Dear the Hon Jane Prentice MP

We thank you and Mr Russell de Burgh for your response (MC17-003466 on 28/3/2017) to A4's email, and especially for specifically answering the questions we asked.

The webpage your response refers to, https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/disability-support-pension, says (repeatedly) that people who are either "permanently blind" or " have a physical, intellectual or psychiatric condition" may be eligible for Disability Support Pension. We understand that people who to not satisfy this description are not eligible. This description of eligible people excludes most autistic people. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not regarded as a "psychiatric condition" even though the diagnostic criteria are described in the DSM-5, a manual of mental disorders. Current estimates suggest under 50% of autistic people have "intellectual impairment". ASD is not physical impairment. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated that in 2012, 73% of autistic Australians have severe or profound disability (limitations on core activities), so it would seem that a high proportion of autistic adults should be eligible for DSP.

Dear Mr Buckley,

Please find attached correspondence from William Garton.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions in regards to this correspondence.

Kind Regards

Executive Assistant to William Garton,

General Manager – Access and Operations Management,

Participants and Planning

National Disability Insurance Agency

Mr Bob Buckley

Convenor

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4)

Dear Mr Buckley,

Thank you for your correspondence dated 2 February 2017.

Dear Mr Buckley

Please find attached correspondence acknowledging your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

Please contact me if you require the attached document in an alternative format.

Kind regards

GA
Paralegal
Legal Branch
National Disability Insurance Agency

Dear the Hon Jane Prentice MP

A4 members have expressed concern about Centrelink’s Disability Support Pension (DSP) eligibility and processes. They commented that “the letter you get from Centrelink tells you nothing about where to find the criteria for how [Centrelink] judges in/out”.

A4 could not find clear descriptions on government websites (or elsewhere either) of:

Dear Mr Buckley

Thank you for your email and letter of reply to my letter sent to you on 17 January 2017.

Having made no progress on this issue, here is a letter that I sent to the Prime Minister:

Dear Prime Minister

Since June 2016 I have been unable to access my son’s myPlace webpage via the myGov website.

I have raised this several times. Yesterday, I spent about 2 hours mostly on hold with the NDIA and the myGov helpline.

The NDIA said their system is working perfectly and that the problem is with the myGov website. The myGov help people check out their system and said the problem is the NDIA’s myPlace system.

The Anne McDonald Centre made an alarming submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Services for People with ASD.

It alleges inappropriate testing of non-verbal children, many of whom have ASD ... and subsequently, inappropriate and ineffective teaching in Victorian schools.

The submission can be downloaded from http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images…;