Disability representative groups say they are “collectively disappointed” after being blindsided by the Albanese government’s plans to divert children with mild to moderate developmental delays or autism from the NDIS.
Ten of Australia’s biggest disability groups have urged the new NDIS minister, Mark Butler, to commit to co-designing a new program for mild-to-moderately impaired children in a joint statement on Thursday evening.
It comes as state and territory leaders offered mixed responses to the federal government’s Thriving Kids proposal, which they say they were not consulted on.
The joint statement, which was endorsed by the Australian Autism Alliance, People with Disability Australia, Disability Advocacy Network Australia and Children and Young People with Disability Australia, among other groups, said it welcomed the new commitment but required more information about how it would work and its “ambitious” timeline.
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The Albanese government has committed to a co-design process of NDIS reform with disability representative groups, to ensure those with lived experience are at the centre of changes.
Butler announced on Wednesday the federal government would commit $2bn to the Thriving Kids program, which will begin rolling out from mid-2026 to children with mild to moderate developmental delays or autism.
Changes to the access of NDIS won’t begin until mid-2027 after the new program has been fully established.
“While Minister Mark Butler noted ‘nothing about us without us’ in his speech at the National Press Club [on Wednesday], the announcements made by the minister came as a surprise to the disability community and representative organisations,” the groups’ statement said.
“This has created further uncertainty for our community. We are heartened by the government’s continued commitment to the NDIS, which has changed the lives of people with disability around Australia.
“However, we are collectively disappointed that the government chose not to engage with the disability community about their announcement.”
On Friday, the NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, told a budget estimates hearing he had not been personally consulted about the program prior to its public announcement on Wednesday.
“We want to see a lot more detail of what the commonwealth is asking us to do … for us to determine our position on what we can contribute to the Thriving Kids position,” he said.
“States are going to need to spend more, particularly when it comes to schools as well.”
Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, and the state’s disability minister, Lizzie Blandthorn, both said they first learned of the proposed program when it was revealed at Butler’s press club address.
Blandthorn told ABC Melbourne on Thursday it had been “disappointing” Butler still hadn’t called her about the program.
Butler dismissed suggestions the states and territories had been left out of the loop on Friday morning, saying it had been on the table for almost two years.
“It’s not true that there haven’t been discussions,” he told ABC Sydney. “The states and the commonwealth have been talking about this for almost two years now, since we were directed to do so by the prime minister and all of the premiers.
“The report of the NDIS last week showed that the number of children coming on to the scheme, not only is it not slowing, it’s increasing. We’ve got to get about actually delivering the work that the premiers and the prime minister set us to do back in 2023 now, almost two years ago.”
The Thriving Kids program is the first clear system proposed to offer “foundational supports” – disability support outside the NDIS – for those with less severe impairments, as initially proposed by the NDIS review in late 2023.
After the review’s release, the former NDIS minister Bill Shorten announced foundational supports would be jointly funded by the commonwealth and the states and territories, and offer two streams: general supports for all people with disability, as well as targeted supports for people who are ineligible for the NDIS and for which their needs cannot be met through mainstream services.
The government described the Thriving Kids program as the “first piece of work” to give shape to the foundational supports concept – but flagged there were others on the way.
Butler said the next cohort the government would look at, based on the NDIS review’s findings, would include adults with more severe and complex mental illness.
