Health department officials say the $46 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme has distorted the spread of allied health workers, costs and waiting times for their services as work gets under way on a new disability system for children. Source: The Age.
But most affected families say they’re worried about the timeline to roll out the scheme, which will be called Thriving Kids and will start replacing NDIS support in mid-2027.
Families fear moving to a more standard system of care will create a “one-size-fits-all” approach that leaves their child behind.
As a federal advisory group met for the first time last week to start designing the new system for autistic children with lower support needs, the peak body for young people with disabilities has revealed the extent of families’ concern to a parliamentary inquiry probing the government’s plans.
A survey of more than 1500 people conducted by Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) found 79 per cent did not feel there was enough time to build Thriving Kids, and 76 per cent were worried about it.
Only 4 per cent thought enough time had been allocated, according to survey results released on Tuesday. The same proportion felt positive about the changes.
“It is a major red flag when a vast majority of the people who will be impacted tell you your reform timetable is unrealistic and that it could cause real harm,” said Skye Kakoschke-Moore, the organisation’s chief executive, who sits on the federal Government’s new advisory board.
“We have long called for alternative supports, but they need to be effective, properly co-designed with our community and fully functional before they can replace the NDIS.”
In a parliamentary hearing held last Friday, Health Department officials said they wanted to leverage mainstream health, education and childcare systems so that families no longer bought their own services with funding packages, which currently happens under the NDIS.
Health Department acting deputy secretary Luke Mansfield told the hearing that the NDIS model of individual packages had distorted the distribution of allied health workers around the country.
Liz Develin, a department deputy secretary, said the Government still hoped to land a funding deal by the end of the year and that the advisory group would do “very rapid work over the next few months” so that services started from mid-2026.
FULL STORY
Scale of family concerns about NDIS replacement revealed (By Natassia Chrysanthos, The Age)
