After the states and territories, the thriving children are back within the highlight agreed To match the federal government’s $2 billion investment last week.
recent National Programme Targeted at children ages 0-8 with developmental delays and/or autism with low to moderate support needs. Under the proposal, many children currently supported by the NDIS would as an alternative access support through this recent “foundation support” programme.
But ever since its surprise announcement last August, developing children have faced uncertainty.
About 500,500 submissions Senate inquiry Many families, advocates and repair providers have been shown that lack of clarity and fear may cause children to miss out on essential support.
On Tuesday, Govt Issued a report It provides more detail at the top.
This is welcome news. But necessary questions remain about how child development can be ended, for whom, and the way the federal government will measure whether it’s working.
We have a brand new definition of thriving babies
In last week’s agreement, the Commonwealth agreed to a delaypushing back the beginning date to October.
Changes to NDIS access won’t come into force until January 2028, allowing more time for service transition, workforce development and quality assurance.
Long wait Report From thriving children Advisory Group Guiding principles and key design features are also defined.
Thriving children Will supply A combination of universal support—equivalent to advice and skill constructing for families—and targeted support, “where children live, learn and play”.
Exactly how these can be developed relies on the approach of every state and territory and can vary based on existing services.
Targeted support can include group or one-on-one sessions with a specialist to work on specific skills (equivalent to language or social interaction) and online or at home, school or childcare, depending on the kid and family’s needs.
There can be multiple pathways to this system, equivalent to teachers, early childhood educators, and GPS referrals. There will even be formal intake mechanisms but these are for states and territories to design.
Importantly, children won’t need a proper assessment to receive support, eliminating a process that may be time-consuming, expensive and inefficient.
Some children will likely still need a functional assessment of the support they should access health professionals, equivalent to occupational therapists, speech pathologists and physiotherapists.
Butler too pointed out Health support linked to those targets wouldn’t include differential fees – a problem that raised concerns about access and equity.
Thriving children will include more support for fogeys. Their goal is to develop self-advocacy skills, support their child’s development, and help them navigate the complex service system.
This report also commits to evaluating this system. This implies that public investment results in meaningful improvements in kid’s lives.
Importantly, children with significant and everlasting disabilities will remain eligible for NDI, including those with developmental delays or autism.
We do not know yet
Despite the extra information released this week, there are outstanding questions.
On Tuesday, Butler Commented that “there was life before the NDIS”, indicating a return to government-run service models for kids.
Under Thriving Children, families won’t receive individual budgets, as they did under the NDIS, to purchase support. Instead, children will access services commissioned and provided by states and territories.
But that prospect may worry families who remember the limited selections, long waiting lists and uneven quality before NDI was established.
The report doesn’t yet explain how child thrivers will avoid replicating these problems, especially in areas where services are thin on the bottom.
It prioritizes workplace development, and can concentrate on constructing disability capability in health services, early childhood education and care, and schools.
However, research consistently shows that workforce capability relies on greater than individual skills. So training – while obligatory – won’t be enough by itself.
School leadership, staffing levels, time, resources, and families’ ability to navigate complex systems all shape whether inclusive practices are feasible in practice.
Without addressing these aspects, there may be a risk responsibility can be transferred to frontline employees without the conditions they should succeed. These challenges are more likely to be particularly acute in regional and rural areas.
What makes thriving children successful?
At the top of 2025, we helped Equine Policy Forum Engaging 35 stakeholders from the fields of education, health, early childhood and disability consider what’s going to enable thriving children to succeed.
The Forum agreed that Children’s Thriving must be inclusive and universal, meaning that it’s appropriately embedded wherever children live, play and learn. From the GP office to their school and beyond, there must be as many barriers to entry as possible.
It must be locally LED, chargeless and neuro certified. This implies that the various ways people’s brains work is recognized and supported – and valued as a strength, not a deficit.
Beyond these principles – shared by the Thriving Children Advisory Group – success will rely on various practical commitments, ensuring that:
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Families, advocates and activists are involved in its design
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People working with children with disabilities are well equipped and have the fitting skills, abilities and support
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Thrive children and NDI work together reasonably than as separate systems
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There are clear pathways for transitions between services in developing children and at age 9, other supports or NDI, and
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Funding is maintained to stop geographic inequality.
Support should be provided in truly inclusive, mainstream settings. Otherwise, routinely withdrawing children from the places where they live, play and learn for therapy reinforces their exclusion, reasonably than participation.
The report’s guidelines are encouraging. But whether thriving children will produce meaningful change will rely on the main points of implementation.