A major change to the way Australia supports young children with autism and developmental delay is approaching, with the federal government preparing to introduce a new program known as Thriving Kids.
The program is designed to provide early support outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for children with developmental delay and/or autism who have low-to-moderate support needs.
Under the government’s current plans, Thriving Kids is scheduled to begin providing support from 1 October 2026, with services across states and territories expected to be fully operational by 1 January 2028.
What is Thriving Kids?
Thriving Kids is intended to create a separate early-support system for younger children who may need assistance but who do not require the level of individualised disability supports provided through the NDIS.
The program will focus on children aged eight and under with developmental delay and/or autism and low-to-moderate support needs. Support is expected to be delivered through services working with children and their families in their local communities.
The federal government has committed $2 billion to the broader investment, including at least $1.4 billion in direct funding to states to provide Thriving Kids services.
The policy reflects a broader change in the government’s approach to the NDIS: the scheme is intended to remain focused on people with permanent and significant disability, while children with lower support needs are increasingly expected to receive assistance through mainstream and foundational support systems.
What happens to children already receiving NDIS support?
One of the most important details for families is that the transition is not simply a case of every child currently receiving NDIS support being immediately removed from the scheme.
According to information provided by the NDIS, children who are already participants — including children who gain access before 31 December 2026 — are expected to remain in the NDIS under the existing arrangements.
That distinction matters because the new system is primarily about changing the pathway for future access and establishing a different support system for children with lower support needs.
The government has also said that the NDIS itself will continue for children and adults whose disabilities meet the scheme’s requirements.
Why is the change happening?
The reform comes as the federal government attempts to make the NDIS financially sustainable while also changing how early childhood support is delivered.
The NDIS has grown substantially since it was introduced, with hundreds of thousands of Australians now receiving funding through the scheme. The government argues that not every child requiring developmental or early-intervention support needs an individual NDIS package.
Instead, Thriving Kids is intended to provide earlier and more broadly available assistance, with governments working together to create services that children and families can access without necessarily entering the NDIS.
The government says the approach is designed to identify developmental concerns earlier and provide support before children’s needs become more complex.
Why are families concerned?
The biggest question surrounding the reform is not necessarily whether children should receive early support, but whether the new system will provide enough support, in the right place, at the right time.
For many families, NDIS funding has been used to access services such as occupational therapy, speech pathology and other forms of early intervention. Moving some children into a different system raises questions about availability, waiting lists, service capacity and whether families will receive support comparable to what they previously accessed through the NDIS.
These concerns have become particularly significant in Queensland.
As of August 2026, Queensland remained the only state yet to sign up to the operating arrangements for Thriving Kids. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has raised concerns about the detail of the proposed system and has called for greater clarity before committing the state to the arrangement.
The dispute highlights a broader problem: a national program cannot operate effectively simply because funding has been announced. States and territories need to have the services, workers, systems and pathways in place for families when children begin moving into the new model.
What will change from 2028?
The year 2028 is particularly important because governments expect Thriving Kids services to be fully operational nationally by 1 January 2028.
That does not mean that every child with autism will automatically lose NDIS support in 2028.
Autism itself is not being removed from consideration under the NDIS. Rather, eligibility will depend on whether a person meets the scheme’s requirements, including the level and permanence of their disability and their resulting support needs.
The significant change is that children with lower support needs who previously might have entered the NDIS are expected to have access to a different system of early intervention and foundational supports.
What families should watch closely
For parents and carers, several practical questions remain crucial as the transition approaches:
- Who exactly will qualify for Thriving Kids?
- What services will be available in each state and territory?
- How quickly will children be able to access those services?
- Will there be waiting lists?
- What happens when a child reaches the upper age limit?
- What happens if a child’s support needs increase?
- How will Thriving Kids interact with schools, health services and other mainstream supports?
- What pathway will be available for children who need more substantial disability support?
These questions will become increasingly important as implementation moves from policy design to actual service delivery.
A major transition — not simply an NDIS cut
Thriving Kids should therefore be understood as more than a simple reduction in NDIS access.
The government’s stated objective is to create a different support pathway for younger children with lower support needs, while concentrating the NDIS on people with permanent and significant disability.
Whether the reform succeeds will ultimately depend on what families experience on the ground.
If Thriving Kids provides timely, accessible and effective early intervention, it could give families an alternative pathway without requiring every child to enter the NDIS.
But if services are difficult to access, under-resourced or inconsistent between states, families could face uncertainty at precisely the time when early support is most important.
With implementation scheduled to begin in October 2026 and full operation targeted for January 2028, the transition is now moving from policy announcement to reality. For families of children with autism or developmental delay, the details of that transition may matter just as much as the headline reform itself.
Source Link: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/23/ndis-reforms-autism-funding-thriving-kids-queensland