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Victorian Government caretaker period

As the Victorian State election will be held on Saturday 28 November 2026, the Victorian Government will assume a Caretaker role from 6pm on 3 November 2026. During the caretaker period, content will only be added to this website in accordance with the Caretaker Conventions. See Guidelines for Caretaker Conventions.

Child Life Therapy

Services

  • Services include:

    • Procedural support
    • Pre-procedure preparation (including surgery, imaging and pathology)
    • Development of coping strategies (comfort positioning, breathing techniques, cognitive distraction)  
    • Distraction during procedures​
    • Assessment of patient’s ability to cope (Eg MOCK MRI)

    • Advocacy​

    • Education of parents / staff about role

    • Medical play
    • Developmental play opportunities

    Child Life Therapy staff are located in streams:

    • Medical Imaging
    • Cardiac Services
    • Ambulatory - covering Specialist Clinics, Day Medical Unit, Surgery, Nurse Led clinics
    • Wards - covering Platypus, Cockatoo, Sugar Glider

    All patients must be referred to Child Life Therapy through EMR. Referrals for areas outside of the above will be triaged and allocated services depending on capacity of the team.