Autism Inclusion Charter

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Autism. Will the minister provide an update to the council on autism inclusion initiatives implemented by the Malinauskas Labor government in 2025?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Autism) (15:02): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in autism inclusion. The Malinauskas Labor government is committed to making South Australia a leader when it comes to autism inclusion. National statistics show that approximately one in 70 Australians are autistic, and approximately one in four Australians have an autistic family member.

Since coming to government, we have been working with South Australian autistic and autism communities to design and implement inclusive initiatives, and 2025 has been no different. This year, we have hit a milestone when it comes to building knowledge and understanding of autism in South Australia. We have now trained more than 5,000 people through the Office for Autism, with free autism awareness training.

The Office for Autism was established by the Malinauskas Labor government in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in 2023 to place autism inclusion at the heart and centre of government. As members here know, the training is delivered by autistic facilitators and covers: what is autism; myths and facts about autism; autistic strengths; and strategies for autism inclusion.

We all know that positive word of mouth is important in encouraging adoption, and the Office for Autism training has certainly benefited from that, with participants providing overwhelmingly positive feedback and many government and non-government workforces seeking to train more employees. I am advised that the latest number of training figures show that 5,872 have completed the training, so it won't be long before we celebrate yet another milestone of reaching 6,000 people who have been trained by the Office for Autism.

Upskilling our workforce is integral to building autism inclusion. Education workforces form a key role in working with autistic and autism communities, which is why many of our autism inclusion initiatives have focused on the education sector. Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting with the principals and school leaders who are participating in the Autism Inclusion in Secondary Schools pilot program. The program builds on the Malinauskas Labor government's nation leading autism inclusion teacher initiative in our public primary schools. The secondary school pilot has been focused on supporting autistic students as they transition to high school and has received positive feedback from students, teachers, principals and parents.

We have also continued to work to boost knowledge and understanding of autism before teachers enter the classroom. South Australian universities have continued to implement change to their courses as part of a two-year research project funded by the Malinauskas Labor government. We also know early childhood educators want increased knowledge and understanding of autism, so this month we launched a pilot for the Autism Professional Learning course within a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care at TAFE SA. This latest course updates and builds on the nation-leading autism inclusion initiatives we have introduced in vocational education. We also introduced a unit on autism for all students undertaking Certificate III in School Based Education Support at TAFE SA, which is an Australian first.

Away from the classroom, we are working to make sure that South Australian autistic and autism communities can enjoy our famous events. In November 2023, I was approached by Nathan Hull at our Christmas carols with an idea of creating a sensory bus. Nathan's idea was designed to help reduce barriers to inclusion and create a supportive space for autistic children and young people and adults. Now it is a reality, and the sensory bus has been launched and is in operation. I had the pleasure of visiting SA's sensory bus at the Adelaide 500 event today, where members of the autistic and autism community were utilising the mobile sensory space, including a guard from the event who has an autistic grandson. He popped over just to say thank you for making sure that his family can be seen.

I also mention Henry, who is 15. His mum mentioned this person. He is a kid who loves cars. He is about to become an apprentice in mechanics. He wasn't too keen to wear his sensory hidden disability lanyard to the race, but when he got to gate 9 and it was covered in the sunflower pattern and saying that this is a hidden disability gate, he proudly pulled it out and put it on himself without mum even asking.

Our government also supports a sensory space at schools, with Encounter Youth receiving a grant through the Autism Works in the Community Grants Program, providing and delivering on Autism Works projects. We have been able to deliver so much in this space. It is one of the proudest achievements that I have been able to work on, as an assistant secretary and now being a minister in this space. Stories like the one I have just heard from Henry and also the grandparent tell of finally feeling like they have been seen.

The largest disability cohort in our community feels that South Australia is leading the world, and that is being recognised by the fact that in 2027, for the very first time, we will host APAC, the Asia Pacific Autism Conference. This will be an incredible opportunity for hundreds, if not thousands, of people to come to South Australia to see what we have been able to achieve as a government.