The Bus Stop will see more than 60 children aged 3–5 years old from across the region.

The Healthy Kids Bus Stop is being brought to Yass by Royal Far West through a partnership with the Yass and Goulburn Community Health teams in the Southern New South Wales Local Health District, the Yass Valley Council Ronald McDonald House Charities, and local public schools and preschools.

The Healthy Kids Bus Stop is an integrated ‘whole of child’ health and developmental assessment and pathway to care program which aims to improve the health and well-being of children living in rural and remote communities through early detection of lifestyle risk factors, delayed development and/or illness.

For local mother and barista Ewelina Pindel, she said the initiative was a positive.

“It’s important to make sure your children get well not only when they're ill, but to also get frequent and regular checkups.

“I’m hoping the bus stop is a regular in Yass – at least once a year,” she said.

The health assessments are undertaken by a multidisciplinary team of nursing and allied health staff and include a child health check, hearing screening, dental check, fine and gross motor skill development screening, language and speech development check and a food nutrition check.

Importantly, the program provides a pathway to care to ensure that children are given a referral pathway to receive the ongoing support they need, through the collaborative partnerships with linkages and communication back into the community and the service providers.

At the start of their circuit of health stations, the children receive a bus pass, which is stamped at each ‘bus stop’ station they visit.

Yass Valley Council general manager David Rowe said council was happy to be providing support towards this preventative health program.

“This program is targeted at young members of our community and is a first for Yass Valley.

“It is well known that the earlier we identify and treat health issues, particularly those that are associated with sight and hearing, the better the long term outcomes are,” Mr Rowe said.

Interested parents and carers need to register: