Inklings Autism Program

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (15:26): I rise today to speak about the $14.8 million Inklings early support pilot that was recently announced by the Malinauskas and Albanese Labor governments. On 30 January 2024, we announced at a local children's centre that South Australia would be piloting the Inklings program to provide early support for up to 1,300 families with babies aged six to 18 months showing early signs of social communication delays, which can be linked to autism.

The Inklings early support program, developed by the Telethon Kids Institute, uses short video recordings of the parent interacting with their baby to help parents better understand and communicate with their child. The program is not about changing the child's interactions, instead Inklings supports parents to build their own confidence and communication style so they can connect with their child in a way that is affirming for their baby.

The need for early support for families with babies and young children has been raised frequently by South Australia's autistic and autism communities during the dozens of forums and community catch-ups I hosted last year, with the common thread being, 'I wish I had known earlier' or 'I wish I knew how to best support my child or myself earlier'.

I want to share with you a story from the autistic and autism communities that demonstrates the importance of providing early support to our children. Sam is a South Australian public high school student. Sam was diagnosed autistic at age five and has gone on to become not only a successful school student but an accomplished entrepreneur as well.

I am sure many of us here know Sam's Popcorn. It is available in the Blue Room. If you have not yet had it, you must try it because it is truly the best popcorn. It would probably come in handy in most of our question times. Sam is almost at the end of his schooling years now, but his life changed forever when he was enrolled at a state public primary school in year 3. Speaking at an event last year, Sam shared how integral the early support he received at school had been to his current success. I will quote his words because he best describes them. He said:

When I started school, I had a pretty hard time. I had trouble settling into my school routine, communicating with other students and understanding that nobody really cared about whatever I was obsessed with at the time. I had great teachers who did the best they could, but they really didn't know how to help.

My parents suggested strategies that worked at home, but either my teachers didn't have the understanding to apply those strategies properly or they didn't understand the logistics of using them in a classroom with other kids.

Sometimes my teachers thought it would be unfair on the other students if I was treated differently, or they didn't truly understand the impact of my autism on how I learnt and communicated in a classroom.

Realising something needed to change, my mum and dad decided to see if another school could help. Luckily, we met with the Principal of East Adelaide Primary School, and I have no doubt that teacher changed my life.

I was incredibly lucky, but the education and wellbeing of our young people should never come down to luck.

Sam is absolutely right. The outcomes of autistic children and young people should not come down to luck. That is why the Malinauskas Labor government is working with the commonwealth government to introduce an Inklings early support program in South Australia.