Submission to the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability Inquiry into the Thriving Kids Initiative

September 2025

INTRODUCTION

About Disability Employment Australia

Disability Employment Australia’s (DEA’s) vision is for all people with disability to achieve their potential, including through employment. Our purpose is to drive increased economic participation by advocating for more effective policy and co-designing world-leading specialist employment services for people with disability. We are committed to confronting and challenging the exclusion of people with disability, including within the workforce and workplace. Everyone should have the chance to be fully involved with their community and have control over their own life choices. Participation in the open labour market is a crucial factor in realising these goals and we are dedicated to this cause.

For more than a quarter of a century, we have been a leader in the disability employment sector. Policy and advocacy are core elements of DEA’s work. We have worked with government through major reforms to the Disability Employment Service, the establishment of a Disability Employment Hall of Fame, advocacy for a National Disability Employment Strategy, and contributions to the Disability Royal Commission and NDIS Review.

As the country’s pre-eminent peak body for disability employment, we represent members with deep experience and outstanding expertise in delivering specialist services for people with disability. Our members include organisations operating DES-funded programs, NDIS-funded employment supports, Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs), and Work Integrated Social Enterprises.

Purpose of this submission

DEA welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Thriving Kids inquiry. While this inquiry focuses on early supports for children with developmental delay and autism, long-term outcomes should not be measured only in early childhood but across the life course. Employment is one of the most significant determinants of social inclusion, wellbeing, and reduced reliance on income and disability supports. Although DEA’s primary focus is employment, we see strong connections between the supports children receive in early life and their capacity to thrive in education, work, and community participation. We know that early intervention, if delivered well, shapes long-term outcomes. If delivered poorly, it reinforces disadvantage and creates additional cost pressures later in life.

DEA recently developed a Supported Employment reform paper (available at RESOURCES - DEA) which examined the weaknesses of the current system and the barriers faced by young people with disability. In that work, DEA highlighted Inclusion Australia’s concept of the ‘polished pathway’. The polished pathway shows how, from an early age, children with intellectual disability are directed towards segregated settings through defaults, fragmented programs, and low expectations. Each step may appear logical in isolation, such as a school placement or a program choice, but together they form an inevitable slide into Australian Disability Enterprises or day centres. Families are rarely presented with genuine alternatives, and the options reflect what is familiar to systems rather than what is possible for their children. The pathway can look structured and supportive, but in practice it limits opportunity and closes off progression into open employment.

DEA’s reform paper also sets out a positive vision for how all young people with disability can move into open employment. It called for high expectations from the beginning, supported decision making at every stage, and structured experiences such as supported internships and after-school work. Together these elements form what DEA has described as a ‘positive polished pathway’, where inclusion is the default and open employment is understood as an achievable and expected outcome. Thriving Kids should carry the same expectation, with open employment as the inevitable destination and steps along the way designed to meet that goal.

Five principles for Thriving Kids

DEA’s expertise is in employment outcomes, and we see five principles as essential if Thriving Kids is to prepare children for full participation in community and employment.

1. Fragmentation fails: supports that are split across funding lines or contingent on family persistence do not deliver.

2. Low expectations become self-fulfilling: when systems assume children will not work, planning processes reinforce this.

3. Evidence must guide design: programs should be based on proven approaches that deliver strong employment outcomes. When programs are designed without an evidence base, they consistently fail to prepare young people for open employment.

4. Workforce capability matters: staff must be trained in supported decision making, inclusive practice, and awareness of how early supports link to future education and employment to ensure pathways reflect the aspirations of the child, not the assumptions of the system.

5. Inequity compounds barriers: when services are not culturally safe or accessible, families may disengage early, reducing opportunities for children to build skills and confidence.

Each principle is explained below, with lessons for Thriving Kids.

1. Fragmentation fails

Families raising children with developmental delay, autism or other disability report fragmented and inconsistent support. Access often seems to depend more on persistence than on need. The NDIS Early Childhood pathway has not provided a clear or equitable structure. This is not unique to childhood. In employment, the same pattern has been seen. Families of school leavers have had to navigate a confusing set of supports with limited guidance.

School to work transitions highlight the risks of this fragmentation. The NDIS School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES) program has failed to achieve outcomes. In 2023–24, more than 8,500 young people accessed SLES. Only 5.6% went on to secure open employment. 1 Its successor, Capacity Building Employment Assistance, is unlikely to resolve these structural weaknesses. Too often we are seeing the choice for families being between ineffective supports or placement in Australian Disability Enterprises, which rarely lead to inclusive employment.

These programs have delivered limited progress towards open employment because supports have been fragmented, time-limited, and disconnected from life course outcomes. Early supports must be designed to carry forward into adolescence and beyond, reinforcing expectations of inclusion and participation. Additionally, families should not have to renegotiate supports at every stage. Seamless transitions ensure that children build the skills and experiences that carry into further education and open employment.

For Thriving Kids, this means families must not be left to navigate systems on their own, and supports should be consistent, practical, and set expectations for participation.

2. Low expectations become self-fulfilling

There is a clear link between early expectations and employment later on in life. This is especially true for children with developmental delay, autism and intellectual disability. DEA’s Supported Employment reform paper highlights that when systems set low expectations, young people are far less likely to move into open employment. Setting high expectations early and supporting the exploration of learning and work pathways leads to stronger long-term outcomes. When systems assume non-participation, this becomes a self-fulfilling pathway, which reflects the polished pathway described earlier.

---

1 National Disability Insurance Agency. (2025). Provider quarterly report – School Leaver Employment Supports: July 2023 to June 2024. Australian Government. https://www.ndis.gov.au/media/7691/download?attachment

Conversely, DEA’s positive polished pathway illustrates how high expectations, structured experiences, and supported decision making keep options open for education and employment.

What does this mean for Thriving Kids? We need to make sure that open employment is treated as the expected destination for all children, just like we have those same expectations for our non-disabled kids. Thriving Kids can help establish this expectation from the earliest years, so that planning in early childhood keeps pathways open and prepares for later steps. As children grow, this expectation is carried forward through regular career conversations in school, opportunities to try work in safe and supported settings, and access to after-school work.

To achieve this, the pathway must be kept open. Supported decision making at each checkpoint helps choices stay with the child and family. Schools and planners should include employment-linked goals as standard, so that work exploration, independent travel skills, and community participation are funded and sequenced. Employer engagement should be structured and simple, with short work trials and time-limited placements that build skills and confidence.

Families and schools play a critical role in shaping expectations of work and participation, and expectations must be reinforced across mainstream services such as early education, health, community organisations, and the NDIS. Thriving Kids must promote high expectations from the beginning, and this requires coordinated action across both specialist and mainstream settings so that participation as an achievable and expected part of life.

3. Evidence must guide design

International evidence supports the case for embedding proven approaches. Structured school-to-work programs such as redacted: Project SEARCH have achieved significant open employment outcomes for young people with intellectual disability and autism.2 Overseas models aligned with the Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF) demonstrate that fidelity to evidence-based practice, combined with family support and structured employer engagement, produces outcomes far stronger than fragmented, short-term supports.3 Australia has not yet embedded these lessons into its mainstream approaches.

Evidence in this context means programs that can demonstrate sustained open employment outcomes, not just participation. International models such as those above show that when fidelity is maintained, young people are far more likely to move into paid work. Thriving Kids should apply this principle from the beginning by ensuring that early supports, including capacity building and school engagement, are based on proven approaches. For children with developmental delay, autism, or intellectual disability, this means embedding models that build skills and open pathways,

---

2 Illinois Center on Transition and Work. (n.d.). Project SEARCH: A work-based learning experience. Illinois State University. Available at https://ictw.illinois.edu/resources/research-briefs/wble/brief-project-search

3 Whitworth, A., Runswick-Cole, K., Baxter, S., Brennan, A., Astley, E., Ferguson, A., Farnsworth, V., Spencer, B., & Baillie, S. (2025). Supported employment beyond severe mental illness: Overview report of research findings. NIHR Policy Research Programme. https://www.ipsbeyondsmi.org/ files/ugd/6f5158 b58173cba1854b5494a32bf5775ae022.pdf

rather than short-term programs that keep children busy without preparing them for the future. Interventions that are actually based on outcomes rather than activity.

The failures of SLES and CBEA reinforce this lesson. Programs designed without an evidence base have consistently failed to prepare young people for open employment. Thriving Kids can draw on international lessons to ensure children receive early supports that prepare them for inclusive education and later employment.

4. Workforce capability matters

Supported decision making recognises the right of children and families to make informed choices about supports, schooling, and future work. It is especially critical for children with developmental delay and autism, who are often presented with narrow or default options. Families need practical help to understand what each option means in practice and to keep pathways open.

DEA advocates for supported decision making to be routine and available at all key points, including early childhood planning, school entry, transitions between settings, and the move into secondary school. Embedding supported decision making ensures planning reflects the aspirations of the child, not the assumptions of the system. It links early supports to later outcomes by ensuring that children have opportunities to try activities, build skills, and see what work can look like for them.

This principle extends beyond families. Allied health professionals, early educators, schools, and community organisations all play a role in shaping expectations. They must be equipped to talk confidently with families about participation and the future. Workforce capability in supported decision making, inclusive practice, and awareness of how early supports link to education and employment is critical. A workforce with the right skills and accountability will strengthen, not limit, children’s long-term outcomes.

5 Equity and intersectional considerations

Children who are First Nations or are culturally and racially marginalised face additional barriers that shape long-term participation in education and work. When services are not culturally safe or accessible, families may disengage early. This reduces opportunities for children to build the skills and confidence that carry into inclusive schooling and, later, employment. Thriving Kids must ensure that acknowledgment of intersectional barriers and equity are embedded as design principles, so that all children, regardless of background, can remain on pathways that lead to community participation and open employment.

Conclusion

Thriving Kids must be understood not only as a package of childhood supports but as the foundation for thriving adults. The expectations set in early life shape later outcomes. When systems promote inclusion and participation as the norm, children are more likely to succeed in education, community, and work as they grow older.

By embedding the right supports early, Australia can ensure that young people with disability move from school into meaningful work, strengthen the economic participation of people with disability, and contribute to the long-term sustainability of the NDIS.

This submission has addressed the Terms of Reference by highlighting the importance of early identification, the effectiveness of programs, community and mainstream engagement, equity, workforce capability, international evidence, and seamless transitions. Across each of these areas, DEA’s focus has been to demonstrate how Thriving Kids can lay the foundations for future participation in education and inclusive employment.

With the right design, Thriving Kids can strengthen early supports and create pathways into education, community life, and open employment. DEA looks forward to supporting this work.