Federal Government unveils plan to improve lives of Australians with autism

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The CEO of Autism Awareness Australia Nicole Rogerson says the strategy is a step in the right direction.

Transcript

00:00Essentially, we're welcoming the fact there's a National Autism Strategy, the autism community

00:07have been asking for one for decades, so it's fantastic that it's here.

00:11In saying that, it is a very big shopping list of lofty goals, and I worry that it's

00:19a missed opportunity because I think there's some really key issues in there that have

00:22been skipped over, unfortunately, and I think there are certain goals around employment

00:29and inclusion, which are really important, but if we're not getting some of the key fundamentals

00:34right around early intervention and support and education, then we're never going to reach

00:40those goals anyway, and I do worry that it's a lovely, glossy report that may sit on a

00:45shelf.

00:46Okay, let's start at the beginning then, and that is diagnosis.

00:49Is there a backlog of people waiting to see, because we have a shortage of psychiatrists

00:54and paediatricians?

00:55Yeah, we do.

00:56Look, we've known for a really long time, particularly with young children, the earlier

00:59the better that we get a diagnosis so we can start that early intervention and support.

01:03Diagnosis, it was right to be called out in the strategy.

01:06Part of the problem there, though, is yes, diagnoses are hard to get and they're quite

01:09expensive, particularly in the private system, there's long wait lists in the public system,

01:13but then we have to decide what happens after diagnosis.

01:16After diagnosis, we need those children to have access to good quality early intervention

01:20and therapies.

01:21We need the school system to be set up and ready to appropriately educate these children,

01:26and we cannot look at this strategy in isolation from other NDIS reforms that are happening

01:31right now that are having a massive impact on our community, particularly when it comes

01:35to paediatrics.

01:36Let's go to the NDIS in a moment, let's stick with education.

01:39So what is the current situation for people living with autism, children living with autism

01:45in Australia?

01:46Are there special schools available, are there special resources available within a mainstream

01:50school?

01:51There are certainly special schools that are available, but for the vast majority of children

01:54with autism, it is appropriate for them to go to their local school within their local

01:57community and that's what we want.

01:59We want to build inclusive schools and communities, but in saying that, children with autism have

02:04challenges in those settings and those settings are not set up for children that learn a little

02:07differently and may have sensory and behavioural challenges.

02:10So you can sort of say we should have inclusive education and we should, I agree, but you

02:16have to be real and say, are we ready for it?

02:19And I know I've spent the better part of the last year talking to state education ministers

02:22around the country and they are not ready to take on the burden of managing and supporting

02:29and being the main line of support for autistic students, which is what the NDIS reforms are

02:33leading to.

02:34Okay, so a child with autism may well leave school without being ready for the workplace,

02:40which is the next step.

02:41Yeah, absolutely.

02:42So, you know, again, in the strategy, there's the talk about the importance of diagnosis

02:47and getting those, it's an important discussion about the community having peer-to-peer resources.

02:53It's not that any of those things are not true.

02:55There's nothing in the strategy, there's a couple of things that are a little bit silly,

02:58but on the whole, there's nothing in there that is incorrect.

03:02But it's a little bit like saying, you know, we need to make sure that second story bathroom

03:07is absolutely perfect when we don't have the foundations right of the house.

03:11So there's just some key things that are missing that really worry me and I feel like this

03:17is a missed opportunity.

03:18Okay, so let's talk about the NDIS then and how do the problems that are being experienced

03:23there feed in to the work that you do?

03:27Well, I think the minister would like to say they're not related, but they don't live in

03:31splendid isolation.

03:32You know, the federal government has a problem with the NDIS.

03:35It's been a runaway train of headlines of costs.

03:39Minister Shorten on his way out has come in with a big red pen and said we're going to

03:43make some changes and these changes are going to see a reduction in the cost of the NDIS.

03:48He has already said that a third of the budget savings that are going to come with these

03:52reforms are going to come as a result of getting children out of the NDIS.

03:56Now, if the government has decided that children should not be recipients of funds under the

04:01NDIS, fine, great.

04:03If it's going to be a state's problem, okay, I'll even go along with that.

04:07But the states are not ready to pick up that slack that, you know, I've spent the better

04:10part of this year talking to education ministers around the country who look petrified because

04:15education is where it's going to hit first.

04:17If these kids are no longer getting support in the NDIS, they're not getting psychologists,

04:20they're not getting speech pathologists, behavioural therapists, and then we're going to enrol

04:24them in school with no support and ask an already struggling school system that has

04:29teacher retention issues.

04:31I feel terribly sorry for the states.

04:34I said a year ago, and I just wish it didn't come true, is the federal government cannot

04:38throw the ball if the states are not ready to pick it up, and that is exactly what is

04:42happening right now.

04:43Okay, interesting.

04:44And the final aspect then of which this talk about is in the workplace, in employment,

04:50people living with autism are less likely to be employed long-term gainfully.

04:56Absolutely.

04:57We know the statistics are terrible and they have not improved in the last 10 years.

05:01But think of what I just said.

05:03We've got later diagnosis than should happen.

05:05We're not supporting kids of school age anymore, and we've decided we're okay with that.

05:08And then we're expecting them to come out of the school system at 18 and be job ready.

05:12That is never going to happen, and I fear this is going to put us back about 20 years.

05:15Well, Anne Nicole, there are employers there ready to take them, you know, that are inclusive

05:21employers that are willing to give the time that might be needed.

05:24Yeah, and I'll give the strategy absolute kudos here.

05:27They've really thought about employment.

05:28They've thought about inclusive employment.

05:29They understand that there's some green shoots and we can build on that, but there's still

05:34a long way to go.

05:35The disability employment service in Australia is far from perfect.

05:39And the stats don't lie, right?

05:40We're not doing well.

05:41We have to do better.

05:42So the strategy is important.

05:44I'm glad it's here, but I just want to be really careful that everybody understands

05:47it's a bit of jazz hands going on here.

05:49And you'll keep your campaigning going and...

05:52Well, it's our job to just remind everybody that good news stories are always important,

05:57but they've got to be underlying with fact and action.

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