Autism

The Hon. M. EL DANNAWI (14:46): My question is to the Minister for Autism. Will the minister inform the council about initiatives implemented since the Malinauskas Labor government was elected in 2022 that are making South Australia the autism inclusive state?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Autism, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:46): I thank the honourable member for her question and interest in this important topic just ahead of World Autism Day on 2 April.

Since becoming elected in 2022, and after years and years and years of advocacy by the autistic and autism communities, the Malinauskas Labor government has made significant nation-leading investments in autism inclusion in our state. Beyond creating roles with a particular focus on autism in government, which we understand is a world first, the Malinauskas government has achieved many other achievements. We have:

invested $28.8 million to fund access to an autism inclusion teacher in our primary schools, the largest network of autism inclusion teachers in the nation;

worked with all South Australian universities that offer a teaching degree to update their courses to include more disability and inclusive studies to better prepare our teachers before they even enter the classroom;

consulted on and delivered the state's first Autism Strategy and Autism Inclusion Charter, which was codesigned by the autistic and autism communities;

created and invested over $4 million in the nation's first Office for Autism, which is based in the highest level of government, the Department of the Premier and Cabinet;

created and released the 'Autism Works' campaign shining a light on autistic employment opportunities;

created the Autism Works in the Community grants program to increase knowledge, understanding and belonging for autistic people and autism communities in South Australia, with the second round just recently opening;

invested over $14 million in early supports for families through the nation-leading Inklings pilot program; and

created an autism assessment and diagnosis advisory round table to help address the barriers to an autism assessment.

Importantly, our government recognises that none of these achievements could have been made without the autistic and autism communities, working alongside the Malinauskas Labor government.

Time and time again I keep hearing from members of the autistic and autism communities how luck has been the enabler of their success: 'I was lucky I had a teacher who knew about autism,' 'I was lucky the nurse I went to had lived experience of autism.' There were just too many of these examples of using luck as a reason for their success. Through these initiatives our government is working to build knowledge of autism in our schools, in our workplaces, and in our general community, working towards changing the enabler of success from luck to knowledge.

I look forward to the government hosting the state's first Autism Works Employment Summit on 30 April, bringing together stakeholder industries, including defence, property, mining and energy, construction, tourism, advanced manufacturing and IT, and to undertake training from the Office for Autism and work together to explore strategies for enhancing autism inclusion in our workforce across the state.

Again, I thank the autistic and autism communities in South Australia and look forward to what we can achieve over the next 12 months and beyond.