A man "crippled" by a lifelong autism spectrum disorder who became an accountant and then defrauded the Tax Office of $2.4 million in GST refunds has been jailed for a maximum of four years.

It was argued that jail would "terrify and traumatise" Philip Solimon Tadros who learned by rote to pass VCE with a university entry score of 65, completed his course but took six years to gain a practising certificate.

Autism — a neural developmental disorder characterised by impaired social interaction and communication — affects lots of Australians, including famous ones. Media personality Chloe Maxwell and her husband, former NRL player Mat Rogers, spoke publically about their son Max’s autism.

A4's submission/feedback on the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Issues Paper on "Access to justice in the criminal justice system for people with disability" (see https://www.humanrights.gov.au/access-justice-criminal-justice-system-p…) can be downloaded below.

A4 highlights that for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Australia does not have a "justice system", what it has is a legal system; a system of legal processes that rarely delivers justice for people with ASD.

By Stephanie Gotlib

The PM has delivered on Gonski's recommendations for a funding boost to students with disabilities. Money is necessary, but will only go so far - attitudes must change too, writes Stephanie Gotlib

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has called for early intervention for children with learning difficulties to be part of the national disability insurance scheme.

Mr Abbott says the federal opposition supports DisabilityCare Australia in principle, but wants more detail on the government's proposal.

Visiting an autistic childcare centre in Melbourne on Tuesday, Mr Abbott said early intervention education should be included in the scheme.

"I think all of us want to see centres like this supported through the national disability insurance scheme," he told reporters.

ASHLEY HALL: While the National Disability Insurance Scheme, or DisabilityCare, now looks set to become a reality, New Zealanders in Australia claim it discriminates against them.



Australian residents from across the ditch have a unique migration status which requires them to pay taxes, including the increased Medicare levy, which will be used to fund the insurance scheme.



But they won't be eligible for benefits under the scheme.



Simon Lauder reports.