Thriving Kids

Thriving Kids is for children aged 8 years and under with developmental delay and/or autism, who have low-to-moderate support needs. 

It also provides support for their families, carers and kin. 

A diagnosis will not be required to access services. More information about eligibility, intake and referral pathways will be published before services become available. 

Families can also join the Thriving Kids mailing list to receive updates as more information becomes available.

Thriving Kids will include a mix of supports and services for children and families. 

Supports will be goal-focused and will look different for each child and family depending on their needs and local service availability.  

Thriving Kids will provide two types of services: 

General supports 

Available to families who have concerns about their child’s development. 

These include: 

• supported playgroups for children aged 5 and under 

• peer support and parenting programs 

• information, advice and referrals to help families understand development and find help early. 

Targeted supports 

For children who need extra help for a specific period of time. Supports are goal‑focused and include coordination of Thriving Kids supports for the family. 

These include: 

• allied health therapies delivered by qualified clinicians. Therapies can be individual or in small group, play‑based sessions. 

• information, advice and referrals to help families understand development and find help early. 

• in some circumstances, providing low-cost assistive technology to families to support development goals. 

Changes to NDIS access for children will not happen until 2028.

The Australian Government and all state and territory governments have agreed in principle that any changes to NDIS access arrangements will align with the rollout of Thriving Kids. 

These changes will ensure children and their families are supported to access services from the system best suited to their needs.

Changes to NDIS access will commence from 1 January 2028 and will be limited to children aged 8 and under with developmental delay and/or autism who have low to moderate support needs. 

These changes will not affect children who are enrolled in the NDIS prior to 1 January 2028, as their NDIS reassessments will be made under the eligibility criteria in place prior to 1 January 2028. Children with permanent and significant disability will continue to be eligible for the NDIS, subject to usual NDIS arrangements.

These changes will require amendments to the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. The Australian Government will work closely with state and territory governments, people with disability and the disability sector to inform the design and implementation of this important reform.

Thriving Kids services will start to become available from October 2026. 

Families who need support before then can continue to use existing services. 

• National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – Early Childhood Approach - helps children under 9 with developmental delay or disabilities. To find an NDIS Early Childhood provider, go to the NDIS website. 

• NSW Parent and Carer Information Hub - services and resources to help children during the first five years of life. 

• Community and Family Support - links families and young people with community-based services. These free services offer information, support and social connection to help families facing difficult circumstances. 

• Aboriginal Child and Family Centres - culturally-safe services for families with Aboriginal children aged up to 8 years of age. 

• Finding Early Childhood Education and Care - information to help families, carers and kin choose an early childhood education service. 

• NSW Disability Advocacy Futures Program - disability advocacy services. 

The NSW Government has agreed to jointly fund these new services with the Australian Government, with up to $1,074.3 million available over the first five years, to 30 June 2031.

This includes a NSW Government contribution of $631.9 million and an Australian Government contribution to NSW of $442.4 million over five years.

Thriving Kids services will need to be delivered within the available funding envelope which will be capped. Alongside the services that will be delivered in NSW, the Australian Government has allocated $600 million nationally over five years to provide national initiatives. Information about what the Australian Government will deliver is at health.gov.au/our-work/thriving-kids.

DCJ will publish information about new Thriving Kids services as they become available, including what services are available where, and how to access them. This information will be provided on this website from October 2026 and updated as new services commence.

DCJ will also work with service providers and industry bodies to make this information accessible to families and their trusted sources of advice and information.

Promotional activities will also be undertaken by the Australian Government, and DCJ will coordinate with national communications initiatives.

The first stage of procurement for Thriving Kids services to be delivered by NGOs is currently in progress. This started with an expression of interest that was open to all providers in May 2026. Successful organisations who participated in that process have been invited to respond to a request for tender in July 2026. This procurement is for general supports and targeted supports services, with contracts to commence from October 2026.

Information about the request for tender process is available to the invited organisations through Procurement Central. The outcomes of this procurement will be made publicly available once the process is completed in October 2026.

Both successful and unsuccessful respondents to the expression of interest have been notified by DCJ in July 2026, and unsuccessful respondents have been provided information about potential upcoming opportunities to contribute to the delivery of Thriving Kids.

As part of the current procurement activity, NGOs may identify subcontracting arrangements with other NGOs and for-profit allied health providers. Details of any proposed subcontracting arrangements do not need to be finalised until the contract execution stage with successful providers following the request to tender process (around September / October). Subcontracting arrangements with for-profit allied health providers are required to be time-limited while the provider builds their internal capacity.

Any further questions from providers invited to the request for tender must be submitted through Procurement Central and will be responded to in an equitable way to ensure all providers have access to the same advice.

DCJ is exploring the options to establish a procurement for panel arrangement for private allied health practitioners. Further information will be available from September 2026.

Potential examples of how this panel may be used in the future could include:

• Engaging private allied health professionals to provide in-reach support to a supported playgroup or peer support group being delivered under general supports
• Engaging private allied health professionals to provide allied health individual or group therapy under targeted supports where there is a temporary gap in the capacity of a commissioned targeted supports provider, or where there is a specialisation required that the commissioned provider does not currently have in their allied health team.
• As part of a flexible commissioning model to provide adequate service delivery coverage for targeted supports in an area with a limited allied health workforce that is also required to service other cohorts outside of Thriving Kids.

The approach to establishing an allied health panel will be informed by the outcome of procurement activities with NGOs and the establishment of NSW Government delivery of targeted supports in some locations. For-profit allied health providers that participated in the Tranche 1 expression of interest will automatically receive updated information about the panel when further information is available.

Some targeted supports will be delivered directly by NSW Government agencies. The locations have not yet been confirmed and will be informed by the outcome of Tranche 1 procurement.

A range of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) are participating in Tranche 1 procurement.

DCJ is also planning a second tranche of procurement from late 2026 with contracts to commence by mid-2027. This process is intended to increase the delivery of Aboriginal-led service models and to address any gaps in service coverage. More information about this process will be available from October 2026.

DCJ will work with Aboriginal sector peaks to inform the approach to the next tranche of procurement and to supporting ACCOs and ACCHOs with the delivery of Thriving Kids.

DCJ is planning to work with industry groups to develop a sector and workforce transition plan, which will support a skilled and sustainable sector to deliver Thriving Kids services.

Further information will be provided in coming months.

This page will be updated with further information about upcoming opportunities as it becomes available.

DCJ is exploring options for establishing a procurement for panel arrangement for private allied health practitioners. Further information will be available from September 2026.

Once the outcome of the current procurement is finalised, DCJ is planning a second tranche of procurement from late 2026 with contracts to commence by mid-2027. This process is intended to support the delivery of Aboriginal-led service models and to address any gaps in service coverage. More information about this process will be available from October 2026.

DCJ is planning to work with industry groups to develop a sector and workforce transition plan, which will support a skilled and sustainable sector to deliver Thriving Kids services.