A4 cannot get the Minister for Mental Health to consider any issues relating to autism/ASD. The Minister for Mental Health repeatedly referred anything to do with autism, even when the major issue was mental health, to FaHCSIA.

So A4 wrote to the Prime Minister (see link below).

The Attorney-General replied (9/8/2011, download here) to A4's open letter (18/6/2011, see http://a4.org.au/a4/node/375).

Our letter clearly identified concern and disappointment "about the ongoing refusal of Governments in Australia to protect people with ASD and their associates from discrimination". The Attorney-General's response dismisses our concern and disappointment saying:

About 15% of the world's population lives with some form of disability, of whom 2-4% experience significant difficulties in functioning. The global disability prevalence is higher than previous WHO estimates, which date from the 1970s and suggested a figure of around 10%. This global estimate for disability is on the rise due to population ageing and the rapid spread of chronic diseases, as well as improvements in the methodologies used to measure disability.

Autism advocates wrote an open letter to the Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, to express the deep disappointment of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) over the recent Federal Court discrimination decision in Walker v State of Victoria [2011] FCA 258.

In response to our letter in April 2011, A4 received the (completely unsatisfactory and inappropriate) response below from the Ministerial Liaison and Support Section of the Department of Health and Ageing.

This completely missed the point that A4 asked that a submission be considered for the Budget ... the opportunity is now well past.

In 2010, the Australian Government commissioned another report on services and supports for autistic children and their families.

The report is in two parts but is presented in a single document:

Key findings 

This review has produced an estimate of the annual economic costs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Australia, updating a previous study completed in April 2007. 

This review has produced an updated estimate of the annual economic costs of ASD in Australia, including the burden of disease, of between $8.1 billion (low prevalence) and $11.2 billion (high prevalence), with a mid-point of $9.7 billion (all estimates are in December 2010 dollars). 

Wandering is a critical safety issue for children with ASD.

The Interactive Autism Network (IAN), www.ianproject.org, the nation's largest online autism research project, reported this week the preliminary results of the first major survey on wandering among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Approximately half of 800 parents who completed the survey reported that their child leaves safe places, with the behavior peaking at age four. Among these families, nearly half say that their child has gone missing long enough to cause significant concern about safety.

A4 sent the letter below asking the Minister for Mental Health to include some mental health recommendation in the coming Budget.

By John Elder Robison

What, exactly, is self-advocacy and what is its place in the autism community?

Autism is a communication disorder, with a broad range of affect. Some people's autism makes them eccentric and geeky. Other people can't speak at all, as a result of more severe autistic disability.