00:01All other states and territories, Liberal and Labor alike, CLP Government and the NT
00:07have signed on, they're just getting on with the business of developing their programs.
00:12So I'm frustrated with Queensland, it's a big state with a dispersed community, it is
00:18going to need a strong, thriving kids program and we're losing time, frankly, for Queensland
00:23parents and children.
00:24I can't imagine that this agreement won't be signed and won't be signed soon.
00:28I can't imagine a Queensland Government that for the next 15 months would sit on its hands
00:34and pretend it does not have a very serious obligation to follow the rest of the country
00:40and to frankly implement commitments that the Premier made at the National Cabinet meeting
00:45earlier this year to do this.
00:46What exactly will change come October 1st?
00:49Well there will be additional support from your GP for example, which is so often really
00:54the primary point of contact that families have.
00:57But also supports, digital supports, phone line supports for parents particularly who have
01:04a child who is experiencing some developmental issues or autism.
01:08What will not change on October 1st?
01:11Well the ability to enrol a child on the NDIS doesn't change until 2028.
01:17So really what we're doing is having two systems operate in parallel.
01:21Children are still able to be enrolled in the NDIS from now until the end of next year in
01:25the same way they have been over recent years.
01:27What will happen to children once they turn nine?
01:30Well for those children who are in the Thriving Kids program, I assume you're asking, we also
01:37now have a very big job of work to do between governments to develop equivalent programs for
01:43children over the age of nine and for adult cohorts who might not end up being on the NDIS.
01:49For example, adults with psychosocial disability but other groups as well.
01:54We at the ABC hear regularly from parents who are exhausted, burnt out and who say a parenting
02:00course is simply not going to be what they need and it will never replace practical hands-on
02:05support to support them to parent their child.
02:08What do you say to them?
02:08Well, it's not intended to replace what we describe as targeted support.
02:14So there will be a mix in this program of general supports that parents can access either through
02:20some of those digital and phone services that are used right through the health and social
02:26care system in a range of different settings or going to your playgroup and accessing general
02:31support and information there.
02:32There remains a lot of confusion and uncertainty around what exactly Thriving Kids is for many
02:38families and the states.
02:40Could you have communicated more effectively of what this program was supposed to be?
02:45Well, in many ways it's going back to what existed before the NDIS for children who were experiencing
02:52some developmental delay, usually with mild to moderate support needs.
02:56And a lot of those supports were in places that families and parents will be very familiar
03:01with, places where kids and their parents play and they learn and they live.
03:06Many of them more group-oriented supports, so playgroup type settings, but also connections in
03:12early childhood and at school.
03:14What is your message to parents who are terrified that their children are about to be moved off the NDIS?
03:20I want to send a message, I hope, of assurance to parents that from the 1st of January, 2028,
03:26we are absolutely committed to making sure that for children under the age of nine, those Thriving Kids
03:32services are fully up and running. We're not going to let parents and children fall between two stools
03:38and go without the support that they rightly expect and their children, frankly, definitely need.
03:46Minister Smith, thank you for your time.
03:47Thanks, Naz.
03:50Thank you for coming.
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