Autism Inquiry Report now available

In November 2019, the Senate established a Select Committee on Autism to inquire into and report on the services, support and life outcomes for autistic people in Australia and the associated need for a National Autism Strategy. The committee's final report is now available online from the Parliament of Australia website.

The Report covers a huge range of issues, including education of students with cognitive disability. "Overall, while there was significant support for improving inclusive education practices in mainstream schools, the committee also heard that a range of school placement options may be required to meet the specific and varied needs of autistic students." In other words, there is an important function fulfilled by schools such as Riverside ESC, in part because RESC is co-located with a mainstream school.

There is much work to be done and many recommendations forthcoming from the report that need discussion and implementation. The Executive Summary lists the following determinations of the committee:

• Life outcomes for autistic Australians are unacceptably poor. This comes at an enormous personal, social and economic cost.
• Meaningful systemic changes would have an enormous impact, with instances of good practice demonstrating how this can be achieved.
• The drivers of poor outcomes for autistic people are complex and interrelated.
• Generic disability strategies have proven ineffective at improving life outcomes for autistic people.
• A National Autism Strategy should form the centrepiece of efforts to improve outcomes for autistic Australians.
• The National Autism Strategy should be person and family-centred, address whole-of-life needs for all autistic people, and include targeted actions to support vulnerable cohorts.
• The National Autism Strategy should be co-designed by the autism community.
• Accountability will be critical to delivering genuine change.
• Key priorities for the National Autism Strategy should be guided by the recommendations of this inquiry.
• The effectiveness of the National Disability Insurance Scheme for autistic Australians should be the focus of a separate inquiry

The report can be read or downloaded from Services, support and life outcomes for autistic Australians – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au). (https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Autism/autism/Report)

If you have concerns arising from reading this Report, we recommend you contact your local federal member of parliament or someone in your autism network.