10/05/2026
🚨 Rural Families Deserve Better: Thriving Kids NSW Must Reconsider Excluding Private Practices 🚨
This week, the NSW Government released further details about the new Thriving Kids NSW program, an initiative designed to provide early intervention supports for children aged 8 years and under with mild to moderate developmental delay and Autism.
The program is expected to begin rolling out from October 2026, with the new model gradually replacing the current arrangements for eligible children who are not accessing the NDIS.
However, the announcement also confirmed that private allied health practices will not be invited to deliver services under the program. Instead, supports will only be provided through Government agencies and Non-Government Not-for-Profit Organisations.
The NSW Department of Communities and Justice has stated that private providers may apply for tender, but will only be considered “if exceptional circumstances arise”, with the majority of services restricted to not-for-profit organisations.
As a private speech pathologist in Jerilderie, I am extremely concerned about what this could mean for rural and regional families.
For years, local private clinicians have filled critical gaps in care. We have built trusted relationships with families, collaborated closely with schools and preschools, invested in specialist training, and created services that respond directly to the needs of our community.
Yet despite this, private practices will now be excluded from delivering supports under the program.
This is the wrong decision.
In regional areas like Jerilderie, there are not endless therapy options. Families often already face long waitlists, workforce shortages, travel barriers and limited access to specialised supports. Removing private providers from the system will not improve access, it risks making it worse.
Families deserve the right to choose the service and clinician that best meets their child’s needs.
A system that excludes experienced local providers is not family centred, and it is not in the best interests of rural children.
We strongly encourage families, educators, health professionals and community members to speak up and advocate for rural families to retain access to private allied health services.
📧 thrivingkids@dcj.nsw.gov.au
You can also contact local State and Federal representatives to share your concerns and advocate for genuine choice and inclusion for rural families.
Regional children and families should not lose access to trusted local services because of policy decisions made without meaningful consultation or inclusion of private practitioners. Rural communities already face significant barriers to accessing healthcare and therapy services. Policies like this risk widening that gap rather than improving outcomes for our children.
