People with autism and their parents are being promised a better diagnosis system and health services under a new $42.3 million plan.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, whose daughter has autism, said she had experienced first hand how hard it was to have the right tests and diagnosis done.
As a result, her daughter had felt lost for many years as they navigated that path, she said.
“So trying to make that easier for parents and autistic people themselves is really important,” she told ABC TV on Tuesday.
Australia’s first national autism strategy and action plan will focus on improving social and economic inclusion, diagnosis and services, and health.
Almost $3 million has been earmarked for a study to identify the prevalence of autism in Australia.
“It’s about looking at ways to open up better employment opportunities, greater inclusion for people with autism, better understanding of how people with autism navigate the world,” Senator Gallagher said.
She described it as “a bit of a hidden condition where we force people with autism to navigate the non-autistic world”.
“And that’s difficult for many of them,” she said.
It outlines 22 commitments to boost wellbeing.
Almost $20 million across four years will go to a peer support program to provide lived-experience advice for autistic people under an initial two-year action plan to roll out practical measures.
National Autism Strategy Oversight Council co-chair and autistic person Clare Gibellini, who helped develop the blueprint, said its existence recognised change was needed.
“It’s a very significant opportunity to change some of the narrative around autistic people as problems to be solved,” she said.
Ms Gibellini said the study of autism’s prevalence would provide real data, saying “if we’re not counted, we can’t have good outcomes”.
Women, girls and gender-diverse people were identified by the strategy as facing “substantial disadvantages” due to misconceptions it primarily affected men and boys, leading to under-diagnosis and inadequate support.
Autistic women were found to only discover their neurodivergence later in life, with mothers facing judgement about their ability to parent.
Ms Gibellini said so many women and Indigenous people fell through the cracks due to societal misconceptions.
“This really gives me great hope,” she said.
“It’s not about autism being the new cool thing, and it’s not about opening up floodgates to services and supports.
“This is about making sure that they get access to the supports and services they deserve.”
Employers also have a role to play and should create inclusive workplaces understanding the diversity and needs of autistic workers, the strategy says.
Bosses should be supported in hiring and retaining autistic employees under commitments in the blueprint to improve economic inclusion.
Oversight Council member and associate professor Josephine Barbaro said the strategy was “probably a once in a lifetime” opportunity to make lasting change.
She said the strategy’s statement that the need for change “sits with society as a whole” was extremely powerful.
“It actually makes me quite emotional that my autistic son will grow up in a world that accepts him as he is,” she said.
The strategy, which will inform the federal government’s policy approach, runs from 2025 to 2031.
