Thriving Kids rollout delayed

The rollout of the Federal Government’s flagship Thriving Kids program has been delayed by three months, the Prime Minister has confirmed.
 
The program was set to begin on 1 July this year, designed to take pressure off the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and offering support for young children with mild-to-moderate developmental delay and autism.
 
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has delayed the program’s start date to 1 October to ensure states and territories have enough time to implement it, he announced following a national cabinet meeting on Friday.
 
The $2 billion Federal Government contribution to the program includes $1.4 billion to go to states and territories.
 
‘The states put to us the possibility of a short delay in the full implementation of Thriving Kids, but Thriving Kids will start from this year, and the full implementation will be completed on the first of January 2028,’ Prime Minister Albanese said.
 
‘We agreed that proposal is reasonable, that we get this right, and so it is a positive move when it comes to Government investment and expenditure.’
 
RACGP Specific Interests Child and Young Person’s Health Chair Dr Tim Jones told newsGP he has mixed feelings about the delay.
 
‘On the one hand, we really need to get this right, the ability to get early intervention really working for families, we don’t want to rush that rollout,’ he said.
 
‘But on the other hand, we know that a huge number of families out there are currently going without services and support because the current system just can’t provide.
 
‘There’s a mandate that putting a delay in place sets: if we’re going to delay it, we need to make sure that when it starts it’s really fit for purpose and absolutely starts to make a dent where it’s needed.’
 
Despite a delay, Health and Ageing Minister Mark Butler has assured that both levels of government have ‘got the money on the table’ to develop the new program.
 
‘States, and territories, and the Commonwealth agreed way back in 2023 that far too many young children were ending up on the NDIS,’ he told the Today Show.
 
‘In some parts of the country, as many as one in four young boys were ending up on a scheme that was established for severe and permanent disability.
 
‘Nothing really happened for a couple of years until last year I decided to kickstart this process with development of the Thriving Kids program, and we’ve seen a terrific amount of work in the last six months.’
 
The Federal Government has been working alongside states, territories, experts and the community to design and implement Thriving Kids, which will focus on identifying developmental differences or delays earlier.
 
Dr Jones said families nationwide have been watching Thriving Kids’ rollout closely, with thousands of children currently sitting on long wait lists.
 
‘There’s a term I’ve heard called the “messy middle” and it is families where the kids don’t quite hit all the thresholds to obviously qualify for the NDIS but would clearly benefit from a few more supports just to really do well,’ he said.
 
‘Currently, that’s a gap that is just filled with nothing.
 
‘That’s a really bitter pill for anyone working at the frontline at the moment, and I’m thinking of quite a few of my patients when I say that.’
 
The national cabinet meeting also saw the Prime Minister agree to provide an extra $25 billion over the next five years to fund state and territory hospitals, putting an end to months of tense negotiation.
 
This brings the total funding over five years to almost $220 billion. 
 
‘This is three times more additional funding for public hospitals than was agreed to under the last five-year agreement under the Morrison Government,’ Prime Minister Albanese said.
 
‘This agreement represents one of the most significant national reforms in living memory.
 
‘It is a major step forward in addressing pressures that are there on health and aged care systems as well as on the NDIS, ensuring their sustainability into the future.’
 
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National Disability Insurance Scheme NDIS Thriving Kids