Submission 67 — Autism Spectrum Australia — Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative

Level 5, Tower B, The Zenith,
821 Pacific Highway
Chatswood NSW 2067

1800 277 328
customerservice@aspect.org.au
www.aspect.org.au\
ABN 12 000 637 267

WRITTEN SUBMISSION INTO SHAPING A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR FOUNDATIONAL SUPPORTS

Aspect (Autism Spectrum Australia) welcomes the opportunity to provide written feedback as part of the House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability inquiry into the proposed Thriving Kids Initiative.

About Aspect

Aspect is one of Australia’s leading national autism service providers and knowledge leaders. We work in partnership with people of all ages on the autism spectrum to co-develop, co-produce and co-deliver supports and services that are individualised, goal driven and grounded in evidence-based practices. Aspect’s research arm, Aspect Research Centre for Autism Practice (ARCAP) ensures Aspect staff have access to the latest knowledge and evidence available to guide the supports and approaches we use to support people on the autism spectrum, as well as evaluating the services and programs that we offer for best practice.

Aspect provides a broad range of services to support individuals, carers and their families and support networks across their life span to achieve outcomes that are important to them, by engaging with them in their communities where they learn and play. We also operate one of the world’s most extensive autism-specific educational programs. With nearly 60 years of experience, we provide quality services utilising a wide range of state-based and federal funding, developing innovative service models and initiatives funded by philanthropic organisations and benefactors, and fee for service offerings.

These include

• Regular services in all states and territories (except WA) and a national program of workshops and consultancies, based on the organisation’s distinctive capabilities.
• Direct services (fee-for-service, state-based funded initiatives, and NDIS-funded supports) for children and young people including diagnosis and assessment; individualised early childhood development supports; therapies; behaviour support; schooling - incorporating 10 autism-specific schools with 113 satellite classes from kindergarten to Year 12; education and family support; assessment; transition and educational outreach services; and capacity-building supports to preschools.
• Direct services for adolescents and adults in the form of assessments, therapies, behaviour support and group-based community services.
• A national resource for families and services seeking information and advice about people on the autism spectrum.
• Partnering with organisations to create environments that genuinely support and include Autistic people through environmental assessments, staff training and customised resources, as well as sensory and quiet space design.

Aspect’s Individual and Community Services division employ more than 330 staff who provide individualised funded services, are highly skilled professionals and specialists in the field of autism, including Clinical Psychologists, Psychologists, Specialist Teachers, Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Behaviour Support Practitioners, Social Workers, Allied Health Assistants, and Active Support workers. Across the entire organisation, including our network of schools, Aspect employs around 1300 staff who work to support Autistic people. Aspect has many Autistic and neurodivergent employees across these teams who are able to provide unique lived experience and expertise.

Our Experience

We welcome the opportunity to provide feedback about the Thriving Kids Initiative. This initiative has the potential to play a vital role in creating a community where all parents and carers can recognise when children may need additional support and are able to access evidence-based information and resources to help their children thrive. Aspect has experienced first-hand the void that has existed since the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme whereby many young children, families and carers, are not able to access and benefit from evidence-informed early supports in a timely and nationally consistent manner, that builds family and individual capacity and capability. While “capacity-building” supports provided in natural/everyday settings are fundamental to successful early childhood development, delays to access individualised funding models as well as planners who do not have a sound understanding of the roles that well-supported carers can play, has led to ballooning costs and recommendations for more standalone and siloed therapy options. Accessing and getting onto the NDIS, as well as advocating for appropriate supports, has become a complex and lengthy process. This requires resilience and a knowledge of disability systems which often the most vulnerable families do not have access to, leading to children with significant needs being left off or unable to access the scheme.

Aspect has a long history of providing supports that encompass general and targeted foundational supports. Many of these supports lost funding following the implementation of the NDIS, resulting in many vital supports not being consistently available for young children and families throughout Australia. The various programs previously supported by Aspect had been developed to provide support to individual families but many also utilised small group settings which maximised resources while also ensuring that parents/carers built authentic community-based support networks.

This included programs such as the Autism Advisor program (HCWA) and Early Days Parent Information Program (2008 – 2018) which provided timely access to targeted advice and information. These programs supported parents to gain confidence and capacity to support their children to develop functional skills and access a range of mainstream and individualised supports. They were delivered by a range of allied health professionals with specialist knowledge, access to ongoing professional learning as well as the latest research and strong support and supervision processes.

Aspect also utilised state-based funding to deliver a range of group-based supports (Aspect Building Blocks® program) to young children and families. We saw the benefit of individualised supports for children alongside the networking opportunities and individualised support for parents and carers. This program had a strong focus on supporting successful transitions into mainstream early childhood education and primary schooling including capacity building supports for parents and carers.

State-based, federal and philanthropic funding has also provided opportunities for Aspect to support newly diagnosed children and their families and carers, as well as children showing early signs of developmental delay or autism through early support and screening programs. These current programs include NSW government Start Stronger and Sector Capacity Building as well as the Department of Social Services Building Capabilities funded under families and children section. The support for these young children and their families/carers in their homes or community settings ensured that supports were individualised and functional. Support was also provided to early education and care settings to help them better understand how to support young children through the development of play and early communication.

To address disparities in access for regional areas, Aspect has developed service models to ensure that local Allied Health Assistants based in regional and remote regions of Australia, including in NSW, are supported by regularly visiting Allied Health professionals to deliver high-quality supports in their communities. Philanthropic funding has also supported diagnostic assessments in regional areas which has ensured that some children and young people have been able to access supports and funding in a timelier manner.

Aspect supports initiatives that promote early and universal access to high quality supports for children and families with mild to moderate developmental delay, ensuring that equitable supports are provided for all children and young people across Australia. It will be important to build on what has already been effective, by utilising community and mainstream engagement with appropriate health and allied health input.

Aspect has a strong history of supporting Autistic children, their families and communities and is well placed to contribute to developing the next generation of supports to ensure that young Autistic children and their families and support network thrive. Employing a highly skilled workforce with access to resources as well as a history of delivering best practice, collaborative services, Aspect acknowledges the fundamental role of additional supports being provided by all levels of government. Aspect is passionate about building the capability of our staff, the sector and to set the future workforce up for success.

Thriving Kids Initiative

We support and agree with the statement:

‘Each child and family should be able to access the supports they need, when they need them, and in ways they desire, regardless of who they are, where they live, or how much money they have’
(recommendation 16, Autism CRC Supporting Autistic Children Guideline)

It is essential to look at the needs of the families and communities across the state when establishing foundational supports for NSW.

Over many years of implementation of both state funded foundational supports and NDIS funded supports, we believe that supports provided under the Thriving Kids Initiative need to:

• Be available early and provided in a timely way with an easy, well communicated pathway for families/carers and service providers alike which all families can access regardless of capacity, culture, location (including regional and remote) and socioeconomical background.

• Be provided for families and individuals to access with a ‘doable workload’ of both strategies, support and ongoing administrative burden to continue with supports, considering parent and family capacity and other impacts or demands on the family.
• Be supportive of neurodivergent families and their individual needs and capacity.
• Be provided in everyday settings with strategies that are able to be generalised into the real world.
• Consider a key worker/transdisciplinary model of support with government buy-in; provided by larger organisations where cross discipline support and supervision can be provided.
• Be inclusive of programs that support coaching for parents/carers and the wider family including grandparents and siblings.
• Be inclusive of the child/young person’s voice, considering where they need/want support and skill development.
• Be culturally safe, specific for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities, and culturally and linguistically diverse families.
• Be grounded in current research and consistent with the recommendations of the Disability Royal Commission (DRC), the NDIS Final Review, the National Roadmap, and the National Autism Strategy (NAS) as well as other relevant state and federal guidelines.
• Fit in with, and build on, existing state/territory-based support and current federally funded programs while there is a gradual shift to developing new models of support.
• Provide diagnostic and post-diagnostic support which are critical to ensuring young children access the most appropriate pathways and services, with the diagnostic process itself incorporating strengths-based information for children and their families.
• Be provided with choice; not a one size fits all; consider the needs of the child, the family and the community.
• Provide a maintenance phase following the conclusion of supports, with ongoing check-ins or consultations as needed.
• Build sector capacity across mainstream services - including health, early childhood education and care, and schools to ensure neurodiversity-affirming supports are delivered by quality providers with strong knowledge and leadership.
• Include early screening of young children while supporting functional skills and independence so support can be provided without the need for a formal diagnosis.
• Include smooth transitions between services and supports - government departments need to work together particularly when there is complexity and safeguarding concerns (engagement with child protection, family support services and NDIS behaviour supports).
• Have a clear pathway, one clear entry point and visible pathway options where parents know where to go if they have concerns or if they are seeking support/advice; high quality information on a state/territory-based level.
• Include support for the workforce - commitment and investment from government – investment in a capable, experienced workforce across broad geographical regions.
• Include provider registration for oversight of safeguarding, best practice and to have accountability of practice and support under the funding provided for Thriving Kids Initiative. This will ensure provider accountability in service provision and maintain the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable children and families.
• Government contracts, following successful tender submissions, to be provided with accountability and with flexibility within contracts to ensure market changes and demands can be considered. Recommendation of two-year contracts with an option to extend for another two years to ensure service providers are able to deliver on their service and maintain community connections and relationships. Contracts should include continuous quality improvement, being dynamic and able to adapt to the needs and demands of the community, demonstrating ongoing impact.

• Include a reduction in barriers through the consideration of environmental changes, universal communication and be culturally informed. Improve access and equity — culturally safe outreach, language access, and services in regional/remote areas via hubs or telehealth.

This submission has been developed in collaboration with the Autistic community to ensure that Autistic voices and lived experiences have been considered.

This formal response and set of recommendations address the key areas outlined in the provided Terms of Reference, drawing on evidence-based information, best practices, and an analysis of current and future programs.

Evidence-Based Information and Resources for Parents

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.

Empowering and assisting parents to identify and support their child’s developmental needs is the cornerstone of an effective early childhood support system.

Evidence-Based Resources: Parents can be assisted in identifying mild to moderate developmental delays through a variety of evidence-based methods and tools. The Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) is a validated, 10-item questionnaire that allows parents to note concerns about their child’s development, health, and well-being. Other resources include Ages and Stages Questionnaires, which can be administered by healthcare professionals to screen across multiple developmental domains. The Raising Children Network has online milestone checklists and guides for parent to use to identify developmental progress.

Evidence-Based Identification: A parent’s observations are often the first and most crucial indicator of a developmental difference. The primary pathway for parents with concerns is through universal health services. Child and Family Health Nurses use tools like the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) during routine checks to monitor development against established milestones. The national “Learn the Signs. Act Early” program provides parents with resources to track their child’s development and guidance on when to seek advice. GPs are a central touchstone, though their capacity to conduct comprehensive developmental surveillance can be limited by time and training.

Evidence-Based Parent Support: Best practice has shifted from clinician-led therapy to parent-mediated interventions, which empower parents as the primary agents of change. Programs like the Hanen Centre’s ‘More Than Words’ equip parents with strategies to support their child’s social communication in everyday routines. Access to reliable information is critical to counter the overwhelming volume of online misinformation. The Australian Government’s Raising Children Network website provides evidence-based, accessible information on child development and disability. For specific concerns, services like Autism Connect (provided by Amaze) offer a national helpline staffed by people with lived experience. Early intervention programs (National Early Childhood Program for Children with Disability and Developmental Concerns (NECP) autism-specific early childhood support programs, often involve therapists and educators working alongside parents to build communication, social, and daily living skills. Peer support programs such as My Time and Play connect+ Envisage, funded by the Australian Government, provide facilitated groups for parents and carers of children with disabilities, reducing isolation and building community.

Recommendations

1. Enhance GP and Maternal Health Training
   Mandate additional training for General Practitioners (GPs) and maternal and child health nurses on the early identification of developmental delays and the available support pathways, ensuring they can be the first point of informed contact for concerned parents.

2. Fund autism-specific screening and first steps programs
   Ensure access to funded supports for children showing early signs of autism where therapists work with families to build important communication and play skills.

Effectiveness of Programs and Community Engagement

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.

Current and previous programs demonstrate that early and integrated supports can have a significant positive impact on a child’s development. The effectiveness is maximised when programs are delivered in natural environments and are deeply embedded in community systems.

Current System (NDIS Early Childhood Approach): The NDIS has provided unprecedented levels of funding and choice for families of children with significant and permanent disability. However, for children with mild to moderate developmental delay, the system is often inaccessible, slow, and overwhelming to navigate. The focus on individualised funding has inadvertently led to the erosion of universal and community-based services. Mainstream services like community health, which previously offered early intervention support, now often see an NDIS plan as a prerequisite for engagement, creating a significant service gap for those ineligible or waiting for access.

Previous Systems (Pre-NDIS): Before the NDIS, programs like the Helping Children with Autism (HCWA) package provided a defined amount of funding for a specific period. While far less generous and flexible than the NDIS, this model offered a simpler, clearer pathway for families to access diagnostic and early intervention services. State governments also provided block funding to non-government organisations to run local early childhood intervention services and supported playgroups, ensuring a baseline of support was available in most communities. Mainstream health services (maternal and child health nurses, GPs, speech and occupational therapists) used evidence-based developmental surveillance and early intervention pathways, which was supported with referral networks to allied health and specialist services. Integration between child health checks, playgroups, early childhood education settings, and schools is increasingly recognised as vital for sustained developmental and educational outcomes.

Mainstream Engagement: The link between the NDIS and mainstream services remains the system’s greatest weakness. While programs like the Inclusion Support Program (ISP) aim to help Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services include children with additional needs, educators report feeling under-resourced and lacking the specialised training to provide meaningful support. Similarly, while schools receive funding adjustments for students with disabilities, collaboration between NDIS-funded therapists and school staff is often ad hoc and uncoordinated. This fragmentation can result in duplicated or conflicting approaches, place additional burden on families to act as intermediaries, and ultimately limit the effectiveness of supports for the child. Schools and early childhood education centres play a key role but require ongoing training, clear pathways for escalation, and family engagement to maximise outcomes for children with mild to

moderate support needs. A more integrated and consistent model of collaboration is needed to ensure that school-based adjustments and funded interventions complement each other and work towards shared goals for the child’s learning, participation, and wellbeing.

• Program Effectiveness: Early intervention support is most effective when provided early. Programs that are individualised, family-centred, and use evidence-based practices (such as developmental and behavioural interventions) show positive effects on a range of child and family outcomes.
• Leveraging Mainstream Systems: The Thriving Kids program is a domestic initiative that aims to address the over-representation of children with mild to moderate needs in the NDIS by leveraging existing mainstream systems, including child and maternal health services, primary care, allied health, and early education and care settings. This approach recognises the value of providing supports within a child’s natural environment, which promotes greater inclusion and participation. Thriving Kids effectiveness will depend on robust design, sustained funding, authentic collaboration with families, and accessibility, especially regarding inclusion in mainstream settings and ongoing professional development for educators and primary care providers.
• Telehealth: Telehealth has proven to be a viable and effective alternative to traditional in-person services, particularly for improving accessibility for families in rural or remote areas. It enhances the interaction between families and providers and promotes a family-centred approach to care.
• Face to face support as priority.

Recommendations

1. Fund a Comprehensive Rollout of Thriving Kids
   Ensure adequate joint funding from federal, state, and territory governments for the Thriving Kids program to guarantee it is an effective and equitable rollout.

2. Integrate Early Childhood Supports into Existing Mainstream Settings
   Establish formal partnerships between existing mainstream settings to facilitate on-site support and capacity-building for service delivery and family supports.

Equity and Intersectional Issues

Identify equity and intersectional issues, in particular, children who identify as First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse.

An intersectional approach is critical to ensuring that all children, regardless of their background, have equitable access to supports. Disadvantaged groups, particularly First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) children, face unique barriers.

Barriers for CALD Communities: Families from CALD backgrounds often encounter significant challenges, including a lack of access to culturally appropriate services, language barriers, and difficulties navigating complex bureaucratic systems like the NDIS. There can also be different cultural understandings of disability that are not acknowledged by mainstream services.

Barriers for First Nations Children: Children in many Indigenous communities experience increased rates of developmental delay. The challenges are compounded by a lack of culturally safe and

responsive screening and evaluation tools, as well as a significant deficit in resources in these communities.

Deep inequities exist in the identification of and support for children, disproportionately affecting those from marginalised communities.

• First Nations Children: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience developmental vulnerability at twice the rate of non-Indigenous children, yet they are less likely to be identified early and access culturally safe support. Mainstream services often fail to meet the needs of First Nations families. The most effective models are delivered through Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), which provide holistic, family-centred, and culturally secure services.
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Children: Families from CALD backgrounds face significant barriers, including a lack of translated resources, a shortage of bilingual health professionals, and cultural stigma surrounding disability. Standardised developmental screening and diagnostic tools are often not validated for different cultural contexts, leading to misidentification or delayed diagnosis.
• Regional, Rural, and Remote Children: “Thin markets” are a persistent issue outside metropolitan centres. A lack of qualified professionals means families face long waiting lists, significant travel costs, or reliance on telehealth, which is not always a suitable or accessible option. This market failure results in children in rural and remote Australia receiving significantly less support than their city counterparts.
• Socio-Economic Disadvantage: Navigating the NDIS requires a high level of health literacy, administrative skill, and persistence. This systematically disadvantages families experiencing poverty, housing instability, or lower levels of education, who have the least capacity to advocate for the support their children need.

Recommendations

1. Implement Culturally Responsive Practices
   Mandate the development and implementation of culturally safe and trauma-informed practices across all early intervention services. This should include co-designing services with First Nations communities and providing resources in multiple languages for CaLD families.

2. Embed Intersectional Training
   Provide mandatory training for all staff in early childhood education, health, and social services on intersectional issues, to ensure they can identify and respond to the diverse needs of children from marginalised communities.

Workforce Gaps and Training Needs

Identify gaps in workforce support and training required to deliver Thriving Kids.

The success of any initiative, including the proposed “Thriving Kids” foundational supports, is contingent on a skilled, available, and supported workforce.

• Critical Shortages: Australia faces a national shortage of key allied health professionals, including speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and psychologists. These shortages are most acute in the public health system and in regional and remote areas.

• Gaps in Training: There is a pressing need to embed neurodiversity-affirming practices in all tertiary qualifications for health and education professionals. The mainstream workforce - including GPs, ECEC educators, and teachers - requires urgent upskilling to better identify developmental concerns and implement inclusive practices. Furthermore, there is a significant lack of training in providing culturally responsive care for First Nations and CALD families. Many frontline workers lack expertise in neurodevelopmental disabilities, autism, and trauma-informed care, and mainstream staff often feel unprepared for inclusive practices and co-occurring conditions (e.g., ADHD).

• Retention and Burnout: The disability sector is experiencing high rates of workforce burnout and turnover. Professionals report significant administrative burdens associated with NDIS billing, a sense of professional isolation, and the emotional toll of supporting families navigating a complex and often adversarial system. A sustainable workforce requires better pay, clearer career pathways, and reduced administrative demands.

• Workforce Readiness for Transition: Without maintaining current NDIS/early intervention access timelines alongside new service rollout, there’s risk families will lose support before the new system has sufficient workforce and infrastructure established.

Recommendations

1. Establish a National Workforce Development Strategy
   Develop a national strategy to address workforce gaps, including funding for professional development, scholarships for allied health degrees, and incentives for practitioners to work in underserved areas.

2. Promote Multi-Disciplinary Training
   Implement cross-training programs that allow professionals from different sectors (e.g. health, education, allied health) to work collaboratively and understand each other’s roles, which is crucial for delivering integrated services in mainstream settings.

3. Developmental Training
   Upskill all child/maternal health, primary care, allied health, and early childhood education staff in use of evidence-based screening, and early intervention pathways.

4. Disability and Inclusion Competence
   Provide ongoing training in neurodiversity-affirming practice, trauma-informed approaches, and culturally competent engagement, especially for Aboriginal and CALD families.

5. Navigation and Support Roles
   Develop and embed dedicated “navigators” or key workers versed in the system, family engagement, and service navigation so families don’t fall through cracks during referral or transition between services.

6. Interdisciplinary and Community-based Models
   Promote team approaches and co-location of services across health, education, and community sectors to ensure children can access support where they live, learn and play. This includes joint professional development opportunities and system-wide collaboration training.

7. Workforce Planning
   Expand workforce recruitment and training, especially for allied health, education, Aboriginal health, and disability professionals, through targeted training incentives, placement opportunities, and improved career pathways.

Draw on Domestic and International Policy Experience and Best Practice

Draw on domestic and international policy experience and best practice.

Domestic and international policy highlight the importance of adopting a common framework and set of principles for early intervention.

• National Best Practice Framework: The development of a National Best Practice Framework for Early Childhood Intervention is a key domestic initiative, guided by an extensive review of international evidence and community consultation. This framework provides a consistent, high-quality approach to services for children with developmental concerns.

• Key Policy Principles: Best practice is consistently defined by a set of core principles: family-centred and strengths-based care, cultural sensitivity, inclusion in natural environments, and a collaborative team approach. This holistic approach is crucial for promoting children’s development and their ability to participate meaningfully in family and community life.

• Domestic Best Practice: The final reports of the Disability Royal Commission and the Independent NDIS Review provide a clear blueprint for reform. They call for a renewed investment in foundational supports available to all children with developmental concerns, regardless of diagnosis or NDIS eligibility. Key domestic resources like the National Guideline for the Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism in Australia and the National Best Practice Guidelines for Early Childhood Intervention emphasize evidence-based, family-centered, and rights-based approaches.

• International Experience: Countries like the United Kingdom and Canada offer models of integrated, tiered support. Their systems are built on a strong foundation of universal services (e.g., health visiting, child and family centres). When concerns arise, families are connected to targeted “Early Help” or “Tier 2” supports within their local community. Specialist disability services are reserved for those with the most complex needs. This “whole of ecosystem” approach avoids overburdening the specialist disability system and ensures support is proportionate to need. This model aligns directly with the recommendations of the NDIS Review.

Recommendations

1. Formal Adoption of the Framework
   Urge all state and territory governments to formally adopt the National Best Practice Framework as the guiding document for all early intervention programs.

2. Ongoing Policy Evaluation
   Establish a mechanism for the ongoing review and evaluation of early intervention policies and programs against the principles of the National Best Practice Framework to ensure they remain effective and evidence-based.

Seamless Transition Through Mainstream Systems

Identify mechanisms that would allow a seamless transition through mainstream systems for all children with for children with mild to moderate support needs.

The transition between different settings - from home to childcare, or from preschool to school - is often a point of significant challenge for children with developmental delays and their families.

• Current Gaps: The current system for transition support is often fragmented, with no single agency responsible for the process. This fragmentation leads to a lack of continuity in care and forces families/carers to repeatedly recount their story to different service providers, which is a significant source of stress.

• Best Practice in Transition: The transition to school for children with disabilities requires early and coordinated planning, involving families, early intervention professionals, and school staff. Practices such as orientation visits, sharing information about the child’s strengths and needs, and establishing communication between old and new settings are critical for a successful transition.

• Reinvest in Mainstream Services: The primary mechanism is to adequately resource and mandate mainstream services (health, ECEC, schools) to be the first and primary source of support. This involves creating inclusive “developmental hubs” within local community health centres or schools, where families can access allied health screenings and brief interventions without needing an NDIS plan.

• Establish a Skilled Workforce: Families need a single point of contact to help them navigate complex systems. Funding a skilled workforce of system key workers, who are independent of service providers, can ensure families are connected to the right supports at the right time and that transitions (e.g., from ECEC to school) are planned and coordinated.

• Develop Integrated Local Pathways: Governments should facilitate the creation of formal, local networks between health districts, education departments, ACCHOs, and community organisations. These networks would be responsible for mapping local services, establishing clear referral pathways, and collaborating on care for individual children.

• Clarify System Roles and Responsibilities: The recommendations of the NDIS Review must be implemented to establish a clear “Ecosystem of Support”. This involves formal agreements between the Commonwealth and states/territories that define the responsibilities of the NDIS versus mainstream services, ensuring there is “no wrong door” for a family seeking help.

Recommendations

1. Create a Dedicated Transition Service
   Establish a dedicated case management service responsible for providing ongoing, flexible transition support for children with additional needs and their families.

2. Develop an Integrated Information Sharing Platform
   Create a secure, centralized digital platform that allows for the seamless transfer of a child’s information, with parental consent, between early intervention services and schools, ensuring that families do not have to repeatedly provide the same information.

We welcome this opportunity to provide feedback on the Thriving Kids Initiative. This initiative has the potential to play a vital role in creating a community where all parents can recognise when their children may need additional support and are able to access evidence-based information and resources to help their children thrive.

In conclusion, Aspect strongly supports the Thriving Kids Initiative as a pathway to more equitable, timely, and evidence-based supports for children and families across Australia. By building on what has worked, embedding neurodiversity-affirming practices, and ensuring culturally safe and accessible models of care, this initiative can address long-standing gaps and set a new standard for foundational supports.

We look forward to working collaboratively with government, community partners, and families to ensure that all children - regardless of where they live, their background, or their circumstances have the opportunity to thrive.

References

Agency for Clinical Innovation (2024) Children (0–5 years) presenting with developmental concerns: Clinical practice guide.

Autism Alliance Australia. (2025). National autism parent/carer survey: 2025 report.

Autism CRC. (2022, December). National guideline for supporting the learning, participation, and wellbeing of autistic children and their families in Australia.

Autism CRC. (2023). National guideline for the assessment and diagnosis of autism in Australia (Updated 2023).

Autism CRC. (2024, December). National framework for assessing children’s functional strengths and support needs in Australia.

Australian Government. (2024). National Autism Strategy 2025–2031. Department of Social Services.

Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. (2025). National roadmap to improve the health and mental health of autistic people 2025–2035.

Australian Government Health Disability and Aging. (2025). Early childhood intervention services and supports. Supporting children with disability or development concerns. https://www.health.gov.au/topics/disability-and-carers/early-childhood-intervention accessed 24.9.25

Early Childhood Intervention Australia (ECIA). (2024). National guidelines for best practice in early childhood intervention.

Gibbs, V., Aldridge, F., Sburlati, E., Chandler, F., Smith, K., & Cheng, L. (2019). Missed opportunities: An investigation of pathways to autism diagnosis in Australia. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 57, 55-62 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1750946718301569

National Disability Services (NDS). (2023). State of the disability sector report: 2023.

National Disability Services (NDS). (2024). Workforce report: 2024.

NSW Health (2021) Brighter Beginnings: the first 2000 days of life

PRECI – Policy Research & Education Centre for Inclusion. (2024, December). Review of best practice in early childhood intervention: Targeted action plan deliverable 4 – Review report. University of Melbourne.