
Trained, not self-titled
Every clinician completes our Key Worker Model training and sign-off
One point of contact
One trusted person who coordinates the whole team
Thriving Kids ready
We already work the way the new approach describes
Capacity building
We build the skills of the people around your child
What a Key Worker actually does

One person who holds the whole picture.

Most families juggle a separate relationship with every therapist. A Key Worker changes that. One trusted person coordinates the team, translates between disciplines, and carries the plan into your everyday life.

Talk to us about your family
One trusted point of contact. Someone who knows your family, holds the plan, and means you are not retelling your story to everyone.
A coordinated, transdisciplinary team. Speech, occupational therapy and the wider team share strategies, so you get one plan, not seven.
Capacity building, not dependence. We build the skills and confidence of the people around your child, so support grows from within your family.
Support in everyday life. Home, childcare, school, the park, mealtimes. The most useful learning happens where life happens.
Help with the NDIS, in plain language. We explain your plan and your options without jargon, and we never bill you to understand the NDIS.
Across the lifespan. The same coordination works for adults with complex needs, under different names. One trusted person, a coordinated team.
How we work

The ecosystem comes before the therapy.

We do not just do therapy. Before a single session, we look at the whole system around you. We coordinate the Key Worker role, build a transdisciplinary plan, and sort NDIS supports first. We will not start therapy on someone with no ecosystem around them. Once the foundation is steady, support in everyday life actually works.

01 Understand the whole life 02 Stabilise the ecosystem 03 Coordinate the team 04 Build goals with you 05 Therapy where life happens 06 Review and adjust

We put the key-worker hat on

Every clinician here is a trained Key Worker. We coordinate the whole team so you are not managing seven separate experts.

We stabilise first

Consults, supports, an NDIS consult if it is needed. We get the whole picture steady before we build skills.

Goals built with you, not for you

Functional goals in your own words, tied to the life you actually want to live.

Where your feet are

Home, school, the park, the community, or telehealth. Support that only works in a clinic is not good enough.

Transdisciplinary by default

Speech and occupational therapy are not siloed. We share strategies across the team so the plan is one plan.

We will always find a way

If the usual path does not fit, we turn left. Creative is how we are wired, because we are neurodivergent too.

Trained, not self-titled

A Key Worker who is actually trained to do it.

Anyone can call themselves a key worker. Here is what that word means with us.

Talk to us about your family
01

Every clinician completes our Key Worker Model training and a formal sign-off pathway before they work with anyone.

02

We coordinate the team, so you deal with one trusted person, not a committee.

03

We start with your child's interests and strengths, and help you understand their neurology, not just manage behaviour.

04

Regulation and safety come before any skill goal.

05

Capacity building is the aim. We build independence over time, the opposite of keeping you dependent on us.

06

We work where life happens, and we will always find a way to make it fit your family.

The Thriving Kids change

Worried about the changes coming? You are not alone, and you are not losing support.

From around late 2026, many children with lower to moderate needs will be supported through the new Thriving Kids approach rather than an individual NDIS plan. It is a big change, and it is normal to feel unsure. Here is the honest picture, and why we are ready.

Your child is not losing support

Thriving Kids is a new way to provide early support, funded separately. Children with higher needs continue on the NDIS, and there are clear pathways if needs change.

We already work this way

Key Worker coordination, capacity building, support in everyday life and family coaching are exactly how we already practise. We are not scrambling to catch up.

We will walk it with you

When the detail is confirmed, we will explain what it means for your family in plain language, and help you plan your next step. No jargon, no pressure.

We cannot speak for the NDIA or confirm final details that are still being decided, and we will never pretend otherwise. What we can promise is that we will keep you informed and supported through it.

Functional, not textbook

We build your confidence, not your dependence.

We meet you where life is at, where your feet are. Goals are built with you, in your own words, about what makes a real difference: getting through the morning, a calmer mealtime, a school that finally understands your child, a family that feels less alone. And if the usual path does not fit, we will always find a way. We get creative, we pivot, and there is always a way.

Family-centred Capacity building Neurodivergence-affirming
A clinician and a child dancing together in a bright studio, mid-movement and laughing.
Who we work with

For families, and for the people who support them.

Families

One trusted person who holds the whole picture, coordinates the team, and helps you feel less alone through every stage and every change.

Support Coordinators

A provider whose whole team is trained in the Key Worker Model, coordinates cleanly, and communicates clearly. Easy to refer to, safe to rely on.

Download: the Key Worker and Thriving Kids guide (PDF) →

Adults with complex needs

The same coordination function, under different names. One trusted person making sure the whole team and plan actually work together.

How it works

From first hello to a team that works together.

No mystery, no pressure. Here is the path.

A free conversation

We start by understanding your family, your worries and what you actually want.

We map the whole picture

Who is involved, what is working, what is missing, and what needs to happen first.

We coordinate and stabilise

We bring the team together, sort the supports, and help with the NDIS where you need it.

Goals built with you

Functional, in your words, about your real life.

Support in everyday life, and review

We deliver, we build your confidence, and we adjust as your family and the system change.

Funding

How NDIS funding works for Key Worker support.

We will always be straight with you about funding, and we never bill you to navigate the NDIS or to understand the Thriving Kids change.

NDIS funding may cover therapy and Key Worker support where it aligns with the participant's goals and approved plan. Not all NDIS plans include these supports.

NDIS therapy supports
$193.99per hour

The NDIS price guide rate for therapy supports. Quoted per person based on goals and complexity.

  • One trusted person coordinating your whole team
  • Support in everyday life, billed in line with the price guide
  • Plain-language help to understand your plan and your options
  • We never charge you to help you understand the NDIS or Thriving Kids

Rate shown follows the official NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits for therapy supports and may change when the guide is updated. We confirm current rates with you in writing before any work begins.

Talk to us about your family
Ella, our key worker and lived-experience peer practitioner.
Why The Centered Space

Clinical backbone. Human heart.

We are a neurodivergence-affirming team, and we are genuinely like family. Every clinician completes our Key Worker Model training and a formal sign-off pathway before they work here. The person in front of you holds the whole picture, not just their discipline. And your key worker is never working alone: behind them is the whole team, with quarterly whole-team case conferences, fortnightly clinical case conferences across disciplines, an internal NDIS specialist we meet with every week, and individual clinical supervision. That is what makes us different, and it is why people stay with us for years.

Trained Key Workers Clinician-led Like family
Questions

Frequently asked

A Key Worker is your single, trusted point of contact who holds the whole picture, coordinates the team around your child or family, and carries the plan into everyday life, so you are not managing separate relationships with every therapist.
Yes. Every clinician at The Centered Space completes our Key Worker Model training and a formal sign-off pathway before they work with anyone. It is not a label we use loosely.
Thriving Kids is a new approach to providing early support for children with lower to moderate needs, expected from around late 2026, funded separately from individual NDIS plans. Children with higher needs continue on the NDIS, and there are clear pathways if needs change. Your child is not losing support.
The detail of how providers will be involved is still being decided, so we will not claim a status we do not have. What we can say is that our practice already works the way the Thriving Kids approach describes, and we will keep you informed as things are confirmed.
Yes. The same coordination function applies to adults with complex needs, under different names. One trusted person making sure the whole team and plan work together.
NDIS funding may cover therapy and Key Worker support where it aligns with the participant's goals and approved plan. Not all NDIS plans include these supports. We help you understand your plan in plain language, and we never bill you to navigate the NDIS.
Talk to us

Talk to us about your family, or ask us anything.

Tell us a little about your situation and what is worrying you. We will reply with next steps, usually within one business day.

We use your details only to respond to your enquiry. No spam, ever.