Is my child affected by the Thriving Kids changes to the NDIS?

Thriving Kids targets children aged eight and under with low to moderate support needs — in particular, children with autism or developmental delay who would previously have accessed the NDIS. Children with high support needs or those already on the NDIS above this threshold may not be affected. Full transition from NDIS to Thriving Kids for eligible children is not due until January 2028. If you are unsure whether your child falls into this cohort, speak to your GP or your child's NDIS coordinator. Online information is also at raisingchildren.net.au.

What is the Medicare Healthy Kids Check starting 1 November 2026?

From 1 November 2026, a nationally consistent developmental health check for children aged eight and under becomes available through general practice via an expanded Medicare item (item 139). It is designed to identify developmental concerns early and connect families to appropriate support. The check allows a full appointment — at least 45 minutes — to review development, screen for concerns, and begin a plan. Your GP can bulk-bill or charge a gap fee depending on their practice; ask when you book.

Thriving Kids begins: free Medicare child development checks from November

If you have a child aged eight or under with developmental concerns, autism, speech delay, or any of the support needs that have — until now — pointed families toward the NDIS, the system around your child is changing. This week is a useful moment to understand what is different and what it means practically.

Thriving Kids, a $2 billion joint federal-state program, entered its first operational phase on 1 October 2026. A free Medicare developmental health check through general practice — the Healthy Kids Check — launches on 1 November. These are not abstract policy changes. They affect what your GP can offer and what you should be asking about.

What Thriving Kids actually is

Thriving Kids was developed as part of the federal government’s response to the NDIS sustainability review. The NDIS was growing at a rate that would have taken it to approximately $70 billion a year by 2030; legislation passed in August 2026 aimed to hold it to around $55 billion. Part of achieving that involves shifting children aged eight and under with low to moderate support needs — primarily those with developmental delay, autism, and similar presentations — out of the NDIS and into this new program.

The transition is happening in stages:

1 October 2026: Stage one — information, advice, and navigation services are now available.
1 November 2026: The Medicare Healthy Kids Check commences. This is the GP-delivered developmental health check that will be the clinical entry point into Thriving Kids services.
Through 2027: Parenting programs, peer support, facilitated playgroups, and targeted allied health supports roll out progressively. The exact mix varies by state and territory.
January 2028: Children in scope move fully to Thriving Kids. After that date, they will access all their support through this program rather than the NDIS.

A new independent Deloitte Access Economics report released this week flagged that South Australia is disproportionately exposed to these changes, given its higher-than-average historical reliance on NDIS funding for this cohort. The report estimated SA’s NDIS spending could fall by $1.3 billion relative to its previous growth rate by 2030. The SA government has committed $135 million to Thriving Kids over five years — but the Deloitte report described this as a meaningful but incomplete offset.

What changes at your GP from 1 November

The Medicare Healthy Kids Check is the part most relevant to families right now.

From 1 November, a significantly expanded Medicare item — item 139 — funds a dedicated developmental health check for children aged eight and under. This is designed as a proper appointment: at least 45 minutes, giving your GP time to actually assess development, listen to your concerns, screen systematically, and begin a plan rather than check boxes in a rushed 10-minute slot.

Dr Tim Jones from the RACGP noted that the expansion of item 139 puts general practice in a substantially better position to support families with children who have developmental concerns. The framing is early identification — catching developmental variation before families are deeply struggling and before issues compound — rather than waiting for a crisis that requires specialist intervention.

What does the check actually cover? The nationally consistent framework includes developmental screening (language, motor, cognitive and social milestones), identification of concerns that warrant referral, and planning. For families with a child already diagnosed with autism or developmental delay, it is also a point of re-engagement — a structured conversation about where the child is now and what they need next.

Both-and: what this is and what it risks

The case for this approach is meaningful: general practice is where most families already are, and a well-resourced GP-delivered developmental check can catch concerns early. Families who never made it to an NDIS application — often those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds or in rural areas — may be better served by a pathway through general practice than through the NDIS’s complex eligibility and application process. The Thriving Kids design specifically aimed to address findings that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and CALD families were accessing early NDIS support at lower rates.

The risk, which disability advocates have named plainly: children who currently receive ongoing allied health support through the NDIS — speech pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy — will need those same services to be delivered through Thriving Kids. The Deloitte report estimated that children in SA’s Thriving Kids cohort would receive substantially fewer funded resources than they would have under the previous NDIS trajectory. Whether the $46 million a year committed federally to Thriving Kids replaces what the NDIS was funding for this cohort is the central contested question.

That question is not settled. It is important to hold both things: the genuine possibility that a well-implemented Thriving Kids provides a better-fitting pathway for many families, and the real risk that the cost savings driving the policy mean some children receive less than they need.

2 cents: what to do now

If you have a child aged eight or under with any developmental concerns, book a GP appointment in November and specifically ask about the Medicare Healthy Kids Check. You do not need a referral to access it through general practice. Ask when you book whether the practice bulk-bills for item 139, and if not, what the gap is.

If your child is currently on the NDIS and under eight with a developmental presentation, speak to your GP and your NDIS coordinator about what the Thriving Kids transition will mean for your child’s current support plan. The transition is not immediate — January 2028 is the full rollout date — but planning now is sensible.

Raisingchildren.net.au has a dedicated Thriving Kids guide with state-by-state information on what is available and how to access it.

Verdict: yes — worth knowing about.