Dr Mike Freelander MP
Chair, House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability
By email: Health.Reps@aph.gov.au
3 October 2025
Dear Dr Freelander
Re: Inquiry into the Thriving Kids Initiative
Family & Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) is the national peak body for the family and relationship services sector, which includes family relationship services and child and parenting support funded by the Commonwealth Department of Social Services, and family law services funded by the Attorney-General’s Department.
The Thriving Kids Initiative
FRSA supports an early intervention, strengths-based approach to supporting children with mild to moderate developmental delay in a service system characterised by a progressive universalism approach. That is, an approach where all children benefit from stigma-free, good quality health, educational and social/community services, with additional specialised services/supports provided to those children that need them.
A review recently undertaken by the Department of Social Services of children, youth and parenting programs, which are delivered by FRSA members, found that the ability of these services to support client complexity, including supporting families with children experiencing developmental delay, can be impacted by the poor availability of clinical and allied health services.1 This finding has been reflected in community of practice discussions FRSA has held over the past 3 years in which service providers have made the following observations:
- It can be very difficult for families to get access to paediatricians and allied health professionals for diagnosis of neurodivergent conditions and support for developmental delay. This is particularly the case in rural and regional areas. As a result, child, youth and parenting program service providers may be seen as a bridging or holding service while families wait for other supports, including access to the NDIS
- Child, youth and parenting program service providers can spend much time working with children and families to help them access other services for developmental delay concerns. This ‘case management’ work is not explicitly funded and takes resources away from core service delivery.
1 Department of Social Services (2024). Families and Children Activity: Review of Children, Youth and Parenting Programs: Evidence Paper, p. 28.
These observations point to the need for improved service access across the board but particularly in regional and rural areas, and the need for greater navigational support for families (for example, the creation of dedicated navigational support roles under the Thriving Kids Initiative).
As universal early intervention services, children, youth, and parenting programs delivered by our members are key soft entry or touch points for families who may have more complex needs. It is important that these universal services are inclusive and in the reach of all cohorts, including children experiencing developmental delays and/or with an autism or related diagnosis. To end, the Australian Institute of Family Studies (at the request of the Department of Social Services) is developing resources for practitioners supporting neurodivergent children and young people. These kinds of resources are essential in enabling a whole-of-system approach that helps all children to thrive. At the same time, it is important that children and their families can access specialist supports as they need them – for example, occupational therapy.
Our members have also reflected on the dearth of services for children over 8 years and have observed children and young people falling behind at school because they cannot access support from allied health professionals. In some cases, development delays may be resolved with appropriate early support. Autism persists however, and autistic children may benefit from support throughout their childhood and into their adult years. While Thriving Kids is intended to provide foundational support in the earlier years, it is vital that there is complementary investment in support for children and young people aged over 8 years.
In closing I note that while the intent of the Thriving Kids Initiative is clear, there are few publicly available details on how it will work. We therefore assume this is an early and alive conversation. Accordingly, it may be helpful to investigate whether features of existing universal programs for children and families could benefit the design of Thriving Kids (for example, the whole-of-family approach underpinning the DSS funded program, Family Mental Health Support Services), as well as exploring points of intersection and future referral pathways between existing programs and the Thriving Kids Initiative. FRSA would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with the committee if it would be of assistance.
Yours sincerely,
redacted
Dr Robyn Clough
Acting Executive Director