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Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative Submission to the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability Date: 3 October 2025 Submission by: Australian Youth Affairs Coalition
About AYAC
The Australian Youth Affairs Coalition (AYAC) is the national voice and advocate for young people. We represent more than 4.5 million young people across the country. We are the national peak body, and our members include young people, youth-led organisations, and youth sector organisations that support and work with young people.
Introduction
AYAC welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the inquiry into the Thriving Kids Initiative to the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability. Although AYAC represents young people aged 12-25, we believe that their entire life span needs to be considered to ensure their needs are met. Transitions are key, and ensuring young people have the certainty of support when moving from Thriving Kids into NDIS support is essential.
AYAC appreciates the Australian Government’s commitment to valuing and supporting autistic children and ensuring appropriate consultation with communities, services and families to inform the design of the Thriving Kids Initiative, along with its ongoing commitment to the sustainability of the NDIS. Furthermore, AYAC appreciates the acknowledgement of the current gaps in service and assurance that no child with permanent and significant disabilities will be removed from the NDIS. Despite these assurances and commitments, AYAC raises concern in some key areas of the Thriving Kids Initiative.
Key Concerns About the Thriving Kids Initiative
Continuity of Care and Long-Term Impacts Researchers raise concerns about confusion from families toward who will be able to access the Thriving Kids Initiative and how (Milton, 2025). Families report uncertainty about which supports will be available for children over the age of nine and whether they can return to the NDIS after leaving the Thriving Kids Initiative (Milton, 2025). AYAC is concerned about the continuity of care for young people who age out of receiving support from the Thriving Kids initiative.
AYAC stresses the need to make sure that any changes made are implemented in a way which is thoroughly considered to ensure minimal disruption and stress to any person. Delays or issues in receiving support can have lasting lifelong impacts on a young person’s learning and engagement with the community. If a young person has challenges which impact their ability to engage at school, then inadequate support due to a poorly coordinated transition between services might lead to disengagement from education or prevent them from being able to learn.
Providing clear and seamless transitions from Thriving Kids to mainstream NDIS services is also key to minimising potential financial and emotional burden on young people and their families, as well as long-term impacts on education and social development.
Clear definitions and timeframes for when foundational supports will be available will support consistency across regions and service providers and can address some broader concerns within the community.
Long-Term Funding There has also been a lack of clarity on how the program will be funded after the initial $2 billion investment. There’s concern that services may be reduced if ongoing funding isn’t secured beyond the initial funding period. More information is needed regarding the commitment to ongoing funding between the federal government and individual states and territories to ensure a high standard of service delivery, and the continuation of servicing rural and regional communities.
Impact on Families and Diverse Communities Families have reported concerns about being expected to take on more responsibility without sufficient support (Milton, 2025). The model may not work well for children with complex needs or for families from different cultural backgrounds.
AYAC is concerned about out-of-pocket costs for families such as Medicare coverage as well as increased financial burden on families in regional and remote communities. It is unclear if those who are already receiving NDIS support will need to go through additional assessments and face similar lengthy and burdensome application processes to access the Thriving Kids initiative. This would undoubtedly increase stress, pressure, and uncertainty for young people and families.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families have reported racism and misunderstanding in services (D’Aprano et al., 2024). Many communities see disability as part of the wider impacts of colonisation, such as poverty and exclusion, and have expressed a need for culturally safe services, better communication from providers, and more involvement from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in designing services (D’Aprano et al., 2024). Families in rural and remote areas also face challenges with access and availability of supports.
Pressures on Schools and Services Schools and community services are already stretched, with, many schools being asked to do more without enough resources or support (Smith, 2025). Teachers also report high levels of student stress, bullying, and exclusion for children with disability (Smith, 2025). Thriving Kids may increase this pressure, especially if schools and mainstream services are expected to provide specialist support without proper training or funding. This increases the risk of some children missing out on supports.
There is a need for training more allied health professionals and providing incentive to work in underserviced regions and to build on the capacity of mainstream services, inclusive of cultural competency training and ongoing professional development. This should be embedded as a core part of the Thriving Kids initiative.
Children Falling Through the Cracks There is risk of some children falling through the cracks during the transition between NDIS and the Thriving Kids Initiative, as voiced by Australian Autism Alliance (2025). Older children, those with unclear diagnoses, those who don’t fit new criteria, or families with who would experience financial strain in acquiring a review of their diagnoses in order to access the initiative, are most at risk (Milton, 2025).
Review and Accountability
There is no clear plan for how the program will be reviewed or improved over time. It is important for families and service providers to know how outcomes will be tracked, whether they will be consulted, and how feedback will be used to improve services (Australian Autism Alliance, 2025). There must be clear short- and long-term measurable outcomes while remaining transparent with reporting and publishing independent evaluations.
Recommendations
- Develop a smooth transition process for young people who ‘age out’ of Thriving Kids to minimise disruption of social, emotional, and educational development.
- Ensure clarity on rules, definitions, rollout timelines to support consistency across regions and service providers.
- Implement local Family Liaison or Navigator roles, and outreach services (such as telehealth) to ensure families across all regions can access support.
- Commit to consistent, sustainable, long-term funding across all state and territory governments.
- Establish a National Framework with clear standards, definitions, and outcomes.
- Provide culturally appropriate services through co-design with First Nations and multicultural communities to embed cultural safety within the initiative.
- Improve inclusive education training for pre-service teachers.
- Expand the allied health workforce with rural incentives and scholarships and ensure community services are properly resourced alongside schools.
- Guarantee no service gaps during NDIS transitions,
- Remove cost barriers to reviewing or acquiring diagnoses.
- Remove cost barriers to reviewing or acquiring diagnoses.
- Apply flexible eligibility for children with complex or unclear needs
- Develop a system to track and support families at risk of missing out.
- Develop robust evaluation processes which include regular independent reviews, a youth advisory group, and ongoing community input to ensure continuous improvement and collaboration.
References:
Australian Autism Alliance. (2025, August 22). Media Release: Response to “Thriving Kids” Program announcement. https://australianautismalliance.org.au/media-releases/media-release-response-to-thriving-kids-program-announcement/
D’Aprano, A., McRae, K., Dayton, S., Lloyd-Johnsen, C., & Gilroy, J. (2024). A scoping review of early childhood support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living with a disability in regional, rural and remote settings. The Australian journal of rural health, 32(5), 890–905. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.13164
Mead, J., Lee, T.-J., O’Flaherty, M., Judd, C., Kliese, J.-L., & Bullot, A. (2025). Exploring the Effectiveness of Community-Based, Intensive Transdisciplinary Early Intervention for Autistic Children in Australia: An
Observational Study of 577 Children. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/02711214251358817
Milton, M. (2025, September 25). Thriving Kids could help secure the future of the NDIS – but what will the program mean for children and families? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/thriving-kids-could-help-secure-the-future-of-the-ndis-but-what-will-the-program-mean-for-children-and-families-263532
Smith, C. (2025, August 28). Can Thriving Kids now save the NDIS? Australian Association for Research in Education Blog. https://blog.aare.edu.au/can-thriving-kids-now-save-the-ndis/