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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-09-18 Daily Xml
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Autism Inclusion Teachers

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:31): To the absolute delight of my colleague the Hon. Robert Simms, my question is to the Minister for Autism. Will the minister inform the council about the autism inclusion in secondary schools student round table?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Autism, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:31): I thank the honourable member for the question that he wrote, I understand, and for his interest in this particular topic.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Okay, let's listen to the minister.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE: We know there is a lot to be talking about on this particular issue and we know that we have been able to achieve a great deal for autistic students in our classrooms. We also know that our families, students and teachers have long called for better knowledge on how to best support our diverse classrooms.

That is why the Malinauskas Labor government is committed to lead, and that is why we are continuing to support inclusion in our classrooms—from partnering with South Australian universities for their teaching degree to offer courses with autism learnings to TAFE SA committing to the development of knowledge and skills and confidence through mandated inclusion training in their Certificate III in School Based Education Support. Changes like these will equip our pre-service teachers and support staff with knowledge about autism before they even enter the classroom.

As part of our government's commitment, public primary schools in South Australia now have access to an autism inclusion teacher whose role is to help build staff understanding and improve inclusion and practices for autistic students. This program is now being piloted to expand into nine secondary schools across the state to build additional knowledge and resources in our high schools and classrooms.

As part of this pilot, it was my pleasure to attend the autism inclusion in secondary schools student round table last month where autistic students gathered to share their experiences with us. I was lucky enough to have a chat with Noah, who shared with me that he thought his voice would never be heard but now he finds himself at the round table and feels like it is the best thing that ever happened to him. Noah and other autistic students participated in the round table discussion about autistic identity and workshops to share their ideas on building autism inclusion in secondary schools.

There to listen and learn from the students was the education minister, the Hon. Blair Boyer, and representatives from the Department for Education and the Office for Autism. This pilot will inform future policies in this space, as we know the transition from primary to secondary school can be a challenging time for autistic high school students. But with feedback from Noah and his peers we know we are on the right track.

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