​Ellie Cooper

The federal government’s decision to rule out a royal commission into violence and abuse against people with disability has been condemned by an alliance of disability advocacy groups.

Lauren Martyn-Jones

THE mother of a child who was locked in a cell-like room for time-outs at a Hervey Bay primary school wants a State Government review to ban the practice totally.

The incident involving her autistic son Tate Smith triggered a State Government review and the appointment of a department "watchdog" to oversee the education of children with disabilities in Queensland.

The review has found that the restrictive practice experienced by Tate should be used as a measure of last resort to prevent harm to staff and students.

A4's submission

A4 made a submission to the inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS into the provision of services under the NDIS for people with psychosocial disabilities related to a mental health condition. 

Today, 1 in 63 children will be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (according to A4 2015).

For the past two years, the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services has been supporting schools and families in behaviour management and skill development with the world’s leading evidence-based platform Rethink.

Rethink provides a free on-line solution that helps teachers:

• Develop custom learning curriculum (aligned to Australian Curriculum)

• Monitor and track student progress

Sherryn Groch

As new research reveals Australians with intellectual disabilities are dying avoidable deaths, two Canberra carers share their own 'horror' stories.

It started with just a runny nose and a routine trip to the doctor. Then Gungahlin mother Therese Bean noticed her son was losing weight. 

DAN WHEELAHAN

The deaths of more than 700 Australian adults with an intellectual disability could have been avoided with more appropriate health care and monitoring, a UNSW study has revealed.

Research by UNSW has found that while Down syndrome itself doesn’t cause death, it is still coded that way in a flawed classification system. Photo: Shutterstock.

Corporate Affairs, Victoria Legal Aid

 

Thank you for your report <http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/sites/www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/files/vla-care-not-custody-report.pdf> , Care not Custody which includes an interest in and advocacy for vulnerable autistic children. And congratulations on the recent publicity <http://a4.org.au/node/1390>  for the issue.

 

A group of autistic women advocates prepared a submission for the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. 

Henry Belot

The Federal Government has announced an independent review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to examine overall costs, value for money and its long-term sustainability.

Treasurer Scott Morrison announced the Productivity Commission review on Friday afternoon with a position paper to be released in May, followed by a report in September.

Media Release

The response from Disability Minister Christian Porter MP’s office on increasing autism diagnoses is very disappointing according to Bob Buckley, A4 Convenor. Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia or A4 is the national grass-roots advocacy group for autism spectrum disorder.