On 17/1/2022, A4 and a couple of our friends from the autism sector met (via video-link) with several officials from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. A4 provided a briefing document for the meeting (see below). Following is a summary report on the meeting.
Positives for A4 and the autism sector in Australia from the meeting were that
Subject:RE: Escalating risks for people with disability from Omicron and access to RAT and PCR tests [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]
Date:Wed, 5 Jan 2022 21:52:49 +0000
From:Lowe, Jamie <Jamie.Lowe@ndis.gov.au>
To: ...
CC:...
Dear Bob
Thank you for drawing this to my attention. We endeavour to align all our messaging to Health messaging to avoid confusion and will immediately review our website and social media content to ensure that the information we provide is up-to-date and aligned to Health messaging.
A4's interim submission on the sustainability of the NDIS is available online.
The submission contains some recent data about the number of people diagnosed formally with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and receiving either an NDIS plan or Carer's Allowance (child). These diagnosis rates are often interpreted as indicators of autism prevalence in our community.
A4's brief and somewhat rushed submission on proposed changes to the NDIS legislation is available below.
The government gave the disability sector insufficient time to respond to its proposed changes. Parts of the disability sector have received legal advice that the limited time allowed is disability discrimination. It certainly shows that the government's aim to build trust (following the Independent Assessments debacle) and to work with the sector is insubstantial.