We caught up with Penny and Amy to discuss the new edition of Minderoo Foundation’s Cost of Late Intervention (COLI) report, compiled by The Front Project, to talk about what late intervention is, how it affects families and communities, and what needs to happen to ensure early intervention can succeed.

The analysis shows that the cost of late intervention has climbed by almost 50 per cent since the first report in 2019 – now reaching $22.3 billion a year, up from $15.2 billion. This rise is well above both inflation and population growth, a clear sign that the problem is getting worse, not better.

We need to act sooner rather than later to ensure that children and families are receiving the kind of support that we know actually works. Investment in the early years is an investment in Australia’s future.