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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-03-04 Daily Xml
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Autism Assessment and Diagnosis Advisory Group

The Hon. M. EL DANNAWI (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Autism. Will the minister inform the council about the new Autism Assessment and Diagnosis Advisory Group?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Autism, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:51): I thank the honourable member for her question and interest in this important initiative. I am pleased to update the chamber on our government's new nation-leading autism advisory group, a group which comprises health professionals, key government agencies and practitioners with lived experience to come together as a group to help provide advice to address the barriers to an autism assessment in South Australia.

The feedback from the consultation on the state's first autism strategy was clear, and pathways to a diagnosis have become focus area number one of the strategy. From the feedback we received at forum after forum, it became clear that in order to address the issues surrounding access to an autism assessment you need to bring together the key workforces that participate in this process.

As with everything, you must build knowledge in order to make the necessary changes, but importantly you must build knowledge in order to make the necessary changes that will work. To do that you need to work with the community members and industries to make this change. That is exactly what we are doing through this nation-leading advisory group.

We have heard from health professionals and members of the community that knowing how and where to access or provide an autism assessment can vary. No longer are we going to push that question down the road. We are acting by bringing the right people to the one table, from GPs to speech pathologists, to psychologists and occupational therapists, to finally work through these questions to address the barriers that the autistic and autism communities have and enable them to work through this process.

We have 12 members on our committee. They are leaders within these work professions. These independent experts are also supported by the Office for Autism and other state government departments, which are coming together to consider current government frameworks, the national guidelines for the assessment and diagnosis of autism and post assessment and diagnosis support for South Australians.

We held our second meeting on Friday. Members will meet regularly throughout the year to help build knowledge and work with services across our state and even interstate. Bringing together the right people and hearing and learning from them in one space will help address the barriers that families and individuals face and the challenges they have been calling to be addressed for too long. I look forward to continuing to work with the members of the advisory group and having those important discussions that for many in the autistic and autism community and the relevant workforce are well overdue.

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