Thriving Kids explained: what early childhood providers should prepare for now

In 2025, the Australian Government announced Thriving Kids, a national early support model for children aged eight and under with developmental delay and/or autism. The program is designed to deliver earlier intervention outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme, particularly for children with low to moderate support needs.

For healthcare business owners, this is not abstract reform. It reshapes how some children enter funded care. When the front door changes, the flow of patients, funding and workforce demand changes with it.

Here is what we know, how the model is intended to operate, and what providers should be preparing for now.

Why Thriving Kids exists

Thriving Kids forms part of a broader effort to return the NDIS to its original intent: supporting people with significant and permanent disability.

The scale of early childhood entry into the NDIS is significant. In a National Press Club address, Minister for Disability Mark Butler said:

“Just under half of NDIS participants are children under 15…and fully half of new NDIS entrants are under the age of 9, most of whom have developmental delay or autism and are entering the scheme under the early intervention stream.”

He added that “diverting this group of kids over time from the NDIS is an important element of making the scheme sustainable and returning it to its original intent.”

The message is clear: protect the NDIS for permanent disability and rebuild mainstream early intervention supports for children whose needs may not be lifelong.

How Thriving Kids is intended to operate

Thriving Kids is designed to provide nationally consistent early support without requiring formal NDIS access in all cases.

The model is expected to:

• Focus on children aged 0–8
• Target developmental delay and autism
• Reduce reliance on formal diagnosis as the sole gateway to support
• Leverage mainstream systems such as child and maternal health, general practice and community services

Rather than moving families straight into individualised NDIS budgets, the intention is to strengthen coordinated, evidence-based early intervention delivered through broader health and community settings.

For providers, this represents segmentation of the early childhood support market. Some children who previously would have entered the NDIS may instead receive funded supports through a different commissioning architecture.

What this means for NDIS entry

In practical terms, some children who may previously have accessed early intervention NDIS plans are expected to receive supports through Thriving Kids instead.

The program has been announced but is not yet operational. The current implementation timeline indicates:

• State-delivered services to begin rollout no later than 1 October 2026
• Full implementation and scaling expected by 1 January 2028
• NDIS access and eligibility changes anticipated once the new system is established

The sequencing suggests staged implementation rather than an abrupt shift. But staged does not mean minor.

If a significant portion of your paediatric caseload currently enters through early intervention NDIS plans, it is prudent to assume that pipeline will evolve. Referral pathways may increasingly move towards Primary Health Networks, community health systems and commissioned service models rather than automatic NDIS plan access.

Funding flows: the commercial reality

The critical question is exposure.

If 30 to 50 per cent of your paediatric revenue is tied to early intervention NDIS plans, this reform is not theoretical. It is financial.

NDIS funding operates through individualised budgets and established pricing frameworks. Thriving Kids may rely on alternative mechanisms, potentially including commissioned services, hub-based delivery or Medicare-linked models. The final funding architecture is still being clarified.

Uncertainty does not remove the need for planning.

Practice leaders should be asking:

• What proportion of our revenue is tied to early childhood NDIS plans?
• If that cohort shifts, what is the impact on cash flow and workforce utilisation?
• Do we need new partnerships to remain within funded pathways?
• Is our service mix overly concentrated in a single funding stream?

Reform rarely reduces demand for speech pathology, occupational therapy or psychology. More often, it redistributes who pays and how.

The businesses that remain stable through structural reform are those that diversify before the tap tightens.

Workforce implications you should not ignore

If Thriving Kids improves early identification, demand may present earlier and in different patterns.

Providers may see:

• Shifts in case complexity
• Changes in therapy intensity or frequency
• Greater coordination across disciplines
• Increased engagement with mainstream health services

If you are planning recruitment for 2026 and beyond, factor in potential redistribution of funding and referral streams. Workforce strategy should sit alongside financial modelling, not trail behind it.

What you should do now

Preparation begins with clarity.

• Audit your exposure to early childhood NDIS revenue
• Map referral patterns and identify redirection risk
• Engage with Primary Health Networks and local commissioning bodies
• Monitor Department updates and consultation processes
• Model at least two alternative funding scenarios over the next 24 months

Thriving Kids is not about removing support. It is about redesigning where that support sits.

When the front door to early intervention changes, strong operators do not wait for the dust to settle. They adjust their systems, strengthen partnerships and move early.

Preparation is not panic. It is leadership.

Sources

Department of Health and Aged Care. (2025). Thriving Kids fact sheet. Australian Government. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/thriving-kids-fact-sheet 

Department of Health and Aged Care. (2025). Thriving Kids. [Photograph]. Department of Health and Aged Care. https://www.health.gov.au/news/thriving-kids-a-new-program-to-support-children-with-developmental-delay-and-autism-and-their-families

Butler, M. (2025, August 20). Speech at the National Press Club: Securing the future of the NDIS. Australian Government. https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-mark-butler-mp/media/speech-from-minister-butler-national-press-club-20-august-2025