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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 (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 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 recognise and engage with their baby’s unique communication style, as well as workforce training for GPs to help them recognise child development delays and a new Medicare item for bulk billed child development assessments.
“We’ve made a $2 billion provision in the budget for the Commonwealth’s share towards Thriving Kids,” Mr Butler says.
The NDIS Minister also named paediatrician and childhood development expert Frank Oberklaid 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 developmental delays and autism.
Since the scheme’s creation, the number of people with disability entering the system has generally stabilised around initial projections. Except in one area: children with developmental delay or autism
Mark Butler
Mr Butler went on to stress that half of new NDIS entrants are under the age of 9, most of whom have developmental conditions.
“I think most Australians would be alarmed to know that one out of every ten 6-year-olds are in the NDIS, including 16 per cent of 6-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, Skye Kakoschke-Moore, cautions against rushing the roll out of the Thriving Kids program, claiming it risks leaving thousands 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
Skye Kakoschke-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 Kakoschke-Moore stressed.
Thriving Kids will begin rolling out on 1 July 2026.