Yesterday's major announcement from NDIS Minister Mark Butler at the National Press Club has provided a roadmap for the future of early intervention services for children with mild and moderate developmental delay and autism aged under 9.

The Minister Announced that the Federal Government will take the lead on this with a $2 billion investment in ‘Thriving Kids’ - a national program that would streamline access and navigation of early intervention services and address the rising number of children in the NDIS with a commencement date of 1 July 2026.

The Minister committed to a period of co-design with the NDIS Reform Advisory Committee, the states, parents and others to design the program, working alongside co-Chair paediatrician Frank Oberklaid AM. He noted that the services would be co-funded with the states, following the government’s initial $2B investment.

The Minister also flagged that they would make changes to NDIS Access Rules that would begin from 1 July 2027, to remove access for those with mild and moderate development delay and autism. He affirmed that those with significant permanent disability would still be able to access the NDIS going forward in line with its original vision.

Children currently on the NDIS, or who join the NDIS before Thriving Kids rolls out, will not be automatically removed from the Scheme. However, the Minister said they will be subject to its usual arrangements, including reassessments.

This comes after revelations in the media this week that negotiations between the federal and state governments have stalled on Foundational Supports, and new NDIA that shows that 53% of NDIS participants have a primary disability type of autism or developmental delay, and almost a quarter of participants are aged under 8 years of age.

The announcement builds on the recommendations of the NDIS Independent Review which recognised the growth in the early childhood cohort and recommended more mainstream supports for children to enable earlier access at key stages and easier navigation for families who may feel overwhelmed by a diagnosis.

The Minister flagged that Thriving Kids would be rolled out alongside other changes to better integrate supports for children into other systems, including:

• new Medicare bulk billed item for 3-year-old child development checks.
• new Medicare Allied Health Items for therapy, including:
  • Occupational therapy to strengthen play skills, fine and gross motor skills, concentration, and self-regulation.
  • Speech pathology to support speech, language, literacy, as well as the use of signs, symbols and gestures to support kids to communicate and build relationships.
  • Psychosocial therapy to support developing essential social skills, emotional regulation and executive function.
• integration with early childhood education and school systems to enable access to more coordinated supports
• scaling up existing Child and Family service centres
• a nationally consistent online information service
• improved decision-making tools for health professionals and better workforce training on child development.

After months of uncertainty for families and providers, this is welcome direction and clarity on a new national system but there are still many questions remain on the exact nature and scope of the services that will be offered under the new arrangements.

We urge government to ensure that OT is at the heart of these changes and that children and families can continue to access occupational therapy interventions that meet their child’s individual needs and goals.

Australia’s 30,000+ occupational therapists are key providers of therapy and other supports, working across mainstream health and education programs as well as state, territory and Commonwealth-funded programs for children experiencing developmental delay and disability to help children and families build capacity and thrive.

OTA has been developing our policy approach to ensure that governments get early childhood supports right and ensure ongoing access to OT services for children and young people with developmental delay and disability.

OTA has worked with our occupational therapy community over the past few months to develop our Advice to Governments paper, which urges recognition of the essential role and expertise of occupational therapists in early identification, assessment, intervention, and capacity building in early intervention services.

We will be advocating to government to work with the OT profession to design this new approach to ensure that services utilise the current highly skilled workforce that already exists, and enable continued access to OT that is affordable, equitable and clinically indicated.

We welcome plans to integrate services in mainstream settings like schools and early childhood settings, as this provides an opportunity to deliver integrated services more efficiently, and reduce many pain points that OTs currently experience trying to delivery therapies in these environments.

OTA is particularly pleased that the Minister acknowledged Occupational Therapy as a key allied health service in this space when mentioning specific new Medicare items, however this will require careful design to ensure that rebates and access rules enable access for all Australians at dosages that are clinically indicated. We will also advocate for a specific role for OT in delivering psychosocial therapy supports flagged in the announcement to reflect the existing key role that OTs play in this space,

OTA is also concerned that the timeframe for these reforms only gives 2 years before NDIS access will be revoked for many children. New services must be firmly established and be working well, at levels that will create real change in children’s lives, before any NDIS access is removed. More time should be given to support families to adjust to the new arrangements.

We also urge government to provide clear timeframes for all stages of these reforms, and to commit to engagement with the clinical sector to ensure they get the design right, and ensure that workforces and markets have time to transition to support children and families under new arrangements.

We also urge Government to provide more clarity for the disability community on the future and direction of other NDIS reforms including broader Foundational Supports for People with Psychosocial disability, who also deserve the same reassurances and commitment from government on the future of these services.

Read the Minister’s full speech here.