How Thriving Kids is being designed
The principles
Thriving Kids supports and services will follow clear principles. They will be:
- child and family-centred
- focused on strengths and neuro-affirming
- evidence-based
- culturally appropriate
- mostly available in everyday places, like at home or in the community
- flexible and inclusive.
They will also be responsive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
What we set out to do
We want to make sure Thriving Kids services and supports are:
- accessible and easy to use
- designed for Canberra families
- available when support is needed.
Supports will continue to be designed to:
- work with government and community supports
- use research and lived experience
- provide clear and easy to understand information
- be delivered in local and familiar places
- support children as early as possible
- respond to children's changing needs as they grow.
How we are designing it
The ACT Government is designing and delivering Thriving Kids progressively in stages through to 1 January 2028. Families and community organisations will continue to be involved throughout the process.
We’ll continue to work on the design with:
- families and carers
- community organisations
- stakeholders
- other ACT Government areas.
The stages are:
- enhancing existing services to meet known demand (from 1 October 2026)
- continued design and implementation of services (January 2027 to January 2028)
- building a connected system of supports (ongoing).
What we heard
In March and April 2026, we heard from families, parents, carers, kin and people who work with children to help shape Thriving Kids in the ACT.
We heard from people in the disability, early childhood and community sectors. They shared their ideas and lived experience. We heard about what works well, what needs fixing, and how to better support children and families.
The themes were:
- Families as experts: families share their knowledge and help make decisions about their child.
- Services work together: services work closely together so families can move easily between mainstream services, Thriving Kids and the NDIS, if necessary.
- Services for families: services help all family members, not only children.
- Flexible, local supports: services offer flexible supports that are easy to use and based in the community.
- Warm referrals: trusted local services and organisations guide families, show them the right services and help explain their options.