Submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Thriving Kids Initiative
Subject: Inclusion of Children with ADHD, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and Dyscalculia in Foundational Supports.
This submission expresses concern regarding the exclusion of children with ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia from foundational supports proposed under the Thriving Kids initiative.
These children are currently falling through the cracks of both the NDIS and education funding systems, and urgent reform is needed to ensure they receive the support they require to thrive.
Key Issues
Legally Recognised Disabilities
ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia are lifelong neurodevelopmental conditions that significantly impact learning and daily functioning. These diagnoses are recognised as disabilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, which defines disability as ‘a disorder or malfunction that results in a person learning differently from a person without a disorder or malfunction.’ Despite this legal recognition, these children are not consistently supported through disability funding mechanisms.
Exclusion from NDIS
Children with these learning differences are often deemed ineligible for NDIS support unless they have comorbid conditions that meet the threshold for ‘permanent and significant disability.’ This leaves a large cohort of neurodiverse children unsupported.
Insufficient Educational Support
These children are expected to be supported through education funding. However, this is not happening in practice. Teachers are already stretched thin by curriculum demands, large class sizes, and increasing behavioural challenges. They are not trained nor resourced to provide the intensive, individualised support these children require.
Lack of Allied Health Integration in Schools
While some states have schemes to engage allied health professionals in schools, these are inconsistent, underfunded, and not universally accessible. The absence of full-time allied health professionals in every school means children with learning differences often go without essential therapy and intervention.
Systemic Gap in Responsibility
Neither the health system nor the education system is taking ownership of these children’s needs.
Families are left to navigate fragmented services, often at significant personal cost, and children are left unsupported during critical developmental years.
Functional Impact and Misleading Terminology
Labeling these conditions as mere ‘learning differences’ misrepresents the functional impact they have on children’s lives. These are not simply variations in learning style — they are disabilities that affect executive functioning, memory, attention, emotional regulation, and daily living skills. Children with ADHD may struggle with impulse control, organisation, and social relationships. Those with dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia may face persistent challenges with reading, writing, and numeracy that affect their ability to participate in school, manage time, and complete everyday tasks. Using the term ‘learning difference’ risks minimising the severity of these challenges and undermines the need for formal, funded support. These are lifelong conditions that require consistent intervention and accommodations - not just differentiated teaching.
Long-Term Implications of Untreated Neurodevelopmental Conditions
Leaving these conditions untreated has serious consequences:
- ADHD is associated with significantly lower health-related quality of life across childhood and adolescence, and increases the risk of depression, anxiety, substance misuse, and poor academic and social outcomes.
-Dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia can lead to chronic academic underachievement, low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. Children may disengage from learning, experience behavioural issues, and face long-term barriers to employment and independence. - These children are more likely to be excluded from school, misdiagnosed, or labelled as disruptive, when in fact they require tailored and specialised support.
- The mental health burden on neurodiverse children is significantly higher than their neurotypical peers, with up to 70% of autistic children and over five times as many children with ADHD experiencing depression.
Recommendations
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Expand the Thriving Kids eligibility criteria to explicitly include children with ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia.
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Fund foundational supports for these children through a shared responsibility model between health and education sectors.
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Embed allied health professionals (e.g., occupational therapists, speech pathologists, psychologists) within every school, funded through the Thriving Kids initiative, to provide on-site treatment and intervention. This approach enhances the holistic
nature of support, reduces barriers to access, and ensures timely care within the child’s learning environment. It also means less ambiguity with identifying these children, open and transparent discussions with parents that teachers are not qualified nor allowed to have, more efficient diagnostic processes, and greater continuity of intervention and subsequent positive impact on children’s functioning in the environment where they spend over 70% of their week.
- Recognise learning differences as legitimate developmental concerns, not just educational challenges, and ensure they are addressed through national policy and funding.
Conclusion
If the Thriving Kids initiative is to truly support children with mild to moderate developmental needs, then these diagnosis deserve support and recognition for their neurodiversity and the impact it has on their daily functioning. Without systemic change, we risk continuing to fail a generation of children who, with the right supports, can learn and develop with a higher level of functioning in the short and long term. In turn, supporting their long-term self- esteem, reducing long-term mental health needs, and increasing job engagement and overall functional capacity in adulthood.