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.

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.

Letter to DSS/Health official - meeting request to discuss issues

By convenor |

The letter below was sent to a key health (former DSS) official raising issues and requesting a meeting. A more senior official made sure he got it.

One of the issues was how many mild to moderately autistic children were in the NDIS ... and likely to be caught up with the Thriving Kids program. He told a DRO Forum (4/9/2025) that work had not started ... which is different to what the NDIS told the media previously (see https://a4.org.au/node/2750). 

He has not acknowledged the letter nor responded. 

urgent funding needed for Westmead's One Stop Shop for patients with profound disability

By convenor |

Dear Minister Butler MP

I recently became aware of the Westmead's One Stop Shop pro bono service for profoundly autistic patients (and others with severe disability who otherwise do not access many crucial health services). This service was described on the ABC in 2023.

Minister's response on ABS SDAC delay

By convenor |
Andrew Leigh MP looking serious with crossed arms

The Hon. Andrew Leigh MP responded negatively to A4's request that the ABS's SDAC survey collect data in 2025 (or 2026) ... ahead of the government's recent decision to wait until 2028.

The Minister's (undated, received 9/10/2025) response is available below. 

A4 does not understand why the survey would return to a six year cycle during the early stages of NDIS stabilisation (or major reform), the start of Thriving Kids, and the design phase of Foundational Supports for people with disability. 

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