An extra 90 paediatric health staff would be employed under a re-elected Labor government with the party pledging to provide more care for critically ill children.
There would be a focus on employing specialists focused on critical services, a high dependency unit for critically unwell children and for a paediatric specialty area in the new emergency department.
The party said the commitment for the extra specialists would cost more than $60 million over five years.
Labor has also promised to build capability at Canberra Hospital so children can be treated for a wider range of problems but have said some critically ill children will need to be transferred to Sydney.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said services like paediatric oncology and paediatric cardiology were areas where Canberra could not sustain specialists due to the small number of children in the territory needing such care.
But Labor has also promised to review the process for families to receive an allowance to travel interstate for their child's treatment. The party said the review would be focused on reducing the administrative burden and upfront costs.
"The current process is pretty cumbersome. It's administratively burdensome and you have to spend the money and then get the rebate back. So we'll be looking at how we can improve that system to be able to provide more support upfront for families and to streamline the administration of that process," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
A particular area of focus would be on ear, nose and throat specialists. The median wait times for children to see doctors in this specialty has been more than 18 months.
A 2021 review of into paediatric services at Canberra Hospital found there were gaps in care for critically unwell children aged between one and 12.
The paediatric services review found concerns in paediatrics, including a lack of appropriate care settings for deteriorating patients and workforce and training gaps.
The review also highlighted there was a lack of formal arrangements with Sydney hospitals and it was recommended these were strengthened. Ms Stephen-Smith said teams had worked on establishing stronger relationships in recent years.
The ACT budget, handed down in June, included $57 million in new funding towards expanding paediatric services. The election commitment is separate to this funding.
