New analysis reveals the number of children enrolled in specialist disability education settings in NSW has surged nearly 50 per cent since 2020 for those with complex, overlapping needs, in a trend Australians for Mental Health says points to a child wellbeing crisis mainstream schooling is failing to address.
NSW Department of Education data shows enrolments in the multicategorical category – which includes children with complex needs such as autism – grew from 6,584 to 9,833 between 2020 and 2024. Autism enrolments in specialist settings rose 58.5 per cent over the same period.
The findings come as more families leave mainstream education altogether. ‘Special learning needs’ is now the second most cited reason NSW families are registering for homeschooling, rising from 17.7 per cent of applications in 2021 to nearly 22 per cent in 2024.
At the same time, the National Disability Insurance Scheme is supporting more than 324,000 children and young people with autism as their primary disability – up from 230,100 just two years earlier – making them the fastest-growing cohort in the system.
Australians for Mental Health Executive Director Chris Gambian said the trends point to a system under strain and a failure to invest in supports that keep children well and engaged before they reach crisis point.
“What we are seeing is a growing number of children who simply cannot be supported in mainstream classrooms as they are currently designed,” he said.
Mr Gambian said the transition from the NDIS to the $4 billion Thriving Kids program makes urgent investment in community-based alternatives critical.
“The original vision was that there would be a broader ecosystem of supports outside the NDIS. That never properly materialised, and the scheme became the only lifeboat for many families,” he said.
“If we don’t get this next phase right, we risk repeating the same mistake – shifting people out of one system without building the supports they actually need to land safely.”
Australians for Mental Health said community-led, non-clinical models are already demonstrating what works but are being left to operate without sustainable funding.
In Sydney’s Inner West, KinHub – a volunteer-run community hub – has become a lifeline for neurodivergent children and young people experiencing “school can’t”, where disability or anxiety makes attendance impossible. Many arrive after exhausting all other options. KinHub receives no government funding.
“KinHub is built around connection, flexibility and belonging – the very things many children are missing in traditional systems,” Mr Gambian said.
“That’s not a criticism of teachers. It’s a reflection of a system that is too rigid, too standardised, and simply not designed for the diversity of needs we now understand children have.”
He said the structure of schooling has changed little in decades, despite major shifts in both society and our understanding of child development and mental health.
“We’ve responded by adding more – more subjects, more pressure, more complexity – without fundamentally rethinking how learning environments support wellbeing.
“For many children, that is actively contributing to distress, disengagement and, ultimately, withdrawal from the system altogether.”
Australians for Mental Health is calling for sustained government investment in community-based, non-clinical supports as part of a broader national approach to wellbeing, including a Wellbeing Act to drive accountability across government.
“We should celebrate that families and communities are finding solutions that work,” Mr Gambian said.
“But we cannot keep relying on volunteer-run organisations to carry this load alone if we are serious about improving mental health outcomes for our children.”
