Autism Assessments

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (14:52): I seek leave to give a brief explanation before asking the parliamentary secretary a question in regard to autism assessments.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: As per an article in The Advertiser on 28 April, a mother of a seven-year-old boy at Newbery Park Primary School recently claimed publicly that her child was removed from his classroom and forced to spend substantial time during the school day with no students in what she describes as solitary confinement, as punishment for his behaviour.

The mother also claimed that her son has ADHD and is still on a waiting list for an autism spectrum disorder assessment after already waiting for three years. My questions to the parliamentary secretary are:

1. Is she aware of this case and how does she respond to this?

2. Is the waiting time for an autism spectrum disorder assessment decreasing under her government?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:53): I thank the member for her question. As this is a matter relating to the Minister for Education, I will seek a response from the Minister for Education on how that matter is being addressed. But in regard to diagnosis or assessments for a diagnosis in South Australia, I am really proud of what we are able to do in our state in this space, which is to do something we haven't done ever before, and that is provide free autism assessments to some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

We have seen an increase in funding just over the last few months. There has been announced a tender through DHS and also a tender process that was undertaken through the Office for Autism where we will now be able to provide, for the very first time, free autism assessments on school sites within our school communities to help our most vulnerable children and keep them in our schools. So I am really proud of what we are doing in this space to free up and make it more accessible for some people in our community to get that autism assessment.