Responding to Minister Butler’s National Press Club address re: NDIS

Yesterday at the National Press Club in Canberra Minister Butler put forward his next round of changes to the NDIS and Thriving Kids.

We are sure you have been seeing many articles in all forms of media claiming the NDIS is broken and needs fixing. We want to recognise how hard it is to listen to what is playing out in the media at the moment, when you turn up to work every day, centering children and families, supporting them to achieve the goals and outcomes they have chosen.

We encourage you to be kind to yourselves as we all work through the changes to come. There was very little information on Thriving Kids in his address.

We are sure many of you are in agreement with me that the NDIS needs to be a sustainable program now and into the future, and be one that provides quality supports to children and families. Equally, Thriving Kids must do the same for children and families access these services once they come online. Minster Butler referred to these changes being a 'reset' of the NDIS back to its original intended purpose with the intention to initiate changes as soon as the budget period is over.

A summary of the changes minister Butler announced impacting early childhood intervention (ECI)

A delay to the new planning framework rolling out from 1 July this year to 1 April 2027.
Plan reassessments -new measures to reduce unscheduled plan reassessments and what is being called plan inflation where participants are seeking an increase in funds at a reassessment.
A reduction in spending on social and community participation, bringing the average budget down from $31,000 per year to $26, 000 per year.
A new fund called the Inclusive Communities Fund will be established with $200 million allocated. The aim of this is to build the capability of organisations delivering services in the community.
Reduction in the spending on plan management and support coordination and greater accountability for plan managers.
The introduction of a shortlist of government approved providers from which participants can choose social and community participation services and support coordination services from.
The diagnostic lists that are being used to determine eligibility to the NDIS will go. In their place will be functional capacity assessments and the need to demonstrate significant daily functional impairment.
A new digital payments system to enable the NDIA to see evidence of services more clearly.
Expanding the registration system based on risk. He said not every provider will need to be fully registered, but where there is significant risk such as, personal care, daily living supports and supports provided in closed settings registration will be required.

Next steps

From 1 February 2027 more tightening of the assessment of eligibility.
Transition to new framework planning from 1 April 2027.
1 October 2026 changes to social and community participation.
New plan management approach from 1 October 2027.
Expansion of provider registration from July 2027.
Changes to NDIS payment systems from July 2026.

Will be seeking further clarification on:

The caps on spending for community participation, will this reduce access. Whilst we know there aren't many families of young children accessing these supports, there are some and their families need to be able to access the supports they need when they need them.
What does he mean by 90% of all payments will go to registered providers? This was a comment made during his address.
The 160,000 people that will need to come off the scheme, who are they and does this include children 0-9yrs?

Connect

We will be holding a member forum in the next couple of weeks as we learn more. Keep an eye out for the date and make sure you register via our website when this is published.

If you wish to read Minister Butler's media release, click here >>

To take join us at our upcoming members forum and take a look at our members-only Thriving Kids hub for the latest info on TK all in one place, please consider joining us (your ECI peak body) as a member today!