Thriving Kids Will Start In October. But Will The New Support System Be Ready When Families Need It?

From October, Australian children aged eight and under with developmental delay and autism will start accessing a new support system: Thriving Kids.

The program is still in development and is expected to be fully rolled out by January 2028. By then, all children with developmental delay and/or autism with low to moderate support needs will be removed from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Children with permanent and significant disability, and high support needs, will remain eligible for the NDIS.

If designed well, a system that supports children with low to moderate support needs outside of individualised NDIS plans could benefit kids and their families.

But right now, parents are worried they’re about to lose a system that works and are wondering what will actually be there when their child needs help.

What’s changing?

The government wants the NDIS to focus on people with permanent and significant disability, while moving people with lower support needs onto other “foundational support” programs.

This is one of a series of changes the government is making to save A$37.8 billion in NDIS expenditure over four years.

Read more: What should ‘foundational supports’ look like for people ineligible for the NDIS?

The legislation making these changes passed the Senate on Tuesday, after the Labor government reached a deal with the Coalition. It then returned to the House of Representatives yesterday and was passed.

The Commonwealth, and states and territories, have committed $4 billion over five years to foundational supports, including Thriving Kids.

But it’s the states and territories that will develop and deliver these services, and practical details are still being developed. Queensland hasn’t yet signed the agreement for Thriving Kids, while the other states and territories have moved further ahead.

For families, this is not a minor administrative problem. A national program is only useful if services are available where you live.

There are also questions about workforce capacity (if there are enough staff with the right skills), waiting lists, regional and remote services, and how families will know where to go.

Despite these challenges, the NDIS minister said she was not contemplating delaying people’s exits from the NDIS where foundational supports were unavailable.

So what will Thriving Kids actually look like?

That is where things become less certain. The government has developed a national model but the practical details of how families will access services are still being developed.

Early details suggest children won’t need a diagnosis to access Thriving Kids support.

There have also been calls for services such as physiotherapy and speech pathology to be available without gap fees.

The idea behind Thriving Kids is that children should receive support in the places where they already live. The advisory group recommended child- and family-centred support occur in homes, early childhood centres and communities. This could be a positive change.

For children with a disability, community participation depends on more than individual abilities. Research points to the importance of relationships, family support, physical environments, transport, attitudes and opportunities to engage.

Until recently, much of the conversation about disability support has focused on specialised therapy: speech therapy, occupational therapy and psychology. These are important but children also need opportunities to develop relationships, participate in their communities and build independence.

A good Thriving Kids program should therefore not simply move therapy from a clinic into another building. It should help children participate in ordinary life.

The basic idea of Thriving Kids is not the problem – the issue is whether Australia can make it work, as the cracks for children to fall through widen. A program can look promising on paper and still be difficult to access. A promise is not a service.

How should success be judged?

The success of Thriving Kids should be judged on the impact on children’s lives.

It shouldn’t simply be about whether a child received a service, or how many services they receive, but whether those services help the child participate, develop relationships and become more independent.

That means families need to be involved in evaluating whether Thriving Kids works and be asked whether their child’s life actually improved.

Bottom line

The government is right that not every child with development delay or autism needs an individualised NDIS package.

Thriving Kids could be an opportunity to rethink disability support around children’s everyday lives rather than around appointments and therapy sessions. It could bring support closer to families and make communities more accessible rather than always asking children to adapt.

But parents are understandably anxious about these changes. Many have spent years finding therapists and support workers who understand their child. They may finally have a team that works, and now they are being told the system is changing.

If children are going to move out of the NDIS, there needs to be something genuinely useful to move to. Otherwise, we risk the very thing the NDIS promised in the first place – a genuinely inclusive life for people with disability.

Read more: Screening all 3- and 4-year-olds for developmental delay makes sense. But diagnosing autism is different

David Roy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.