Media release
For immediate release
19 October 2026
Disability support cliff looms for NSW children as NDIS changes approach
Wesley Mission today warned a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry that children and young people risk losing vital support, unless governments close a critical gap in disability services before NDIS changes take effect in January 2028.
Appearing before the Inquiry into Foundational and Disability Supports Available for Children and Young People in New South Wales, Wesley Mission Managing Director, Community Services, Bay Warburton, says children aged nine and over with low to moderate support needs risk being left behind.
“The new Thriving Kids program for children aged eight and under is welcome. The problem is there is no funded next phase for those who still need help as they grow older.
“A child should be blowing out candles on their ninth birthday, not watching the support they rely on disappear. Imagine a child making real progress, only to face a cliff edge in the very system that is supposed to help them.”
The Parliamentary Committee has previously recommended funded transition pathways for children turning nine. The NSW Government did not support that recommendation, instead indicating that families would receive information about available pathways. Wesley Mission warned that information alone is not enough if appropriate services do not exist.
Warburton said, “You cannot refer a family to a service that has not been funded.
“Our frontline workers do everything they can to help families navigate a complicated system. But navigation only works when there is real support at the end of the pathway.”
Wesley Mission is calling on the NSW Government to:
- begin a funded design process in 2027 for foundational supports for school-aged children and young people, so services are operating before NDIS access changes take effect on 1 January 2028
- protect social and community participation supports for people who lose, or cannot access, NDIS funding
- fund navigation and continuity of support so children and families are not abandoned at critical transition points
- model and publish the number of people likely to fall outside both Thriving Kids and the reformed NDIS, including where they live and the support they will need.
Wesley Mission also warns that people losing NDIS-funded social and community support could be left isolated, with no alternative in place.
“Being able to leave the house, make friends and be part of your community is not a luxury. For many people with disability, it is a lifeline.
“The test of these reforms is not how many people are moved off the NDIS. It is whether they can still get the help they need, and the NSW government has a critical role to play. Cutting support now only shifts the cost to schools, hospitals and crisis services later. Children and families will pay the highest price.”
Wesley Mission Operations Manager William Van Trump told the inquiry about a 12-year-old boy from the Blue Mountains, who Wesley Mission has been helping to re-engage with school. Proposed NDIS changes could put that support at risk.
“We are helping this young boy get back into the classroom and rebuild his connection with school. Take away that support and we risk undoing his progress. This is exactly how children fall through the cracks.”
ENDS
Available for interview:
Wesley Mission Managing Director, Community Services, Bay Warburton
Wesley Mission Operations Manager, William Van Trump
Media contact: Anne Holt 0418 628 342 (preferred) or [email protected]
