CANBERRA, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Australia on Thursday began rolling out a 4-billion-Australian-dollar (about 2.8 billion U.S. dollars) national support program for young children with developmental delay or autism, as the first phase of the government's Thriving Kids initiative came into effect.
The five-year program will be jointly funded by the federal government and state and territory governments, which will contribute 2 billion Australian dollars each.
The program is aimed at children aged eight and under with developmental delay and/or autism who have low to moderate support needs, and will be progressively rolled out nationwide before becoming fully operational on Jan. 1, 2028. ■
