Powerd NewsWrap 3rd September 2025

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to a Vision Australia radio podcast. Love our podcasts. Why not listen to us live? Tune in anywhere, anytime, ask your smart device to play Vision Australia radio, or visit va radio.org

Speaker 2 0:22

on the Vision Australia and reading radio networks. This is the Powerd news wrap.

Sam Rickard 0:27

It's the third of September. We're presenting articles from the powered dot media website. And joining me, of course, as normal, is Emma Myers from powered Media Group. How are you going today? Emma, would you say that you are thriving?

Emma Myers 0:42

I am thriving. It's a lovely day today in Canberra, and I am absolutely thriving through the work week.

Sam Rickard 0:52

And of course, why we are using this keyword is an announcement that was made well last week, as it were, about one of the potential foundational supports that should be replacing the NDIS, I'm presuming, not all of the foundational supports, but one of them, which is, of course, the thriving Kids initiative.

Emma Myers 1:11

Yes. So the NDIS minister, Mark Butler announced this new program in his National Press Club address, and it's called thriving kids. It's aimed at children between the ages of zero and nine with developmental delays or autism, and it's set to replace what they currently receive on the NDIS as a way of making the NDIS more financially viable and stable.

Sam Rickard 1:44

Apparently, a lot of this will be run through the state governments, and I believe the state governments and territory governments are absolutely thrilled once they've worked out what it is about, because they knew about as much as we did when the minister first announced it, at least that's what I've been led to believe.

Emma Myers 2:00

Yeah, so it was a bit of a shock for everyone, I think, especially those in the disability community. We had no notice of this announcement, and there's been quite a lot of unease, shall we say, among the community, because we don't know what it'll entail, aside from a few empty titles, and they want to roll it out by July next year, so good luck with that.

Sam Rickard 2:33

Well, the government is optimistic. I think that's the one one word you could use to describe it, because I don't know about you, but I have worked for both state and federal governments, and that timeframe is, yeah, again, optimistic. Usually even simply rolling out a computer system or an upgrade will take you about, well, 18 to 20 or so months.

Emma Myers 2:58

It's caused quite a bit of concern, because we've seen in the past that disability initiatives, if they're rushed, they don't do well, and they fall in their face. And I think the community is just fed up with government chucking all of these plans out into the open when there hasn't been enough time allocated to substantially figure out what they're going to look like.

Sam Rickard 3:28

And I mean, the other buzzword, of course, is consultation. And there doesn't seem to be a have been a lot of consultation either.

Emma Myers 3:35

Another buzzword is CO design. Sam there's been no consultation, no CO design. The government needs to recognize that CO design is the only way forward for any program,

Sam Rickard 3:48

and it's not just the disability organizations or the people with disabilities themselves. I mean, and we're talking people with mild to moderate autism. Here it is actually the state governments that have to wrap their heads around this as well, because they'll be

Emma Myers 4:04

administrating. They will. And again, it comes down to the push and pull between the state and federal governments, which would send over since foundational supports first became, you know, a buzz phrase, we'd seen this push and pull effect between state and federal governments, because even though they've agreed, in theory, to commit to these plans, we've yet to see them come to fruition.

Sam Rickard 4:37

And who knows, there may be some secret plan up the minister's sleeve that we'll sort of look back in at the middle of next year and go, Wow. Okay, yes, it all works.

Emma Myers 4:52

It looks like a good plan in theory, but we'll have to see how it pans out

Sam Rickard 4:57

exactly, and maybe we were bleeding out a word. In in July of next year, I hope so. And now we cross to Bev Bonner, one of our newer news readers, with the news, surprisingly enough,

Speaker 2 5:09

thank you. Sam, many people with autism and their families are voicing their concerns after the NDIS Minister announced a newly proposed support system for children with developmental disability in his National Press Club address. The new system is called thriving kids. It is said to be aimed at children between the ages of zero to nine with mild to moderate developmental delay or autism, a cohort that has experienced an increase in removals from the National Disability Insurance Scheme the NDIS. However, those under the age of nine currently on the NDIS or joining the NDIS will not be removed from the National Disability Insurance Scheme prior to the roll out of thriving kids, which is intended to start late next year, according to Minister for Disability and the NDIS Mark Butler, Minister Butler says thriving kids will introduce a national version of the Inklings program, which aims to help parents recognize and engage with their baby's unique communication style, as well as workforce training for GPs to help them recognize Child Development delays and A new Medicare item for bulk billed Child Development assessments. We made a $2 billion provision in the budget for the Commonwealth share towards thriving kids. Mr. Butler says the NDIS minister also named pediatrician and childhood development expert Frank overplayed as the lead for consultation efforts. Mr. Butler introduced the thriving Kids initiative as an alternative to NDIS support as a way of managing the scheme's growth and sustainability, claiming one of the key drivers of growth is the number of children with mild to moderate development, delays and autism. Since the scheme's creation, the number of people with disability entering the system has generally stabilized around initial projections, except in one area, children with developmental delay or autism. Mr. Butler went on to stress that half of the new NDIS entrants are under the age of nine, most of whom have developmental conditions. I think most Australians would be alarmed to know that one out of every 10 six year olds are in the NDIS, including 16% of six year old boys. He said, yellow ladybugs is an Australian charity run by and for autistic girls, women and gender diverse individuals and their families in a post on their Facebook page, the charity highlighted responses from the neurodiverse community. One parent wrote about the life changing help they received from the NDIS. My daughter was self harming at 10. The help from the NDIS gave her quality of life. Taking away these supports will take away my daughter, the comment read, a First Nations individual voiced their confusion over a lack of consultation and breaches of informed consent. Our communities do not understand how these changes will be addressed within Closing the Gap agreements children and young people with disability. Australia, cyda, CEO, Sky kokoschke Moore cautions against rushing the roll out of the thriving Kids program, claiming it risks leaving 1000s of families stranded without essential services. 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, says ms kirkoski Moore, the cyda CEO, called for a pause on NDIS eligibility reassessments and a guarantee that children will not be removed from the scheme until alternative supports under thriving kids are fully in place. The real families impacted by this announcement deserve to be heard, to see transparent decision making and to have certainty they won't be left without support while the system is being cobbled together. Ms kirkoski, more stressed thriving kids will begin rolling out on the first of July, 2026, many in the disability community have been venting their frustrations following the NDIS Minister's unexpected announcement of the new thriving Kids program. One person set to be impacted by the changes is Lee Smith, whose autistic son attends a mainstream school despite excelling in academia. Ms Smith says her son struggles socially and emotionally and is worried his NDIS funds will cease once thriving kids come into effect.

Speaker 3 9:49

The NDIS is supposed to be about assessing each child and person individually as to what they need functionally to live a good life. It's not a. Supposed to be based on your diagnosis.

Speaker 2 10:03

When the NDIS Minister revealed that thriving kids would include parent development programs such as the Inklings initiative, which is a program for babies aged six to 18 months who were showing early differences in their social interaction and communication development, Ms Smith was left fuming.

Speaker 3 10:22

Neurodivergent can't be outgrown with short term therapy or parent sessions. So basically saying that, you know, I'll do 10 parent sessions and my son's autism will be cured. Those so incredibly insulting to my child, to me.

Speaker 2 10:36

Ms Smith believes those kinds of programs place the blame on parents who are raising children with autism and developmental delay,

Speaker 4 10:45

basically saying, if I was a better parent, he wouldn't be disabled.

Speaker 2 10:48

When Powerd media contacted the minister's office for comment, Mark Butler issued a response saying that he understood the disability community's reservations, but claimed the coming changes would not leave parents of children with disability high and dry. We're going to make sure that there is a scheme well designed that gives them confidence. We're going to do everything we can to support their kids to thrive, and there'll be no gap between the stalls. The statement said, I'm not going to have people leaving the NDIS without a system in place to support them if they're on the NDIS now or into the future. Before this system starts, they will stay on the NDIS. Australian Federation of disability organization, CEO Ross Joyce has also weighed in, acknowledging Minister Butler's focus on the sustainability of the NDIS while stressing the importance of improving the lives of people with disability through feedback and CO design. The NDIS has changed lives, and afdo is committed to working with government to secure its future, but reforms must protect the rights of people with disability, not reduce the supports they depend on Mr. Joy's stresses. Now back to Emma and Sam.

Sam Rickard 12:04

Thank you. Bev, so I inadvertently created a interesting segue into what we're talking about next, and that is, I use the term mild to moderate Autism NOW. That probably means that if you have either autistic people or parents of autistic people listening right now, they would probably be fuming at me using that terminology. I believe that's a bit of a trigger phrase for some people.

Emma Myers 12:29

Yeah. So I spoke with a woman the other week who was very distressed at the announcement, but also the way that it was announced, and the turn of phrase the minister was using, she said that to quote the minister, children with a mild to moderate autism or developmental delay, yeah. So the mother was actually explaining, that's not even a valid way of diagnosing someone with autism, and this person actually works in the service and provider industry, so she knows what she's talking about from a professional standpoint, but also as the mother of a son with autism,

Sam Rickard 13:18

and that's kind of the slippery slope we're treading along all throughout the whole NDIS journey, really is what would you classify as a severe form of disability? I mean, yeah, how long is a piece of string you might want to sort of

Emma Myers 13:31

ask, I mean, you and I both know that disability fluctuates from day to day, so yes, on a scale of one to 10, there are people who need more support than you and I would need, but in saying that on a good day, then they may require less support than they do on on a bad day. So we're just, um, actually, there was four words trying to explain it myself, because there's no way of actually pigeonholing someone like the way that the minister has done. It's It's, um, yeah, it's a very odd. It all strikes me as I'm at a loss for at the new if anyone knows me, no, that really happens.

Sam Rickard 14:22

Yeah, I'm slightly shocked about that myself. But no, it all strikes me as they have this massive amount of money that they're spending, and they're trying to find ways of spending less of it, and instead of going back and trying to consider things carefully. They're coming up with catch phrases. I mean, thriving kids sounds more like something from, I don't know, life being it as opposed to a service provider, Provider Program.

Emma Myers 14:49

Can you explain what life being is?

Sam Rickard 14:52

Oh, I'm showing my age, isn't it? Aren't I? So I

Emma Myers 14:56

didn't want to say that, but yes, would the. In the surviving Kids initiative, there's the Inklings program, which is essentially a program for babies aged between six to 18 months who are showing early signs of development or difference in their communication development. However, the woman who I spoke to had much to say about this program, because it's essentially like a parent session for short term therapy, and she essentially said that it's almost a form of blaming the parents for the child's upbringing and the child's disability. I mean,

Sam Rickard 15:47

on its own, the England program sounds like a smart way of approaching things, and maybe part of a toolkit to use, but left by itself, it's just a small thing, and it, no, it's not a it's not a way of curing autism, as it were, anyway, I do believe we have, once more run out of time. What have you got in the works for next week?

Emma Myers 16:13

Well, I have a interview with the new MP for Dixon in Queensland air leaf France, who famously knocked Peter data with long held seat. And it's a great interview. I really enjoyed it, and great to see more disability representation in Parliament.

Sam Rickard 16:35

Well, that is a wrap for this week. We will see you next week.

Speaker 2 16:37

Bye, you can find these articles and more by going to Powerd spelled P, O, W, E, R, D, dot media, along with the podcast of this show, the Powerd news wrap was brought to you by disability media Australia. This show was produced by Sam Rickard in the Adlai studios on Vision Australia, radio shooter. Should they live more of your life? Be in it. Yeah