Past Activities

From this page you can access description of the past activities in which A4 has been involved.

Parliamentary Breakfast May 2008
Parliamentary ASD Awareness Event - representing people with ASD at Parliament House (with photos).

Past Inquiries

Past Inquiries

Special Disability Trusts

On 21/5, a Senate Committee wrote to A4 …

The Senate has referred to the Committee matters relating to Special Disability Trusts for inquiry and report by 18 September 2008. The terms of reference for the inquiry are attached and are also accessible on the Committee's website at www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca as well as Part 3.18A of the Social Security Act 1991 referred to in the terms of reference.

The Committee invites you to provide a written submission addressing any or all of the issues that may be of relevance to you. The submission should be lodged with the Committee Secretary by 13 June 2008.

A4 wrote back, saying …

Thank your for inviting (21/5/2008) Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4) “to provide a written submission addressing any or all of the issues” relating to the Inquiry into Special Disability Trusts.

This invitation took us by surprise because we feel the answers are obvious in relation to people with an autism spectrum disorder and their families. However, we appreciate the opportunity to explain again the situation facing families of people with an autism spectrum disorder.

…

A4 took this opportunity to explain the lifetime experience of many people with ASD to a relative large and influential Committee. If you are interested in what A4 says to government about the lives of people with ASD and their families, please take a look at the entire letter/submission. You can download it from http://www.a4.org.au/documents/SpecialDisabilityTrusts.doc

UN Convention on the rights of people with a disability

The United Nations are drafting a new international agreement on the rights of people with a disability.

In the process of preparing its submission, the federal government failed to consult with either of the national ASD organisations. As there was very little time available and no obvious process for having our views included in the Australian government position, A4 wrote directly to the committee. The report of the 2005 Australian consultation on the Chair's Text of the proposed United Nations convention on the human rights of people with disability is available from the PWD website. (click here)

Download the A4 letter to the United Nations committee from here

Victoria: Disability Bill exposure draft

The Victorian Government reviewed its disability legislation. More information is available in the A4 Update 2006 No. 1 (download it from is Word Version or PDF Version)

A4's submission can be downloaded from here

Inquiry into Teacher Education

The Standing Committee on Education and Vocational Training (see http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/evt/index.htm) inquired into Teacher Education (see http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/evt/teachereduc/index.htm).

Issues A4 members raised include:

The need for specialised training for teachers working with high-needs students with ASD. These students have extreme (clinical level) difficulties with communication (understanding their teacher and showing the teacher their lack of understanding), social skills (participating in or learning from other students, recognising the meaning of the behaviour of others, etc.) and behaviour (such as appropriate behaviour, attending to instructions, staying on task, etc.). They experience enormous barriers to learning.
Teachers training does not develop critical thinking. Few teachers, education academics and education administrators can distinguish between an attractive hypothesis and a conclusion resulting from comprehensive research. For example, most educators treat “inclusion” in mainstream as a successful outcome when it is at best a candidate method in teaching a child who is disabled by autistic disorder.
Teachers who work with students with ASD need to be taught to set clear measurable goals. Teachers should be taught methods for measuring, recording and reporting the educational and behavioural progress of students with ASD.
Teachers are not taught effectively to respect the knowledge and skills of parents of children with ASD.
Professional development for teachers whose classes include students with ASD is inadequate.
Teacher training develops a pastoral culture where teachers aim to get by with what they have rather than seek addition resources and professional support needed to meet their students needs.
Teacher are not trained sufficiently to ensure that they prepare most students with ASD for employment when they leave school.

Inquiry into mental health

The Senate asked its Select Committee on Mental Health to conduct a broad inquiry into mental health services and issues. The details of the inquiry: terms of reference, contacts, etc. can be found at http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/mentalhealth_ctte/index.htm

Issues A4 members raised include:

prevention, early intervention, acute care, community care, after hours crisis services and respite care are utterly inadequate (often non-existent) for people with ASD
unmet need in supported accommodation, employment, family and social support services, are all barriers to better mental health outcomes for people with ASD;
recent research in Australia shows people with ASD have a much increased risk of mental illness. Currently, little if anything is done in terms of prevention, early intervention or effective treatment for people with ASD.
children with ASD have special needs in education settings that are not being met. People with ASD are usually granted the Disability Support Pension (DSP) at age 16 years, that is as soon as they become eligible. Granting a DSP requires testing that shows the person is unlikely to be employed in the foreseeable future. This shows education currently provided for people with ASD is not preparing them for employment.
primary health care does not address the clinical needs of people with ASD. A person who has an ASD diagnosis has a clinical disorder that requires clinical treatment for their disorder. The treatment they require for their ASD is not available though the health system in Australia.
while ASD is a significant burden of disease in Australia, research into ASD is almost non-existent. While the USA and Britain are developing ASD research capacity, Australia definitely is not a part of a “coalition of the willing” in ASD research.
data on ASD is abysmal. Typically, the government and its agencies actively resist changes that would improve data collection, outcome measures and quality control for monitoring and evaluating service for people with ASD.
the health system's refusal to treat ASD in is immoral and possibly illegal.

FaCS Review of the Lists of Recognised Disabilities

Submission to this review ultimately resulted in Asperger's syndrome being added to the list (autism was already on the list). The main result is a simpler process for getting Carer's Allowance in relation to a child with Asperger's syndrome; and the outcome is longer-lasting.

Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (see http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiry/dda/index.html).

Our efforts were not particularly successful with this inquiry.
The submissions relating to autism or ASD are: 28, 104, 168, 223, 279 and 282.
Submissions that mention "autism" or "Asperger" are: 38, 44, 74, 86, 91, 99, 115, 148, 155, 182, 219 and 220.

The Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Reference Committee Inquiry into the Education of Students with Disabilities (see http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/eet_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/ed_students_withdisabilities/index.htm) reported in December 2002.

The report contains 81 mentions of "autism" and 5 mentions of "Asperger". The report says

"Autism is singled out in this report for particular mention because the full extent of its impact is only now being recognised." page 50

"Over the whole of Australia between 0.6 per cent and 1 per cent of children are affected by autism or a related disorder." page 54

Inquiry into Equal Employment Opportunity

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) is holding an Inquiry into Equal Employment Opportunity and Participation for People with Disabilities (see http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/employment_inquiry/index.htm).

Please go to their website to get information on this inquiry. HREOC published several white papers that you may want to download and read.