Advocates want certainty on supports provided to children with autism under a major overhaul of the NDIS, as the minister overseeing the scheme tries to reassure parents about the changes.
Children with mild to moderate autism and those with developmental delays will be moved off the National Disability Insurance Scheme and into a separate $2 billion program called Thriving Kids.
It will begin rolling out from July 2026 and be fully implemented by July 2027.
Children with autism on the NDIS won’t be steered away from the NDIS until supports under the Thriving Kids program are fully rolled out.
Autism peak body Aspect says families must have confidence there will be continuity of support for children.
“Autism is a lifelong developmental condition and it’s vital that children and their families have access to the right supports early on so they can grow and thrive,” chief executive Jacqui Borland said.
Disability Minister Mark Butler said the changes were needed to ensure the sustainability of the $52 billion NDIS.
Half of new entrants to the NDIS are children under nine, with the majority of them on the autism spectrum or having a developmental delay.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen said her government was caught off guard about the changes.
“Like many states and territories, we heard about the proposed changes from the federal government when the minister made his address yesterday,” she told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
“There are many families, particularly many parents, today who have got many questions and I hope that the federal government can move quickly to answer the questions that families are asking.”
Mr Butler said Thriving Kids would build a new system of support through infant and maternal health systems, primary care and childcare centres, and in community centres.
“This has been a hard message for many parents to hear. I know that because the NDIS has been the only port in the storm for them,” he said.
“So what I’m trying to do is to give them a really strong reassurance that governments are going to be there for them.”
Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston wants more details on the changes.
“There are probably very many parents who will be distressed about the uncertainty that yesterday has created for them,” she told ABC Radio on Thursday.
“The thing that concerns me most is the lack of detail and the impact that’s likely to have on many parents, many families.”
The new program has been welcomed from many child and family organisations, including The Front Project
Government investment in Thriving Kids represented a fundamental shift towards holistic care for children with mild autism or development delay, chief executive Caroline Croser-Barlow said.
“For too long, children with development delay or mild autism have had to wait for diagnosis to access supports that are too often in clinical settings,” she said.
The announcement came ahead of the third day of the government’s economic reform roundtable, which is discussing budget sustainability issues.
The NDIS is the budget’s third-largest expense and is set to cost taxpayers more than $52 billion in 2025/26.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers praised Mr Butler’s speech in his opening remarks to the roundtable on Thursday.
“We have got the NDIS growth down substantially but (it’s) still growing very quickly,” he said.
Spending restraints did not need to extend to broader social welfare programs, Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus told reporters during Thursday’s roundtable.
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