01 Paediatric
Early speech & language
First words, sentence building, late talkers — Hanen-trained coaching for parents, plus play-based therapy that fits the child in front of us.
Speech Pathology Melbourne for Kids & Adults
Every voice
heard, understood.
Equal Therapy's Speech Pathologists work the way families actually live — on the kitchen floor, in the school pickup line, over a tablet at bedtime. Plain-English strategies, neurodivergent- affirming practice, and goals you'll see in your real days.
Hanen
Trained early-language coaches
AAC
Devices & low-tech systems
NDIS
Registered provider
Paediatric & adult
Neurodivergent-affirming
What we help with
Communication that
opens up days.
From a first word, to a steady reader, to an AAC user who runs their own day — our Speech Pathologists cover the full arc of communication for kids, teens and adults.
02 AAC
AAC & communication devices
Tablet-based AAC, key-word sign, PODD, low-tech boards — trialled, taught and modelled with families, schools and support workers. All voices welcome.
03 Literacy
Reading & writing
Structured literacy support for kids who are slipping at school — decoding, spelling, comprehension. Evidence-based programs paired with home-friendly practice routines.
04 School readiness
Prep & school readiness
Pre-Prep language, listening, social skills and early phonological awareness — getting little ones set up for a confident first year of school.
05 Social communication
Social & pragmatic skills
Conversation, friendship skills, self-advocacy — affirming support for autistic and ADHD kids, teens and adults. We don't teach masking, we teach choice.
06 Clear speech
Speech sound clarity
Articulation, phonology, stuttering, motor speech — kids and adults who want to be understood the first time, every time.
The detail
Three stories we
tell every week.
Early intervention
The earliest years move the most.
If you're worried about a late talker, you don't need to wait and see. We coach parents using the Hanen "It Takes Two to Talk" framework — small shifts in the way you play, eat dinner and read books that turn into measurable language growth inside a term.
- Parent-coaching in your home or via telehealth
- Play-based assessment — no clipboard tests for under-3s
- Weekly take-home strategies, written in plain English
01 · Early intervention
02 · AAC
Augmentative & alternative
A device is only useful if everyone speaks it.
We don't just hand over a tablet and a app. We trial different systems with your communicator, then we teach the people around them — family, support workers, classroom aides, teachers — so the device is modelled all day, not just in the therapy hour.
Talk to an AAC-trained SP School readiness
Confident first days, not anxious ones.
The year before Prep is where the foundations get laid — listening in groups, following a two-step instruction, rhyming, recognising letters. We build a tight twelve-week program with your kinder educator and your child, so the first morning in a school uniform isn't the hard one.
Plan a school-readiness intake 03 · School readiness
How we start
From first call to
first session.
01 Week 1
A real conversation.
An intake chat with our team — no scripts, no triage queue. We listen to what's actually going on, match you with the right Speech Pathologist, and book in the first session.
02 Week 1–2
Assessment, on your turf.
At home, in clinic, or online. For kids we use play-based observation alongside any standardised tools; for adults, a conversational assessment plus targeted screeners.
03 Week 2–3
The plan, in plain English.
We write up goals you can actually picture happening — at the dinner table, in the classroom, at the shops. Shared with you first, then your planner or support coordinator.
04 Week 3–4
Therapy & home practice.
Weekly sessions begin, with home-practice strategies that fit your actual mornings and evenings. Progress is tracked and shared with your team — not stored in a filing cabinet.
How it's funded
Four ways to fund
your sessions.
We're registered with all the main pathways and our intake team handles the paperwork end-to-end. You won't need a degree in claim codes.
Most clients
NDIS
Self-managed, plan-managed and NDIA-managed all supported. We're a fully registered NDIS provider audited to the Practice Standards.
15_055_0128_1_3 · 15_617_0118_1_3
Chronic disease
Medicare CDM
Up to 5 subsidised allied health sessions per calendar year with a GP-issued Chronic Disease Management plan. Bring your CDM referral.
Veterans
DVA
Approved DVA Allied Health provider. Gold and White card holders with a current D904 referral from a GP can access speech pathology at no cost.
Self-funded
Private
Most private health funds with extras cover speech pathology. We'll provide the receipts and item codes you need to claim. HICAPS coming soon.
Not sure which pathway fits? Call our intake team on (03) 7500 5696 — most callers have an answer inside ten minutes.
Speech Pathologist
Your senior SP
Meet Cara.
“Therapy doesn't happen in the half-hour I'm with a family — it happens in the hundred small moments between. My job is making sure those moments count.”
Cara holds a Master of Speech Pathology from La Trobe and is Hanen "It Takes Two to Talk" trained and AAC-certified. She works across early intervention, school-age literacy, and complex communication needs — with a neurodivergent-affirming practice grounded in family coaching, not clinic drills. AHPRA-registered, Speech Pathology Australia member.
M.Speech Path (La Trobe) Hanen trained AAC Literacy SPA member
Meet the full clinical team
Speech questions
Things families
always ask.
Real questions from real parents, support coordinators and adult clients — answered in the same plain English we use in session.
Ask our intake teamMy child's only saying a few words at two — should I wait?
No — the evidence is clear that early, low-intensity parent coaching makes more difference than waiting another six months. We start with Hanen-style strategies in your everyday routines, and we don't need a diagnosis to begin.
Will using AAC stop my child from talking?
No. The research is consistent — AAC supports the development of speech, it doesn't replace it. Kids who use AAC alongside spoken language often talk more, not less, because the pressure of "find the word right now" gets lifted.
Do you see kids at home, in clinic, or at school?
All three. We run sessions in our Dandenong clinic, we travel to homes across Melbourne's South-East, and we partner with kinders, schools and early-learning centres. Telehealth is available Australia-wide for follow-up and parent coaching.
Can you support my autistic teenager without trying to fix them?
Yes. We're a neurodivergent-affirming practice — that means goals are set with the young person, not imposed on them. We don't teach masking. We work on the skills they decide are useful: self-advocacy, conversation, study language, navigating a workplace.
My child's school says they're “behind in literacy” — can you help?
Yes — literacy is squarely a Speech Pathology area. We assess the underlying skills (phonological awareness, decoding, comprehension, working memory), then run evidence-based structured literacy programs in session and as home practice. We loop the teacher in too.
How quickly can we get started?
No current waitlist for speech pathology — most new families have their first session inside the same week of their intake call. Priority intake for under-3s and pre-Prep school readiness in Term 4.
Do you support adults too, or just kids?
Both. We see adults for clear-speech goals, social communication, post-stroke or post-injury communication, AAC, and workplace communication coaching. NDIS, DVA, Medicare CDM and private health all supported.
Also explore
One team, three
connected disciplines.
Ready when you are
Speech therapy that
starts this week.
No waitlist. No triage queue. No scripted call centre. Just an intake team who knows speech pathology, and a first session in your home, our clinic or on a screen — usually inside the same week.
Hanen
Parent-coaching
for early language
AAC ready
Tablets, low-tech,
key-word sign
Same week
Most new families —
no waitlist