Submission 291 — Monash University — Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative

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MONASH University

The Hon Mike Freelander MP Chair, House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600

Re: Submission to the Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative

Dear Chair,

Monash University welcomes the Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative – the Australian Government’s $2 billion investment to deliver equitable, evidence-based supports for children aged 0-8 years with mild to moderate developmental delay or autism, primarily through mainstream and community settings, commencing on 1 July 2026, and offering the chance to transform how families access developmental support in Australia.

The urgency is clear: the 2024 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) shows more children starting school developmentally vulnerable than at any point since 2009. Australia also ranks near the bottom of OECD nations for child wellbeing, with developmental inequities persisting for more than 15 years. Without reform, these gaps will widen, with lasting consequences for children, families, and society.

Families currently face fragmented systems, long waiting lists, and uncertainty about how to best support their child. Thriving Kids is the chance to redesign supports so children can access help where they live, learn, and play. This requires national consistency in developmental checks, integration through Child and Family Hubs, and robust data systems — combined with translational models that show how inclusion can be embedded from day one.

Monash University is well placed to contribute to this national reform. Through its AllPlay program — Australia’s first evidence-based platform dedicated to inclusion in sport, dance, and education — Monash has shown how evidence can be translated into scalable models across schools, health, and community systems.

System Enablers

For Thriving Kids to succeed, three system enablers must work in tandem:

• Mainstream capability uplift: every family-facing setting — maternal and child health, ECEC, schools, primary care, and community programs — must be equipped with proportionate, universal supports to identify and respond early.
• Local delivery with national guardrails: Child and Family Hubs and digital platforms act as integration points, backed by sustainable funding and data systems that ensure equity across regions.
• Parent and carer empowerment: Families must have immediate access to culturally safe, evidence-based strategies and navigation supports, without waiting for diagnoses or referrals.

Systems guardrails - four non-negotiables

These guardrails are essential to ensure that Thriving Kids does not simply create new programs, but builds a coherent, equitable national system.

• Establishing a national framework for child development checks and foundational supports, aligned with existing standards.
• Building robust data and monitoring systems to track outcomes and support continuous improvement.
• Investing sustainably in system navigators and coordinators for local leadership and coordination, so families experience seamless support rather than fragmented services.
• Embedding a commitment to proportionate universalism — ensuring all families have access to universal supports, with intensity scaled to level of need.

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MONASH University

Monash’s contribution to national reform

Monash submits that AllPlay provides a tested translational model ready to embed within these enablers — offering scalable, evidence-based resources and workforce training to deliver inclusion across Australia’s mainstream and community systems.

Our Key Recommendations

System Architecture

1. Establish a national child development check framework — implement consistent, culturally safe checks across maternal and child health, ECEC, and schools, supported by tools such as ASQ-TRAK. Practical resources like AllPlay can sit alongside these checks, so that families are never left with “identification without action”.
2. Build a national data and evaluation framework (e.g. GenV, Young Minds Matter, AllPlay survey systems).
3. Resource Child and Family Hubs as integration anchors for Thriving Kids, embedding culturally safe mentors and navigation supports.
4. Embed proportionate universalism into design, ensuring equitable access regardless of postcode or diagnosis.

Translational model

1. Set up AllPlay as a national translational stream within Thriving Kids to scale inclusion across sport, dance, and education.
2. Align the Raising Children Network and digital e-Hubs with the AllPlay model to provide parents with practical, culturally appropriate, evidence-based resources.
3. Resource bicultural mentors and First Nations partnerships, embedded in Child and Family Hubs, to ensure equity in access and outcomes.
4. Invest in workforce development through placements, micro-credentials, and on-site training, with funding for backfill to overcome access barriers.

Thriving Kids provides an unprecedented opportunity to align research, philanthropy, and community partnerships with government investment. With Thriving Kids, Australia has the evidence, the models, and the partnerships — this is the chance to bring them together at national scale, ensuring that no child or family is left behind.

Yours sincerely,

redacted

NICOLE J. RINEHART

Professor of Clinical Psychology

Director, Neurodevelopment Research Program, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Monash University; Founder, AllPlay

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“AllPlay’s vision is to make the world fit for all kids.” Founded in 2014 by Professor Nicole Rinehart, Clinical Psychologist, AllPlay draws on over 25 years of expertise in autism, developmental disorders, and child mental health.

“It is just a basic human right that we live in a society that ‘fits for all’ and not just ‘for the few’. All children deserve equal access to education, sports, the arts and play regardless of their ability level. We are building community hubs that put leadership, research and decision making directly into the hands of children with disabilities, their families, teachers and coaches to challenge the inequalities that have for too long been a roadblock to inclusive communities where we all thrive.”

• Professor Nicole J. Rinehart

Monash University is a research-intensive institution committed to addressing society’s most complex challenges through partnerships with government, industry, philanthropy, and community. Monash brings deep expertise in health, education, neuroscience, implementation science, and evaluation, making it uniquely placed to contribute to the success of Thriving Kids.

AllPlay is Australia’s first comprehensive, evidence-based platform dedicated to inclusion across sport, dance, and education for children with developmental challenges and disabilities. Developed through co-design with parents, clinicians, teachers, and community partners, AllPlay’s mission is simple but transformative: “make the world fit for all kids.”

As the first program funded under the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (NDIS-ILC) stream, AllPlay has since attracted continuous government grants and matched philanthropic contributions, demonstrating a strong growth trajectory. This progression reflects the program’s scalability and the robustness of its model. AllPlay is also trademarked in six countries, underscoring its recognised intellectual property and potential for global expansion.

Over the past decade, AllPlay has evolved into a nationally recognised model with the following features:

• Evidence-based foundation — grounded in gold-standard clinical research, with outcomes published and evaluated across sport, dance, and education setting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

• Large-scale reach – embedded in mainstream community systems:
  • AllPlay Footy is a nationally available program, and an embedded course for coaches.
  • Inclusive dance programs in partnership with Queensland Ballet, Sydney Dance Company and Royal Academy of Dance Australia, expanding to international partners such as the Beijing Dance Academy.
  • Education programs such as AllPlay Learn, reaching every Victorian public school, and expanding into NSW through the Diverse Learners Hub.
• Accessibility without diagnosis – families can participate immediately, ensuring children are not excluded while waiting for assessments or funding approvals.
• Global footprint – programs under development in China (Moose Happy Kids Foundation, 2025–2030), Europe (Horizon Europe application), and Australia-wide philanthropic initiatives supporting girls and mothers (Mecca M-Power, 2026–28). These initiatives extend AllPlay’s domestic model into international best practice partnerships.
• Strong partnerships7 – co-designed and delivered with sporting organisations, dance companies, state education departments, health services, First Nations organisations, and philanthropists.

The AllPlay approach has demonstrated measurable benefits including improved children’s physical, social, and emotional outcomes; and greater parent confidence, reduced stress, and increased workforce participation.

Implemented at scale, the program has a proven economic multiplier effect: through our ‘hub (located at Monash University) and spokes (the community)’ model, every dollar and every training hour cascades through schools, clubs, families, and communities, generating exponential and sustained change.

Alignment with Thriving Kids

AllPlay is well positioned to contribute to the objectives of Thriving Kids By embedding inclusion into everyday community environments, it enables early identification, evidence-based support, and seamless transitions across mainstream systems. It complements clinical services, alleviates pressure on the NDIS, and offers a national translational stream that is ready to scale.

Building on this foundation, AllPlay’s model maps directly onto the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference. It demonstrates how evidence can be translated into practice across multiple domains, from parent resources to mainstream service delivery, equity, workforce capability, and seamless transitions. Specifically, AllPlay provides:

• Evidence-based supports for parents through practical, accessible strategies delivered online, in communities, and via telehealth.
• Effective mainstream programs embedded in existing settings – maternal and child health, primary care, early childhood education, schools, and community sport/dance.

1 Howells, K et al. (2020). Can participation in a community organized football program improve social, behavioural functioning and communication in children with autism spectrum disorder? A pilot study. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 50(10), 3714-3727. 2 Howells, K et al. (2022). Can a community-based football program benefit motor ability in children with autism spectrum disorder? A pilot evaluation considering the role of social impairments. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52(1), 402-413. 3 May, T et al. (2018). ‘We’re doing AFL Auskick as well’: experiences of an adapted football program for children with autism. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 6(1), 130-146. 4 Lindor, E et al. (2023). The feasibility and acceptability of AllPlay Dance for autistic children: A pilot randomised controlled trial. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 109, 102271. 5 Lewis, S. et al. (2024). A pilot randomised controlled trial of a telehealth-delivered brief ‘Sleeping Sound Autism’ intervention for autistic children. Sleep Medicine, 124, 162-173. 6 Devenish, B. D., Mantilla, A., Bussey, K., McGillivray, J., & Rinehart, N. J. (2023). Preliminary effectiveness of professional learning about disability-specific evidence-based classroom practices for education support staff. Education Sciences, 13(9), 911. 7 Mantilla, A et al. (2023). AllPlay Footy: The fast-track to change for children with disability – Monash Lens

• Equity and intersectionality built into design, including First Nations partnerships, CALD adaptation, regional and remote delivery, and a gender strategy for girls and mothers.
• Workforce uplift through national training, placements, and micro-credentials, equipping teachers, coaches, and clinicians with evidence-based inclusion practices.
• Domestic and international best practice, with AllPlay scaling across Europe and China, providing knowledge transfer to strengthen Thriving Kids.
• Seamless transitions, with tested models that connect parents, educators, health professionals, and community supports through hubs and digital platforms.

Together, these elements show how AllPlay offers not just a program, but a scalable national platform that can operationalise the objectives of Thriving Kids from day one.

Thriving Kids Context

Thriving Kids represents one of the most significant reforms to child development and disability support in a generation. Announced by the Australian Government in August 2025, the $2 billion program will commence from 1 July 2026 and build a national system of support for children aged 0–8 years with mild to moderate developmental delay and autism.

It complements reforms to restore the NDIS to its original purpose of supporting people with permanent and significant disability, while ensuring that all other children and families receive timely, effective support in the mainstream and community settings they already know and trust.

The case for reform is urgent. One in five children will experience developmental delay or disability, yet families often face fragmented systems, long waiting lists, and uncertainty about where to turn for help. Without significant reform, these pressures will continue to grow, increasing long-term costs to the government and inequities for families.

One important part of this reform must be early identification. Monash supports the introduction of nationally consistent, culturally safe developmental checks across early childhood, embedded in maternal and child health and ECEC services. Tools such as the ASQ-TRAK for First Nations families demonstrate how checks can be adapted to community contexts. AllPlay complements these checks by providing parents, educators, and clinicians with practical, evidence-based resources that can be used immediately when concerns are identified, ensuring no family is left waiting for a diagnosis before accessing support.

Thriving Kids aims to change this trajectory by:

• Identifying developmental concerns earlier through universal checks and proactive engagement with families. This is a real opportunity for longitudinal follow-up, effectiveness monitoring and economic cost evaluation.
• Scaling mainstream and community services — child and maternal health, GPs, playgroups, early childhood education, schools, and digital supports — to provide proportionate, evidence-based responses.
• Delivering equity and inclusiveness so that First Nations families, CALD communities, and children in regional and remote areas receive the same opportunities to thrive.
• Ensuring seamless transitions so children can move confidently between services and into school, without stigma, gaps or duplication.

Alongside service reform, Thriving Kids should explicitly address the social determinants that shape developmental outcomes. Families’ capacity to engage with supports is affected by housing stability, food security, financial stress,

and parental wellbeing. Addressing these determinants in tandem with developmental initiatives will ensure Thriving Kids is not just building programs, but creating the conditions in which those programs succeed.

Thriving Kids represents a landmark opportunity for government, universities, philanthropy, community organisations, and industry to build a sustainable national system of support.

AllPlay provides such a model. Over the past decade it has brought together industry, philanthropy, and community partners to deliver scalable, evidence-based inclusion programs. With Thriving Kids, this collaborative model can be “locked in” as a sustainable national system — one that can be largely self-funding within five years through commercial spin-out.

In the next five years, AllPlay has the potential to become the child-equivalent of Headspace, a trusted entry point for families seeking inclusive, evidence-based support. Monash is well placed to contribute the evidence, evaluation, and enduring partnerships needed to ensure impact from day one. With tested models that can be operational within as little as three months, AllPlay offers a practical pathway for rollout by 2026.

Evidence-based Information and Resources for Parents

Parents and carers are the first to notice when their child’s development is not on track. Yet many families struggle to know what to do next, especially when long waiting lists for clinical assessment leave them without immediate support. Thriving Kids can equip parents with timely, evidence-based, and practical strategies that they can use in the home, at play, and in everyday community settings.

AllPlay provides this support now. Developed at Monash University, AllPlay offers a library of evidence-based resources for parents and carers of children with developmental delay, autism, ADHD and other conditions. Its resources span home, school, and community contexts, including:

• Practical strategies and checklists to support communication, social and emotional wellbeing, and learning in daily life.
• Visual stories, tip sheets, and videos co-designed with families and practitioners, available online and through community and school networks.
• A professional development program for teachers from kindergarten to secondary school, ensuring educators are equipped to support children’s learning and participation.

This reduces inequities by allowing parents to act early, without waiting for assessments or funding approvals. AllPlay’s “support first, diagnose later” approach also reduces unnecessary referrals into specialist services, alleviating pressure on the NDIS while ensuring that children and families receive timely help.

Funded by philanthropy and NDIS ILC grants ($1.8M), AllPlay’s resources are designed to be culturally safe and adaptable. The program has partnered with First Nations communities, produced materials tailored for CALD families, and piloted gender-specific supports that address the unique needs of girls and mothers.

Looking forward, AllPlay can be aligned and integrated into national digital platforms such as the Raising Children Network (RCN) — a government-funded, evidence-based parenting website reaching millions of families each year — and emerging Child and Family e-Hubs, digital gateways that provide tiered online support and navigation for families, particularly those in rural and remote areas.

This integration would enable:

• National distribution of AllPlay’s resources through trusted, government-supported platforms.
• Co-designed translation of content for CALD families, including interpreter support and multilingual materials.
• Alignment with existing digital microlearning initiatives, ensuring parents receive consistent, evidence-based advice across platforms.

Together, these measures would provide parents across Australia with the confidence, knowledge and tools to support their child’s development — irrespective of their background, postcode, or diagnostic status.

Evidence from practice

AllPlay provides short, practical resources for parents that can be accessed without a diagnosis. These resources have been integrated into mainstream settings such as schools and sporting clubs, and adapted for CALD families. Independent evaluations show parents report increased confidence, reduced stress, and greater workforce participation when resources are accessible without a diagnosis.8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Thriving Kids seeks to strengthen mainstream and community services so that families can access support where they already live, learn and play. Monash University’s AllPlay has demonstrated over the past decade that mainstream platforms — sport, dance, and education — are highly effective channels for identifying and supporting children with mild to moderate developmental delay or autism, while also empowering their parents and communities.

AllPlay’s proven mainstream reach includes:

• Sport: through its partnership with the AFL, AllPlay Footy is available to over 3,500 centres nationally, embedding inclusion strategies and resources directly into grassroots sport.
• Dance: collaborations with the Queensland Ballet, Royal Academy of Dance Australia, Sydney Dance Company and international partners such as the Beijing Dance Academy have extended inclusive dance programs into over 150 studios and schools, offering children with developmental needs the chance to participate in mainstream cultural activities.

8 Papadopoulos, N., Sciberras, E., Hiscock, H., Williams, K., McGillivray, J., Mihalopoulos, C., … & Rinehart, N. (2022). Sleeping Sound Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A randomised controlled trial of a brief behavioural sleep intervention in primary school-aged autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 63(11), 1423-1433.

9 Hiscock, H., Quach, J., Paton, K., Peat, R., Gold, L., Arnup, S., … & Wake, M. (2019). Impact of a behavioral sleep intervention on new school entrants’ social emotional functioning and sleep: A translational randomized trial. Behavioral sleep medicine.

10 Bourke-Taylor, H., Howie, L., & Law, M. (2011). Barriers to maternal workforce participation and relationship between paid work and health. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 55(5), 571-520.

• Education: AllPlay Learn provides evidence-based resources for teachers and parents, reaching every public school in Victoria and extending into New South Wales through the Diverse Learners Hub. Resources include classroom strategies, teacher professional learning, and parent guides.

Accessibility without diagnosis

Unlike many clinical or programmatic supports, AllPlay programs are open-entry. Families do not need to wait for a diagnostic assessment, ensuring children can join immediately. This principle of “support first, diagnose later” reduces inequity, avoids unnecessary clinical pathways, and ensures children at risk receive timely help.

Demonstrated outcomes

Independent evaluations and national surveys (with nearly 1,000 families and 280 coaches/teachers) show that AllPlay improves children’s physical skills, social participation, confidence, and emotional wellbeing, while reducing family stress. Parents report increased confidence in supporting their child, and greater workforce participation when children are engaged in inclusive mainstream programs. To illustrate the scope and impact of AllPlay, a snapshot of outcomes is provided below.

Table 1: AllPlay Outcomes Snapshot

These results demonstrate that mainstream, evidence-based programs like AllPlay can deliver measurable improvements for children and families while reducing pressure on specialist systems. By embedding inclusion across sport, dance, and education, AllPlay offers a scalable, cost-effective model that directly supports the objectives of Thriving Kids: early identification, timely support in everyday settings, and equitable access for all families.

Evidence from practice

AllPlay directly complements the Inquiry’s focus on community and mainstream systems:

Through partnerships with AFL Auskick, national dance companies, and Victorian public schools, AllPlay has shown how inclusion strategies can be embedded in mainstream sport, arts, and education systems. Independent evaluations confirm improved child outcomes and reduced family stress, illustrating how Thriving Kids could strengthen early identification and support within community-based services.

• Child and maternal health / primary care: parents and clinicians are provided with simple tools and referral pathways that connect families into local sport, dance, or school programs.
• Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC): AllPlay resources support educators to identify and respond to early developmental concerns within everyday learning environments.
• Schools: inclusive teaching resources and classroom strategies enable schools to respond early and reduce the risk of disengagements.
• Community: Sport and dance programs foster social inclusion and resilience, ensuring children experience the benefits of participation alongside their peers.

11 Rinehart (2025). A smarter NDIS: Reducing costs by keeping kids in class and parents at work — Monash Lens 12 Bourke-Taylor, H. M., Joyce, K. S., Grzegorczyk, S., & Tirlea, L. (2022). Mental health and health behaviour changes for mothers of children with a disability: Effectiveness of a health and wellbeing workshop. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52(2), 508-521.

Equity and Intersectionality

Thriving Kids needs to deliver on its commitment to equity by ensuring that all families — First Nations, CALD, regional and remote, and those experiencing socio-economic disadvantage—can access supports that are culturally safe, responsive, and effective. AllPlay has embedded equity into its design and delivery from the outset13, 14, with demonstrated success across multiple communities.

First Nations partnerships

AllPlay has worked in partnership with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and First Nations educators to co-design culturally safe resources. This includes adapting visual stories, language, and program delivery so that they reflect local cultural contexts. Thriving Kids offers the opportunity to expand these partnerships nationally, ensuring that First Nations families are central to the development and delivery of resources and supports.

Culturally and linguistically diverse families (CALD)

AllPlay resources have been adapted into multiple languages and co-developed with bicultural workers to ensure accessibility for families from CALD backgrounds. This includes translated parent tip sheets, interpreter-supported coaching, and culturally relevant examples embedded in sport, dance, and classroom programs. Such adaptations reduce barriers for families who may otherwise face exclusion or delayed access to services.

Regional and remote access

Through its telehealth-supported delivery and partnerships with community organisations, AllPlay has demonstrated that families in regional and remote areas can effectively supported without needing to travel long distances. Online microlearning resources and community sport and dance programs provide accessible, localised pathways to inclusion.

Gender and family inclusion

AllPlay’s programs explicitly support gender equity by increasing participation opportunities for girls and addressing the unique challenges faced by mothers in balancing care responsibilities with workforce participation. Independent evaluations show that when children are included in community sport, dance, and school, parents — particularly mothers — experience reduced stress and increased capacity to engage in work or study. This focus is critical: although disability prevalence is roughly equal between males (21.0%) and females (21.8%) in Australia, only 37% of NDIS participants are female, compared with 62% male 15 . AllPlay will actively aim for equal 1:1 gender representation in participation and outcomes, aligning with actual disability prevalence and helping to redress the current inequity of two males for every female receiving support.

Evidence from practice

AllPlay has worked with First Nations organisations, translated resources into multiple languages, and trialled telehealth delivery to reach regional and remote families. Evaluations also show benefits for mothers’ workforce participation when children are included in community programs. These experiences highlight how Thriving Kids can embed equity by design across diverse populations.

13 May, T., Dudley, A., Charles, J., Kennedy, K., Mantilla, A., McGillivray, J., … & Rinehart, N. J. (2020). Barriers and facilitators of sport and physical activity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents: a mixed studies systematic review. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 601.

14 Sivaratnam, C. et al. (2020). Parent and clinician perspectives on the participation of children with cerebral palsy in community-based football: a qualitative exploration in a regional setting. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(3), 1102.

15 Piantedosi, D. K., Wilding, R., Panisset, M. G., Molnar, L. I., Bryant, C., Gibbs, E., & Sawyer, A.-M. (2025). The presence and absence of gender and intersectionality in the 2023 NDIS Review: a content analysis. International Journal for Equity in Health, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02441-2.

16 See more from the AllPlay Footy program here AllPlay Footy - Play AFL

Workforce Support and Training

A strong and confident workforce is essential to the success of Thriving Kids. Families often turn first to maternal and child health nurses, GPs, early childhood educators, teachers, and community coaches. Yet many in these roles report lacking the training, confidence, or time to identify developmental concerns early and provide effective support. Thriving Kids will need to equip mainstream workforces with practical, evidence-based strategies that can be applied immediately in their settings.

Training and professional learning

To build workforce confidence and capability, Thriving Kids will need scalable, evidence-based training approaches that can be delivered within existing roles and settings. AllPlay has developed and tested such approaches across multiple sectors:

• Educators: AllPlay Learn provides classroom strategies and professional learning courses in inclusion for teachers, reaching every public school in Victoria and expanding nationally.
• Coaches and dance teachers: through ILC-funded national rollouts, AllPlay Footy and AllPlay Dance embed training within the AFL and community dance programs. Delivered in person and online, this professional development cascades inclusion practices across thousands of community programs.
• Clinicians: our brief telehealth coaching, aligned with Medicare, enables paediatricians, psychologists and allied health professionals to integrate parent support into routine consultations, improving early identification and intervention.

Placements and pipeline development

Building a sustainable workforce requires investment not only in current professionals but also in the next generation. AllPlay contributes through extensive student placements in psychology, occupational therapy, education, and IT, embedding inclusion into training. These placements provide students with practical experience and strengthen local service capacity by linking universities, schools, clubs, and health services into long-term partnerships.

Micro-credentials and scale-up potential

Flexible, scalable professional learning options are essential so all workforce groups can access targeted training regardless of location or role. Monash has developed a framework for national micro-credentials in inclusion practices for early childhood educators, teachers, and primary care providers. Credentials can be delivered online, in schools or clubs after hours, or via tele-professional development, making training accessible without disrupting service delivery. To overcome workforce participation barriers, programs can be supported through backfill funding, ensuring staff are released to complete training.

Implementation science

AllPlay’s approach is underpinned by implementation science, ensuring that training and interventions are embedded, sustained, and evaluated at scale. Monash research has shown that:

• Telehealth brief interventions, aligned to Medicare, improve quality of life for children with developmental vulnerabilities and their parents.
• Neuroscience highlights how participation in sport, dance, and education supports brain development.
• Digital innovations enable “task shifting” of specialist strategies into the hands of parents, teachers, and coaches.
• Economic and clinical mapping frameworks track outcomes and cost-effectiveness.17

17 Engel, L., Chiotelis, O., Papadopoulos, N., Hiscock, H., Howlin, P., McGillivray, J., … & Mihalopoulos, C. (2025). Sleeping Sound Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Cost-Effectiveness of a Brief Behavioural Sleep Intervention in Primary School-Aged Autistic Children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55(9), 3028-3039.

Together, these methods ensure Thriving Kids workforce initiatives will not only be delivered, but will also translate into measurable, long-term benefits for children, families, and the broader system.

System-level workforce uplift

Workforce development needs to be seen as a whole-of-system investment, not limited to program partners. Thriving Kids needs to adopt a national capability framework across health, education, and community sectors, with translational programs such as AllPlay contributing through placements, micro-credentials, and digital professional learning.

Evidence from practice

AllPlay has trained educators, coaches, and clinicians through online professional learning resources. Student placements across psychology, allied health, and education have built the next generation of practitioners. Pilot micro-credentials and task-shifting tools show how workforce capability can be scaled efficiently — an approach that Thriving Kids could adopt nationally.

Recommendation 8: Ensure Thriving Kids invests in national professional development for educators, coaches, and clinicians, delivered flexibly through mainstream platforms such as schools, clubs, and health services.

Recommendation 9: Develop and roll out national micro-credentials in inclusion practices for early childhood educators, teachers, and primary care providers, with funding for backfill to reduce participation barriers.

Recommendation 10: Strengthen the future workforce pipeline by expanding student placements in psychology, allied health, and education through community-based programs.

Recommendation 11: Embed implementation science and evaluation frameworks into all Thriving Kids workforce initiatives to ensure sustained change and measurable outcomes. AllPlay’s use of neuroscience, task shifting through digital innovation, and economic evaluation provides a model for this approach.

Domestic and International Best Practice

Designing Thriving Kids offers the opportunity to build on the strongest evidence from Australia and overseas. International experience demonstrates that investing in early childhood inclusion yields significant social and economic returns. For example, the UK Sure Start program has shown that community-based hubs not only improve child health and development but also reduce long-term government expenditure. Similarly, European and US initiatives emphasise the importance of integrated, proportionate universal support should be available to all, but scaled in intensity to meet need.

Thriving Kids can also learn from initiatives that have reshaped outcomes for children at scale. In the UK, the Sure Start program showed how locally governed hubs improve developmental, educational, and health outcomes while reducing long-term government expenditure. In Australia, place-based efforts such as Wimmera By Five demonstrate the power of collective impact when local services are resourced to collaborate. Philanthropy has been a critical driver in these collective models, seeding innovation and sustaining partnerships that enable systems change. These examples highlight that national frameworks achieve greatest impact when paired with locally tailored delivery.

In Australia, AllPlay represents an evidence-based program that is already aligned with this global best practice. Its integration into mainstream systems—schools, sport, dance, and primary care—ensures early identification and timely support without requiring families to navigate complex, diagnosis-gated systems.

Global knowledge transfer

AllPlay’s programs are scaling internationally, including:

• Our partnership with Moose Happy Kids Foundation, Beijing Dance Academy and Monash Suzhou is embedding inclusive dance and sport programs in China.
• We are collaborating with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Europe’s largest university hospital), and also with a further twelve partners across Germany, Italy, and Romania in a Horizon Europe application to establish AllPlay-style inclusion within community education systems and theatre across Europe.

These initiatives enable knowledge and cultural transfer in both directions. Our view is that Thriving Kids can benefit from AllPlay’s international insights, while Australia can contribute leadership in inclusive practice to the global early childhood community.

National framework, local delivery

Thriving Kids will be most effective if it establishes a national framework that can be commissioned and delivered locally. This ensures consistency of standards and equity of access while allowing programs to be adapted to local communities. AllPlay’s partnerships with the AFL, schools, and local dance companies provide a scalable model of how a national approach can be implemented in diverse contexts.

What distinguishes Monash’s contribution is its pragmatic approach to implementation. Led by Professor Rinehart, the team brings deep expertise across clinical services, NDIS, Medicare, and research — ensuring that evidence-based models are designed not only for academic rigour but for practical application in clinics, schools, and communities. This capacity to move seamlessly from research to real-world delivery positions Monash to support Thriving Kids as both a knowledge partner and a translational engine.

Recommendation 12: Design Thriving Kids as a national framework with local delivery, ensuring consistent standards and equity of access while enabling community-level adaptation.

Recommendation 13: Embed a knowledge transfer function within Thriving Kids to share domestic and international evidence of best practice.

Recommendation 14: Incorporate economic evaluation into Thriving Kids program design, to measure cost-effectiveness and long-term savings for government. International models such as the UK Sure Start program demonstrate that early investment delivers significant returns; AllPlay’s implementation-science framework provides a mechanism for similar economic mapping in Australia.

Seamless Transitions

For Thriving Kids to succeed, families must experience seamless transitions across services — moving from first concerns to identification, to support within mainstream settings, and, where necessary, referral to specialist care. Too often, families face fragmented pathways and long waits across health, education, and community systems.

The role of mainstream systems

Seamless transitions begin in the places families already engage: child and maternal health, primary care, ECEC, schools, and community programs. Thriving Kids can establish clear referral and feedback loops between these systems, reducing fragmentation and ensuring children do not fall through the gaps.

Disability-led Community Hubs as Integration Anchors

With more than 470 Child and Family Hubs nationally, these community anchors can serve as the backbone of Thriving Kids, connecting digital and face-to-face supports so families experience integrated help no matter where they live. To function effectively, Hubs require dedicated navigation and coordination capacity — the people, practices, and systems that link services, engage families, and maximise the impact of existing resources.

This coordination capacity improves efficiency by reducing duplication, supporting staff retention, and achieving better outcomes from existing investment. Yet current funding streams are often service-specific and do not cover these enabling roles, leaving Hubs reliant on philanthropy or short-term grants. Thriving Kids should provide sustainable investment in coordinators and navigators embedded in Hubs, so families experience seamless support rather than fragmented services.

Evidence from practice

Families can participate immediately without a diagnosis, reducing delays at the entry point. Referral pathways have been established to connect parents, teachers, coaches, and clinicians — for example, linking schools with local paediatric services in Victoria — ensuring continuity of care. Telehealth and online resources also provide continuity for families in regional and remote areas.

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Children involved in AllPlay programs reported improved peer relationships, a reduced social challenges, and stronger feelings of acceptance - key factors in lifelong participation, learning, and wellbeing.

Once the problem is identified, conduct thorough research to gather information about existing solutions, competitor products, and emerging technologies. Brainstorm and generate multiple ideas that have the potential to solve the identified problem effectively.

Children demonstrated improvements in coordination, balance, object control, and dexterity - laying a physical foundation for participation in school, play, and daily life.

AllPlay Learn’s research-informed tools increased educators’ confidence and knowledge, helping schools implement inclusive teaching practices and fostering a greater sense of support for students with diverse needs.

The majority of footy coaches expressed willingness to include children with disabilities. With simple strategies—like inclusive attitudes, parent support, and extra time—coaches can play a powerful role in inclusion.

Evidence drawn from peer-reviewed studies across AllPlay programs, including research published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, and Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health (papers 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023)

Conclusion

Thriving Kids represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redesign how Australia identifies and supports children with neurodevelopmental needs. By focusing on mainstream and community systems, the program will not only meet the needs of children with mild to moderate developmental delay or autism, but also strengthen wellbeing for all children. What works for autism works for all children: embedding inclusion across health, education, and community systems will destigmatise neurodevelopmental conditions and reduce later mental health burden.

Monash University submits that All Play provides a proven, scalable model to demonstrate how Thriving Kids can be implemented in practice. Its integration across sport, dance, education, and health systems shows how evidence-based strategies can be embedded in everyday settings, reaching families early and equitably.

To achieve this, Thriving Kids must:

• Integrate evidence-based resources for parents through national digital platforms.
• Embed developmental supports across mainstream systems including maternal and child health, primary care, ECEC, schools, and community programs.
• Ensure equity by design through First Nations leadership, CALD adaptations, and regional and remote delivery.
• Invest in workforce development through professional learning, micro-credentials, and placements, supported by implementation science and evaluation.
• Draw on international best practice while building a national framework delivered locally.
• Support coordination roles and publish clear family pathways to ensure seamless transitions.

With these measures, Thriving Kids can deliver tangible benefits for children, families, and communities, while generating long-term social and economic returns for Australia. By establishing an ecosystem for neurodevelopment where every child benefits, and those who need extra support receive it, Thriving Kids can transform the landscape of child development and mental health.

Monash University would welcome the opportunity to provide further evidence to the Committee and to support the Government in realising the full potential of this national reform.

Thriving Kids offers Australia the chance to build a national system that delivers early support for every child and long-term social and economic returns for the nation.

Recommendation 20: Embed Thriving Kids as an ecosystem for neurodevelopment, ensuring benefits extend to all children while meeting the needs of those requiring extra support.

Authorship and Contributions

Monash University acknowledges the lead author of this submission and gratefully recognises the expertise and input of the following contributors.

Lead Authors

Professor Nicole Rinehart Professor of Clinical Psychology School of Psychological Sciences Director, Neurodevelopmental Research, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health Monash University; Founder, AllPlay

Dr Olivia Millard Senior Lecturer in Dance, School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University; Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University; Co-founder, AllPlay Dance

Dr Chloe Emson AllPlay Research Fellow and Manager, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University

Contributors to this Submission

Monash University gratefully acknowledges the expertise and insights of the following colleagues, whose contributions have strengthened this submission:

Professor Mak Bellgrove Director, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health; Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University

Professor Shatha Rajaratnam Professor of Sleep & Circadian Medicine, Head, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash Sleep Network, Monash University

Professor Kimberley Marriott Professor of Computer Science; Director, Monash Assistive Technology and Society (MATS) Centre, Monash University

Professor Harriet Hiscock Consultant Paediatrician, Associate Director (Research), Centre for Community Child Health, The Royal Children’s Hospital; Group Leader, Health Services & Economics, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Professor Kim Donald Marriott Professor of Computer Science; Director, Monash Assistive Technology and Society (MATS) Centre, Monash University

Professor Helen Bourke-Taylor Professor of Occupational Therapy, School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Monash University; Fellow, Australian Occupational Therapy Research Foundation

D’Arne Finlayson Founder of The Homer Hack Parent of a child with neurological condition

Jonathan Wenig Partner - Arnold Bloch Leibler Founder and Chair, All Things Equal Director - Giant Steps Melbourne Parent of a 25 year old young woman with autism

Tabitha Ese Early Childhood Teacher Parent of a daughter with a disability

Authorship and Contributions

Kris Kathiravel Deputy Director, International Research Partnerships & Programs, Monash University

Jane Ceaney Principal Specialist, Higher Education Policy, Monash University

Professor James Charles Professor of Indigenous Health, School of Health Science and Social Work, Griffith University

Natalie Emmeon Government Relations & Partnerships, Monash University

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