Thriving Kids Initiative: Feedback on Terms of Reference
The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the Terms of Reference for the Thriving Kids Initiative.
About Catholic Education
NCEC is the peak body for Catholic education in Australia and is responsible for the national coordination and representation of Catholic schools and school authorities.
Catholic education is the major provider of education outside of government. Australia’s 1,755 mostly low-fee Catholic schools educate one in five, or 820,000, students and employ more than 112,000 staff. Additionally, we represent 693 approved services under the National Quality Framework (NQF) for Early Childhood Education and Care, and 417 early childhood education and care services.
Draft Terms of Reference
- Examine evidence-based information and resources that could assist parents identify if their child has mild to moderate development delay and support parents to provide support to these children.
- Examine the effectiveness of current (and previous) programs and initiatives that identify children with development delay, autism or both, with mild to moderate support needs and support them and their families. This should focus on community and mainstream engagement, and include child and maternal health, primary care, allied health playgroups, early childhood education and care and schools.
- Identify equity and intersectional issues, in particular, children who identify as First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse.
- Identify gaps in workforce support and training required to deliver Thriving Kids.
- Draw on domestic and international policy experience and best practice.
- Identify mechanisms that would allow a seamless transition through mainstream systems for all children with mild to moderate support needs.
Feedback on the draft Terms of Reference
We would welcome clarity around Foundational Supports - Targeted Supports. If Thriving Kids is replacing Targeted Support, it will be helpful to include a definitive statement on this.
Decisions about how and where services are delivered may require investment in infrastructure e.g. buildings and resource e.g. people. Services may not be able to be accommodated within existing structures.
Remote/rural locations have specific planning needs, which increases the cost of services (as noted in the PWC review of disability loadings report).
The Terms of Reference would benefit from explicitly addressing what happens to children after the age of 8 years old. The Thriving Kids factsheet specifies support for children “aged 8 and under” yet the Terms don’t examine ongoing support pathways for children who don’t qualify for NDIS but continue to need assistance beyond this age. This creates a concerning service cliff that could leave families without support at a critical developmental stage.
Implementation timeline feasibility may require examination. With Thriving Kids commencing in July 2026 with a 12-month ramp-up period, and NDIS access rules changing from July 2027, there’s a risk during the transition period. While existing NDIS participants won’t be automatically removed, they remain subject to reassessments that could see them exit the NDIS before Thriving Kids services are fully established in their area. We would suggest the Terms examine safeguards needed during this transition period, including grandfathering provisions for current NDIS participants and clear appeals processes for families who disagree with eligibility determinations.
When the $2 billion commitment to this initiative is distributed across projected demand, it equates to approximately $5,000 per child per year - a figure that may be insufficient for meaningful intervention. The Terms may require economic analysis of true service delivery costs and examination of sustainable funding models beyond the initial commitment. Additionally, cost-benefit analysis comparing early intervention investment against later crisis intervention expenses would strengthen the economic case for adequate resourcing.
Quality assurance and accountability frameworks may be explicitly included, e.g. examine minimum standards for service providers, outcome monitoring frameworks, and fidelity measures to ensure evidence-based practices are delivered as intended.
Establishing baseline data before program commencement will enable meaningful evaluation.
The Terms could be strengthened beyond general statements, to ensure seamless transitions. This includes specific examination of service integration mechanisms, including privacy-compliant information sharing protocols and sustainable funding models for care coordination roles.
The Terms may consider implementation readiness more critically. Given current workforce shortages and the July 2026 commencement date, a realistic assessment of system capacity is essential. This includes examining whether the workforce can be adequately trained and ready within the timeframe, what staging priorities should apply if full implementation isn’t feasible, and contingency planning for varying levels of state and territory participation.
Feedback on specific statements in the Terms of Reference follows:
- Examine evidence-based information and resources that could assist parents identify if their child has mild to moderate development delay and support parents to provide support to these children.
This point may be further refined to ensure information and resources for parents focuses on access to systems and supports including referral pathways to identify if a child has developmental delay. It will be important to ensure resources are culturally inclusive and considerate of individual circumstances, intersectionality and vulnerabilities. These could include universal screeners at key touchpoints - Maternal Child Health, early childhood education and care services, school entry etc.
Systems of support will also be required, as it would not be expected that all parents could identify developmental delay.
- Examine the effectiveness of current (and previous) programs and initiatives that identify children with development delay, autism or both, with mild to moderate support needs and support them and their families. This should focus on community and mainstream engagement, and include child and maternal health, primary care, allied health playgroups, early childhood education and care and schools.
Catholic Education would welcome early and ongoing engagement with the Thriving Kids initiative. We would hope that any program of support that involves services being delivered in Early Childhood Education Centres or schools will include cross-sector representation.
- Identify gaps in workforce support and training required to deliver Thriving Kids.
There is an opportunity to draw on the research to identify best practice early intervention and the workforce required to deliver these supports so that they are easily accessible for families. It is important that the workforce is well versed in culturally inclusive practice.