The Guides to Social Policy Law is a collection of publications designed to assist decision makers administering social policy law. The information contained in this publication is intended only as a guide to relevant legislation/policy. The information is accurate as at the date listed at the bottom of the page, but may be subject to change. To discuss individual circumstances please contact Services Australia.

1.1.D.130 Developmental milestones - DCLA (CP (child), CA (child))

Definition

For the purposes of the DCLA (1.1.D.170) professional questionnaire, developmental milestones are the ages at which a child should display the functional abilities listed for that age range (in addition to all of the functional abilities in lower age ranges). By the time they reach the upper limit for the next milestone they should have developed the additional functional abilities (1.1.F.250) appropriate for that milestone.

The developmental milestones are:

  • birth to < 6 months
  • 6 months to < 1 year
  • 1 year to < 2 years
  • 2 years to < 3 years
  • 3 years to < 4 years
  • 4 years to < 6 years
  • 6 years to < 9 years
  • 9 years to < 12 years
  • 12 years to < 15 years, and
  • 15 years and over.

Exception: There are only 9 developmental milestones for the functional domains (1.1.F.280) of 'hygiene and grooming' and 'body movement' in the DCLA professional questionnaire. For hygiene and grooming, the first developmental milestone corresponds to an age range of birth to < 1 year. For the body movement, the final milestone corresponds to an age range of 12 years and over.

Act reference: Disability Care Load Assessment (Child) Determination 2020 Schedule 1 Part 2 Professional questionnaire, Schedule 2 Part 2 Scoring for professional questionnaire

Policy reference: SS Guide 1.1.F.260 Functional age (CA (child), CP (child)), 1.1.T.170 Treating health professional (THP) (CA, CP), 3.6.12 Disability Care Load Assessment (Child) (DCLA)

Last reviewed: