What’s the government doing about autistic children? We explain the changes
By Natassia Chrysanthos
The National Disability Insurance Scheme has been an important piece of Australian social policy since it launched in 2013. It was designed to give people with significant permanent disabilities greater choice and control over their lives, and that’s what it has done.
But it’s also evolved in ways that governments didn’t see coming. The NDIS was to be jointly funded by states and the federal government but was not meant to entirely replace disability services. Nonetheless, those services soon dried up, and the federal government was left on the hook for cost blowouts.
NDIS Minister Mark Butler announces changes to the scheme on Wednesday.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Before long, the NDIS was the only option for thousands of people with a disability – including children. It started growing at more than 20 per cent a year, putting significant pressure on the budget. Now the Albanese government wants to restore the scheme to its original purpose so that it retains support and remains in place for future generations.
But this will involve tightening eligibility rules for who can access NDIS support – something that worries many families who have come to rely on it.
What are the NDIS changes?
Health and Disability Minister Mark Butler gave a significant speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, outlining the challenges facing the $46 billion scheme. He pointed out that it was set to cost $105 billion each year within the decade, and risked losing its social licence.
Butler outlined two major reforms. First, slowing its growth trajectory. At a national cabinet meeting in 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state leaders agreed to bring down NDIS growth to 8 per cent a year by the middle of 2026. On Wednesday, Butler said he wanted to limit growth further – to 5 or 6 per cent a year within four years.
The second major change builds on a second outcome of that 2023 meeting, when the state and federal governments agreed to set up a system, called “foundational supports”. This would cater to disabled people who need help but not at the intense level the NDIS was designed for.
Butler gave shape to this on Wednesday, when he announced that a system called “Thriving Kids” would be established for children with mild to moderate developmental delays and autism.
How soon will this happen? And what will happen to children on the NDIS?
Butler says Thriving Kids will begin rolling out in July 2026, and should be fully established in July 2027. From that point, eligibility for the NDIS will change. Children with developmental delays and autism, with mild or moderate support needs, will no longer access early intervention through the NDIS. They will be directed to Thriving Kids instead.
But children who were already on the scheme before July 2027 will remain participants, subject to usual rules such as eligibility reassessments, which are conducted every few years.
Why is the government diverting children with autism from the NDIS?
The NDIS is roughly meeting its growth forecasts in all areas except one: children with developmental delays or autism. They comprise the majority of new NDIS participants, to the extent that more than 10 per cent of children aged between five and seven are now on the scheme. One in six boys in grade 2 uses the NDIS, and in some parts of the country, this is even higher.
These unforeseen figures have put unexpected financial pressure on the scheme.
The reason is that supports outside the NDIS have dried up since the scheme was established, and services of private providers have generally become more expensive. The NDIS offers families a lifeline, and a diagnosis of level two autism can often guarantee entry to the scheme.
Some experts now fear that some children are being misdiagnosed so they can easily access the support they need. At the same time, they say the individualised therapies provided by the NDIS – where children might be taken out of class for one-on-one therapies – don’t serve children as well as other supports provided in familiar environments such as schools and childcare.
Butler on Wednesday said these children should have their own scheme – Thriving Kids.
“I want to stress that doesn’t mean there won’t be any people with autism on the NDIS. If you have a level of autism that is significantly and permanently disabling, then the NDIS is the right scheme for you,” the minister told 2GB on Thursday.
“But if it’s at a more mild to moderate level, or if you’ve got developmental delay as a young child, you should be on a broad-based system of support. And I’m determined to build that system again.”
What do we know about what Thriving Kids will offer children with autism?
We don’t yet know how Thriving Kids will work. This will be designed by the federal and state governments over the next 12 months. But it is unlikely that children will require formal diagnoses to access the scheme.
While the NDIS gives children individual plans and budgets so that parents can co-ordinate their child’s support, a review of the scheme, published in 2023, said support for children was better delivered in the community.
Butler gave a few examples of how this could work:
- For babies: Checks at infant or child and maternal health systems, and access to programs such as Inklings, which teaches parents to understand their baby’s communication over 10 sessions.
- For toddlers: universal health checks for three-year-olds, to pick up on any developmental concerns and refer families to extra support.
- Medicare: extra access to new Medicare items for occupational therapy to strengthen play and motor skills; speech pathology to help children communicate and build relationships; and psychosocial therapy to help social skills and emotional regulation.
- Community centres: where parents can drop in for assessments, support and referrals.
- Schools: can co-ordinate and deliver support for autism, ADHD and mental health.
- Online information services: a gateway for nationally consistent information, where parents can get free support or guidance about where to get help.
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