Labor offers delay to NDIS autism program to secure hospitals and disability funding deal
The Albanese government has offered to delay the start of a new early intervention autism program and to provide budget top-ups for smaller states as part of efforts to secure an overdue hospitals and disability funding deal. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and health minister Mark Butler proposed pushing back the $2bn Thriving Kids scheme from its planned 1 July start to October, with premiers and chief ministers looking likely to agree at Friday’s national cabinet meeting in Sydney.
The Thriving Kids program is intended to provide services for children under eight with developmental delays and other low to moderate needs, delivering supports through schools, health clinics and community facilities. Broader changes to NDIS access rules are due to come into effect from mid-2027.
The federal government moved to set up the national scheme after lack of progress by states to develop their own foundational support programs and following state warnings they were not ready to take on that responsibility. As part of negotiations, Albanese and Butler have offered $23bn in new funding, including adjustments to benefit smaller states as they struggle with rising hospital and health costs.
An extra $2bn in federal funding has been pledged to speed up hospital discharge for elderly people waiting for aged care, with the most recent estimate suggesting more than 3,000 people are waiting to transfer from hospital wards to aged care.
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