update - final report is available - see below

More than 690,000 Australians live with complex and enduring mental illness such as psychotic illnesses, personality disorders, bipolar disorder or severe and persistent depression and anxiety. People living with complex and enduring mental illness can experience a range of poorer health and social outcomes which can be driven by stigma and discrimination from the broader community.

We encourage you to read the full mental health and suicide prevention budget available on our website to understand the following information in context.

Key budget initiatives for people with complex and enduring mental illness:

• $171.3 million to ensure continued access to Commonwealth psychosocial support services for 2 years, from 2021–22, under a single consolidated program.
• $11.1 million to improve the experience of and outcomes for people with complex mental health needs, including cognitive disability and autism, through a range of targeted initiatives. This includes:
  • funding for SANE Australia to pilot specialised mental health services and interventions for people with complex mental health needs,
  • additional training and education for the mental health workforce to better meet the needs of people with cognitive disability and autism.

...

from https://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov.au/getmedia/95ebfc81-8032-4b13-893a-8d6dc122308a/2021-2022-Federal-Budget-for-people-with-complex-and-enduring-mental-illness.pdf 

Prioritising Mental Health (Pillar 4) – Supporting vulnerable Australians

In response to the Productivity Commission and the National Suicide Prevention Adviser’s reports, the Australian Government has committed $107 million to support vulnerable Australians’ access to effective, equitable and culturally appropriate mental suicide prevention package.

Investment will go towards key initiatives such as:

• $11.1 million to improve the experience of and outcomes for people with complex mental health needs, including cognitive disability and autism, through a range of targeted initiatives
• ...

from https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/05/prioritising-mental-health-pillar-4-supporting-vulnerable-australians.pdf

Update - final report

The evaluation report was released. It is disappointing.

The phrase in the original allocations was "for people with complex mental health needs, including cognitive disability and autism," however, the services described in the final report of services provided for people deemed to have "complex mental health needs" and including a proportion of people with autism.

The report says "participants self-reported high levels of complex need with 55% reporting at least one complex need ..." so 45% did not have a complex need (or a complex mental health need) at all. A quick scan did not find a definition or description of "complex need" or "complex mental health needs".

There is just one mention of "cognitive disability" in the whole document and that does not relate to any people being treated.

So the report indicates that only 11% of people treated had autism; the vast majority of the services delivered went to people not described in the original budget item.

This outcome justifies profound scepticism of government autism programs ... and shows the absence of meaningful quality control in government administration.