The following list shows A4's recent advocacy. This list contains both publications (including briefs and submissions) and communications (letters & emails).

To find a (free) disability advocate to help you, try:

AEIOU demise - and Government's continuing war on autistic Australians

By convenor |

Dear Ministers

The NDIS shut down AEIOU, an early intervention service for severely or profoundly autistic very young children. This was the type of service that should have been essential for many autistic children who will remain in the the NDIS following the imminent Thriving Kids purge. 

Attached is an article that proposes positive ways forward rather than the government's continuing war of autistic Australians ... some of who are among the nations most vulnerable citizens. 

Please contact me if you have any questions.

A4's submission on new NDIS planning framework

By convenor |

Introduction

The NDIS Review correctly indicated that the NDIS needs “to improve the planning process and focus on a person’s disability support needs”.

The Review was wrong to suggest that the NDIS already focussed on “diagnosis or functional impairment”. The NDIS has shown repeatedly that it does not understand autism diagnosis, or the support needs that arise from “functional impairment” due to autism. 

The Australian newspaper - misinformation about autism in Australia - response required

By convenor |

Dear Ministers Butler and  McAllister

The Australian newspaper (in A caring approach to autism 25/2/2026) says incorrectly:

Nationwide, about one in three children are now diagnosed as autistic, Adams says, ...

Please, understand that the information is wrong and the writer, Sian Powell (cannot be called a journalist), misquoted the source, Prof. Adams.

the creep is the author

By convenor |
portrait of Ministers Butler and McAllister

Dear NDIS Ministers Butler and McAllister

no doubt you are aware of the AFR editorial today, A truly sustainable NDIS must stop autism creep (see https://archive.md/4GcDX). Your government needs to push back on this misinformation immediately if it hopes to preserve any credibility in relation to autism policy.  

The creep here is the uninformed author of this article.

Concerns Mount Over Autistic Children's future under Thriving Kids

By convenor |

Media Release

Families of autistic children say they are being left in the dark about how the government will determine which children are classified as having “mild to moderate autism” under the Thriving Kids program. 

Recently, government reported on its Thriving Kids program for children with “mild to moderate autism”: it released reports from

ABS: Information about disability severity in SDAC [SEC=OFFICIAL]

By convenor |

On 4/2/2026, A4 received the following information in an email from the Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS).

Hi Bob, hope you are well.

As promised late last year, please find attached an explanation for how SDAC collects and derives the ‘Disability Status’ data item, aka severity. Apologies that this information has taken a while to reach you.

When you apply this explanation to the SDAC 2022 data for autism, you get the following:

Westmead's One Stop Shop responses from governments

By convenor |

In relation to A4's advocacy for improving essential hospital services for profoundly autistic Australians (see https://a4.org.au/node/2758), A4 received the following responses from governments and Ministers that were contacted initially. 

  • NSW response
  • federal response 

The NSW response is positive. We are keep to see how this develops ... both at Westmead hospital (inner-western Sydney) and in other NSW hospitals.

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