The Albanese government has announced major changes to the NDIS in an effort to return the scheme back its “original intent” and curb its exponential growth.
Here’s what’s been announced and what it will mean for Australians accessing the scheme.
What NDIS changes has the federal government announced?
The health minister, Mark Butler, announced major changes to the scheme at the National Press Club on Wednesday.
As foreshadowed by the Albanese government after the release of the NDIS review in late 2023, the federal government will establish “foundational supports” with the help of states and territories to offer more disability support outside the NDIS.
The idea is that if the NDIS is not the only “port in the storm”, as Butler put it, not as many Australians with less severe disabilities will need to access it because other programs will be able to meet their needs.
The concept was agreed upon by the states and territories back in a 2023 national cabinet meeting, but has lacked any real detail until now.
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Butler said the first nationally consistent foundational supports system would be a new program, called Thriving Kids, designed to divert children with mild to moderate levels of developmental delay and autism from the NDIS.
What exactly is the Thriving Kids program?
The federal government will put $2bn towards Thriving Kids, a funding commitment that will be collectively matched by all states and territories.
Details of what the program will deliver are still scant but are expected to be worked out over the next few months with the agreement of the states and territories.
Butler flagged changes to Medicare to offer bulk-billed checks for children at three years old to detect developmental delays. Children who require additional support could then access things like occupational, speech or psychosocial therapies through new Medicare allied health items (subsidised appointments).
In an opinion piece for the Nine outlets, Butler said trained practitioners were already facilitating play-based developmental activities in early childhood centres and schools around the country.
The minister said the program will begin to roll out from mid-2026, with plans for it to be fully realised by mid-2027.
But there is genuine concern from disability representative groups about that timing.
The Children and Young People with Disability Australia’s chief executive, Skye Kakoschke-Moore, said: “the government can’t seriously expect to set up a fully functional system to replace NDIS supports in under a year”.
When will access to the NDIS change – and how?
The government has indicated that access changes will begin from mid-2027, when Thriving Kids is intended to be fully rolled out.
But Butler emphasised that children on the NDIS with mild to moderate levels of developmental delay and autism would not be removed from the scheme before alternative support is available.
“I want to reassure parents, there is no way I’m going to let children slip between two stools,” Butler told ABC radio.
“If you’re on the NDIS now, if you enter the NDIS before 2027, your child will be entitled to remain on the NDIS subject to all of those usual arrangements.”
Under existing arrangements, children on a full NDIS plan under the age of nine are typically re-assessed every 12–24 months.
As part of changes to the NDIS Act, all participants now receive an impairment notice from the NDIA, the agency that administers the NDIS. This determines their primary impairment, rather than their disability diagnosis. Impairment categories include, intellectual, cognitive, sensory, neurological, physical and psychosocial.
The government intends to roll out a new way of delivering plan budgets from September. The new framework will give participants funding for supports based on impairment needs, offering ongoing payments within a specified period rather than an upfront lump sum.
What else will the government change about the NDIS?
The government has 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.
Other cohorts identified by the review include teens and young adults with disability who cannot access the NDIS and are preparing for key life transition points, such as school, employment and living independently.
