NDIS changes and proposed new program, ‘Thriving Kids’
Keeping the NDIS focused on the right people
The Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has outlined proposed changes intended to slow NDIS costs while expanding help for children outside the scheme through a new program called ‘Thriving Kids’.
Updated figures map where demand is growing and who is using the scheme across Australia, which is driving the proposed changes.
The proposals aim to keep the NDIS focused on providing support to individuals with significant and permanent disability, and to ensure the right people have access to the right care for their needs.
What is ‘Thriving Kids’?
Recent NDIS data shows children make up a large share of participants, with autism being the most common primary disability. Of almost 740,000 NDIS participants, about 23% are under nine and about 40% have a primary diagnosis of autism.
‘Thriving Kids’ is a proposed Commonwealth program designed to sit outside the NDIS to support children with mild to moderate developmental delay and autism, which would include a significant percentage of the previous stated figures. This would be delivered through mainstream settings such as schools, early learning, and community health.
It is intended to ease pressure on the NDIS so the scheme can concentrate resources on participants with significant and permanent disability; its original core purpose.
The target start is July 2026, with access and eligibility changes for children to follow from mid-2027 as the program is rolled out.
How it is proposed to work
The government is targeting 8% annual NDIS cost growth by 1 July 2026, with 5 to 6% being considered as a target range in the future. Currently, this growth is 10.8% as of 30 June 2025. NDIS
These targets have been established to guide and stabilise the scheme over time and ensure it remains sustainable. The proposed ‘Thriving Kids’ program is intended to help achieve these targets by shifting some children’s supports and costs to mainstream services outside the NDIS that are tailored to their needs, rather than incorporating it into the NDIS.
What this means for our participants
As the intent of the new program is to reduce pressure on the NDIS, resources will be able to remain focused on people with significant and permanent disability or complex support needs, consistent with the scheme’s purpose.
However, the government has flagged potential scheme-wide budget-focused measures such as tighter price oversight, stronger fraud and integrity work, and more consistent evidence requirements.
For those who remain on the NDIS, these measures are intended to improve consistency and safeguard funding for reasonable and necessary supports, while potentially influencing how the scheme operates more broadly.
