Thriving Kids

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:16): I seek leave to make a brief explanation prior to addressing questions to the Minister for Autism regarding support for children and young people.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Yesterday, the federal Minister for Disability and the NDIS, Mark Butler, announced Thriving Kids, a new program outside of the NDIS to support children with mild to moderate developmental delays in autism. He said, and I quote:

Diverting this group of kids over time from the NDIS is an important element of making the scheme sustainable and returning to its original intent. Access and eligibility changes will be made to do that once [it] is fully rolled out.

A number of families over the last six months have reported that their children have already been reassessed and deemed ineligible for the NDIS, and at the same time concerns have been raised on the impact a program like Thriving Kids will have on teachers and the education sector as well. My questions to the Minister for Autism are:

1. How many South Australian children are NDIS participants within the education system?

2. Can the minister guarantee that no child will be worse off because of the federal government's change to the system?

3. Who did federal minister Mark Butler consult with regarding the Thriving Kids program within your team here in South Australia?

4. How much funding did the South Australian government commit to foundational supports?

5. Will this funding now be redirected to Thriving Kids?

6. What support will be put in place to support teachers and schools with the rollout of this program?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Autism, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:18): I thank the member for her question. As she has highlighted, this was announced yesterday by the federal government through Minister Butler, who is the new responsible minister for the NDIS. As has been highlighted, it is a very new announcement. My understanding is that yesterday Minister Butler announced that $2 billion for the Thriving Kids program would start to roll out from 1 July 2026.

We know that there have been many discussions throughout a number of years about foundational supports and what that may look like. My understanding is they have now put forward the Thriving Kids program, and, like many, I am looking forward to receiving more details about what this will look like and how it will work in the community.

I understand an advisory group will be established to support that discussion and what this can look like. I think there is obviously a lot of interest. The NDIS has helped a lot of people, and people are looking forward to seeing what this program will mean for them. But I also know that in South Australia we have been able to achieve some incredible outcomes, starting from Inklings, where we know people had been seeking information about wanting to know earlier.

Even Minister Butler pointed to Inklings as a program that has captured the interest of many people. It has achieved success in giving people that knowledge as early as possible, between six to 18 months of age. That started here in South Australia. It is a free program that we can refer people to. They can self-refer themselves as well—obviously the babies can't; the parents can. People can get that information as early as possible—that they might have a communication difference.

There are things like that going right through to our education area, where we are having autism inclusion teachers in our public primary schools and a now pilot, because of the success of that program, in our high schools. It is also in the broader community about what we are doing for employment.

There is a lot happening in the space. We know a lot more needs to happen, but I think it's also important to put on the record a quote that was given by Minister Butler. I want to provide that reassurance to members of the community. I will just read this out. As Minister Butler himself has stated, 'if your child is on the NDIS nothing I said yesterday will change that'. To quote his exact words, 'Kids are not going to be taken off the NDIS because of what I said yesterday.' That is what we have been provided by him through the media. We look forward to those further discussions with him.