Hundreds of thousands of children with autism will be diverted away from the NDIS under a new scheme announced by the federal government.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler today proposed removing children with ‘mild to moderate’ autism or learning difficulties from the $46 billion dollar government-funded scheme to a new program.
Butler detailed the plan during an address at the National Press Club as he lamented the fact the NDIS has become too big and too expensive.
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His announcement comes after a report published in the Sydney Morning Herald found seven in 10 new people were joining the NDIS for autism.
The report found 56,000 of the 78,600 people who signed up for the NDIS between June 2024 and June 2025 had autism listed as their chief diagnosis.
Butler said the government is aiming to scale growth with a target of 6 per cent per year down from 8 per cent.
Butler said the NDIS will no longer capture kids with mild autism or developmental delays by mid-2027.
“Remember the NDIS was established to support people with significant and permanent disability,” Butler said.
“Since the scheme’s creation, the number of people with disability entering the scheme has generally stabilised close to initial projections, except in one area – children with developmental delay or autism.”
“I think most Australians would be alarmed to know that now, one out of every 10 six-year-olds are on the NDIS, including 16 per cent of six-year-old boys,” Butler added.
“That’s one in every six boys in the average grade two classroom. In some regions, it’s even higher.”
The federal government said these children will be better served by a new specialised scheme called Thriving Kids, which will kick in by July 2027.
“Diverting these kids over time from the NDIS is an important step to making the scheme sustainable and returning the scheme to it’s original content,” Butler added.
“Standing up a robust program for thriving kids is what these children and their parents need.”
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Butler said parents are desperate to have their children accurately diagnosed but acknowledged the NDIS does not “suit their needs”.
“Too often they have to wait for ages and pay thousands of dollars just to get that diagnosed,” he said.
The initial investment for Thriving Kids will be $2 billion dollars.
Impacted children won’t be removed from the NDIS just yet.
The transition will take place once Thriving Kids is fully operational.
“Children who are enrolled in the NDIS now or become enrolled before that time will remain on the scheme subject to its usual arrangements, including, from time to time, reassessments,” Butler said.
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