The Federal government wants to remove children with so-called ‘mild to moderate’ developmental delay and autism from the NDIS.
In a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Federal Minister for Disability and the NDIS Mark Butler announced the introduction of new supports for autistic children, called Thriving Kids.
Thriving Kids is a proposed new scheme which would run alongside the NDIS, providing early intervention and therapies for these children. States will share the cost with the national government. The Federal government has committed $2 billion to its establishment and it’s expected to launch in July 2026.
According to the Minister, access and eligibility changes for the NDIS will be made in 2027, once the Thriving Kids program is rolled out. Children currently on the NDIS or who join it before Thriving Kids is up and running will remain on the original scheme and be subject to its rules.
The Minister says the introduction of Thriving Kids is in response to calls for foundational supports in the NDIS Review.
“The NDIS has grown incredibly fast – and well beyond projections,” the Minister said in his speech.
“Originally intended to support around 410,000 people with disability, the Scheme now supports just under 740,000 and is projected to grow to a million by 2034.”
He pledged to “[return] the scheme to its original purpose… the provision of support to people with significant and permanent care and support needs”.
Butler said most of the new NDIS entrants are under nine years old, have developmental delay or autism, and enter the scheme for early intervention.
“It’s all they’ve had available – the only port in the storm,” Butler said of the families joining the NDIS.
“Families looking for additional supports in mainstream services can’t find them, because they largely don’t exist anymore. And, in that, governments have failed them. The NDIS model just doesn’t suit their needs.”
It’s estimated almost 300,000 Australians are on the autism spectrum, including 4.3 per cent of people aged between five and 14 years old.
What does the sector think?
The proposal to establish Thriving Kids has been met with apprehension from people with autism and peak bodies.
A Link reader from New South Wales warned the government not to throw the NDIS baby out with the bathwater.
“Blanket, nationalised access to quality autism therapies and supports are needed throughout the preschool years, the education system and medicine,” the reader told Link.
“I live with ASD, as do my offspring. Despite investing around $150,000 in early intervention for more than a decade before NDIS came into existence … and despite great supports and outcomes … it is clear to me that even mild autism is a lifelong challenge.
“Taxpayers are saved money down the track by addressing it swiftly and efficiently. The NDIS has normalised obtaining timely help. Every dollar spent early saves society hundreds in adulthood.”
Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) responded similarly, warning the government not to rush the introduction of Thriving Kids.
“Thriving Kids has huge potential, but the government can’t seriously expect to set up a fully functional system to replace NDIS supports in under a year,” said CYDA CEO Skye Kakoschke-Moore.
“To truly honour the principle of ‘nothing about us, without us’, the governments needs to provide adequate time for genuine co-design and community consultation, especially when changes are this significant.”
Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) said it is concerned about the government’s “ongoing emphasis on reducing supports for people with disability within the [NDIS], particularly… young people.”
It noted the sector is still waiting for Foundational Supports, and asked the government to guarantee that no NDIS participant would lose support during the transition to Thriving Kids.
It also called for the new program to be co-designed with people with disability and their representatives.
“Reforms must protect the rights of people with disability, not reduce the supports they depend on,” CEO Ross Joyce said.
I am the mother of a 37 year old son with autism in NSW. Back before the NDIS, limited support services for children with developmental delay, autism etc were available via ADHC (State govt), providing assessments, pschology, O/T, Speech Therapy etc. These supports were not extensive, but were of enormous help at the time and parents were encouraged to learn at the same time, to be able to continue therapy at home. Inquiries into ADHC at the time (mid 2000’s) highlighted its limitations and as soon as the NDIS started, it appeared that ADHC just disappeared (dissolved in 2011, presumably assuming that it would be replaced by the NDIS) – although in reality the therapists involved seemed to just switch across to working as NDIS providers, as prices for their services were way higher than they were earning with ADHC. Why wouldnt they? This was one of the key flaws with NDIS, that the maximum hourly rate for allied health services (soon to become also the minimum rate!) were massively higher than what was being charged generally at that time. Hence human nature prevailed, and inflation of such services sent allied health services pricing through the roof. And families were forced to start applying for the NDIS for their child, even with mild or moderate disability, as there was nowhere else to go. The transition was very poorly managed but predictable.
After such a one off inflation of Allied health services, maybe their pricing should be slowed down till some sort of equilibrium is achieved? Meantime the Thriving Kids programme will presumbly attempt to re-create the suite of services formerly provided by ADHC? Albeit hopefully in a more up to date format – but will also be flooded with families desperate for help as we all were prior to NDIS.
The biggest question is – Why was ADHC allowed to just disappear as the NDIS started, when it should have been revamped and supported to handle all the cases, which are now likely to be moved out of the NDIS? If it had continued, it would have 1. prevented a lot of the size problems now being encountered in NDIS, 2. avoided the fear now being experienced by many parents and 3. saved the need to start all over again creating a new body altogether. At the end of the day, the painful shift over to Thriving kids for many families is probably the only solution, leaving the NDIS as it was always conceived, to be the place for people with permanent, long term disability, something which certainly was sorely missing before and providing the invaluable support for families to survive.