This is general information about what the department, the Budget papers and the law say, not advice about any child. Neither line is an emergency service.
What families can use now
Thriving Kids is the program for children aged 8 and under with developmental delay and/or autism with low to moderate support needs
, and their families. The department’s page on what is being delivered, last updated 1 October 2026, says Some supports started in October 2026
, and it names four things under the words Families can now access the
: the three below, and the Thriving Kids website.
National phone line, maternal and child health nurses, children aged 8 and under
1800 882 436
7am to midnight, 7 days a week; video call also offered
Thriving Kids Autism Helpline, families of children aged 0 to 8
1300 654 789
8am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, run by Amaze
Thriving Kids National Digital Information Hub
Online
Delivered by the Raising Children Network
The nurse line is for expert information and advice about childhood development and behaviour for children aged 8 and under
. The explanatory statement to the regulation behind the national services describes, under “Medicare Thriving Kids”, a Thriving Kids helpline stream alongside a redesigned Pregnancy, Birth and Baby service, and the department’s video call link for the nurse line goes to Pregnancy, Birth and Baby.
The autism helpline is run by Amaze. Its own page says it takes calls from parents, carers and kin of children aged 0 to 8 and from professionals who support them, and that You do not need a diagnosis or referral to contact us.
It also says plainly that it is not a crisis service
and points anyone needing urgent help to 000 in an emergency or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
What is listed as coming over time
The same department page lists a second group under As Thriving Kids supports roll out over time, families will be able to access
. It gives no start date for any of them, beyond its general statement that all supports will be rolled out by January 2028.
A new Medicare Healthy Kids Check
Age 3
GPs assess a child’s health and development
A tool for GP-led annual health checks, adapting the Comprehensive Health Assessment Program
Ages 3 to 12
Children with suspected or confirmed neurodevelopmental delay
A National Digital Child Health Record
My Health Record
Initial focus on three-year-old health assessments
The explanatory statement adds that the record will give families timely reminders for the 3-year-old health assessment through the 1800MEDICARE app
. The Budget paper puts $126.1 million towards a Medicare funded three-year-old health assessment and an expanded Comprehensive Health Assessment Program, with the record inside a separate $99.5 million line.
Who delivers what
The phone lines are the front door. Much of what sits behind them is run by the states
and territories. On allied health, low-cost assistive technology and more
intensive family support, the department’s page says State and territory governments will deliver these supports.
| Support | Australian Government | States and territories |
|---|---|---|
| Information and advice | Digital hub, nurse line, autism helpline, Thriving Kids website, awareness campaign | Information to help families find supports in their state or territory |
| Spotting a need early | Medicare check at age 3, GP annual check tool, child health record | Child health and development checks |
| Programs for families | Online peer support; enhancing some existing programs | Most of these supports |
| Allied health, low-cost assistive technology, intensive family support | None listed | All of it |
| Workforce | National training, resources and tools, including for teachers, educators and primary care | Workforce supports in key sectors |
Paraphrased from the department’s “What supports are being delivered” page (last updated 1 October 2026) and its “State and territory governments” page (last updated 2 October 2026); the Commonwealth’s checks and record are attributed from the Budget paper and the explanatory statement. “None listed” and “All of it” summarise the sentence quoted above.
The state and territory page, last updated 2 October, links to Thriving Kids pages for seven jurisdictions: the ACT, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Queensland is not among them; we have reported where Queensland stands.
Where the Commonwealth’s $2.0 billion goes
The department says all governments are investing $4 billion over five years, and that
The Australian Government and state and territory governments are each contributing $2 billion.
Budget Paper No. 2 for 2026-27 lists nine funding lines inside the Commonwealth’s half.
The biggest by far is $1.4 billion over five years to states and territories to deliver Thriving Kids services
: 70 per cent of the $2.0 billion, on our arithmetic.
To states and territories: $1,400.0m Seven other lines: $465.6m Early childhood education and care settings, held in the Contingency Reserve: $139.7m
| What the line is for | $m | Note in the Budget paper |
|---|---|---|
| States and territories to deliver Thriving Kids services | 1,400.0 | Five years |
| Thriving Kids services in early childhood education and care settings | 139.7 | Held in the Contingency Reserve pending consultation and design with states and territories |
| Medicare three-year-old health assessment and expanded Comprehensive Health Assessment Program | 126.1 | Five years |
| National and local information and advice, including the national phone line and autism helpline | 120.9 | Five years |
| Mental Health in Primary Schools, the Positive Partnerships Program, and the child health record | 99.5 | Partial funding held until a business case for future stages of the record is considered |
| Workforce development and training, including for the First Nations workforce | 60.8 | Five years |
| National communications campaign | 21.6 | Three years |
| Department of Health, Disability and Ageing implementation | 20.4 | Five years |
| Community engagement, monitoring and evaluation | 16.3 | Five years |
Budget Paper No. 2, 2026-27, pages 112 to 113, paraphrased. All periods run from 2026-27. The national agreement on Foundational Supports puts the state share at at least $1.4 billion; the Budget paper says $1.4 billion.
Two lines are wholly or partly held back. The larger, $139.7 million for
children in early childhood education and care, is held in the Contingency Reserve pending consultation and design with states and territories
. And for the child health record, the paper says Partial funding for this measure will be held in the Contingency Reserve until the Government has considered a business case for future stages of the Child Health Record
.
The law that lets the Commonwealth spend it
A Commonwealth program of this kind needs legal authority to spend, and for Thriving Kids that is now item 806 in Schedule 1AB of the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Regulations. The Governor-General made the amending regulation, F2026L01099, on 20 August 2026. It was registered on 25 August and commenced the next day. Its objective reads:
To provide early intervention and improve outcomes for children (targeted children) with developmental delay or neurodevelopmental differences, including autism, and to provide supports for their families, kin, carers, teachers and other professionals
The item then lists the means: information and advice, national telephone services and online platforms
, an online peer support program, the GP assessment tool, a digital application for children’s health and neurodevelopmental information, funding for the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute to run a national coordination office for school mental health training, workforce initiatives, First Nations workforce activities, and resources for primary health care professionals.
The explanatory statement puts a number on it: Program funding of up to $202.9 million over five years from 2026-27 will support Commonwealth direct investments in activities that benefit from national scaling.
It adds that the activities are Designed to complement and connect with state services
and avoid duplicating planned state investment
. The $202.9 million is not the whole of the national spend: the statement draws it from three of the department’s programs and one of the Department of Education’s, while the Budget paper also books payments to Services Australia and the Australian Digital Health Agency.
- 20 August 2025Thriving Kids announced by the Minister, Mark Butler, at the National Press Club.
- 30 January 2026National Cabinet agrees to $2.0 billion, matched by states.
- 20 August 2026Regulation F2026L01099 made. Registered 25 August, in force 26 August.
- 7 September 2026Tabled in the House and the Senate.
- 1 October 2026Rollout begins; the department says some supports started in October.
- 29 October 2026Last day for disallowance in the House, on the Register’s data.
- 19 November 2026Last day for disallowance in the Senate.
- 1 January 2028All supports to be rolled out, when NDIS access changes take place.
Dates from the explanatory statement to F2026L01099, the regulation’s own commencement table, the Federal Register’s tabling and disallowance data, and the department’s “About Thriving Kids” page (1 January 2028). As at 8 October 2026 the Register records no disallowance motion.
Our view
This is opinion, built on the department’s pages, the Budget paper and the regulation. The Commonwealth has kept for itself the parts of Thriving Kids that work best at national scale: phone lines, a website, a GP check, a health record, training. That is a sensible division, and both phone lines were listed as available on a page updated on the first day of the rollout.
But a front door is only as good as the rooms behind it. A parent who calls the nurse line and is told their child would benefit from speech pathology is then relying on their state or territory, which the department says delivers all of the targeted supports, on its own timetable to January 2028. And two everyday places young children are seen, the GP and childcare, are where the Commonwealth’s own pieces are least settled: the Medicare check at age 3 has no published start date on the department’s page, and the Budget paper held the $139.7 million line for early childhood education and care in reserve pending design with the states. Those are the dates worth watching, more than 1 October.
What we could and could not check
We read the department’s three Thriving Kids pages, the Amaze helpline page, pages 112 to 113 of Budget Paper No. 2, the regulation and its explanatory statement, and the Register’s tabling and disallowance data. The Raising Children Network’s hub page put up a browser check we did not get past, so what we say about the hub comes from the department’s page. We did not call either phone line, and we have not read the Portfolio Budget Statements, the state and territory Thriving Kids pages or the bilateral agreements. We make no claim about which state services are running in any area today.
On the earlier stages of this program, see Thriving Kids starts on 1 October and the Foundational Supports agreement.