Thriving Kids is a new national program for children aged eight and under with developmental delay or autism. Early intervention in these years shapes a child’s whole future.

In the Northern Territory, more than one in four children start school developmentally vulnerable in two or more areas. Across Australia, it’s one in eight. That’s more than twice the national rate.

Yet the Commonwealth is dividing its Thriving Kids funding between states and territories based on the number of people aged 0 to 64. For a program for children eight and under. There is no consideration for developmental vulnerability, remoteness, or the real cost of delivering culturally safe services across the Territory. As a result, the NT receives around one per cent of this funding.

What’s equal isn’t always what’s equitable. And this funding is locked in until 2031, five years during the most important window in a child’s development.

We’re asking the Commonwealth Government to:

1. Explain why the Commonwealth-funded Australian Early Development Census, that clearly demonstrates the NT's higher developmental vulnerability, wasn’t used in the funding formula
2. Recalculate funding based on children aged 0 to 8, weighted for developmental need and the cost of remote service delivery
3. Explain how the independent review will be run, what data it will use, when it will report, and how Territory families and providers will have a say.