Minister: gap, not just autism, for a whole range of disabilities?

By convenor |

The Hon. Ms Jenny Macklin MP
Minister for Disability Reform

Dear The Hon. Ms Macklin MP

I saw your short video on the episode of A Current Affair on 19/3/2012. Your message started “We do recognise that there is a real gap for not just children with autism but children with a whole range of disabilities … ”.

New workshop brings children with autism, parents and professionals closer together

By Luke Potter |

Absolutely Autism has launched a new workshop that will help parents and professionals develop closer relationships with children with autism. Entitled Autism and Behaviour, the workshop will be run for the first time in Bairnsdale on 16 March by two experts in autism, Leanne Potter and Rhonda Jackson. The workshop is then planned to be run in regional centres across Australia.

feedback on draft National Human Rights Action Plan

By convenor |

Dear sir/madam

Despite recent correspondence from Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4) to the Attorney General (see http://a4.org.au/a4/node/375, http://a4.org.au/a4/node/396 and http://a4.org.au/a4/node/438), I just found out today about your draft action plan (see http://www.ag.gov.au/Humanrightsandantidiscrimination/Australiashumanri…).

Feedback on your draft action plan is due today. My organisation does not now have time nor the capacity to develop a comprehensive response.

safety for people with autism: improve industrial manslaughter legislation for PwD

By bobb |

John Stanhope, the former ACT Chief Minister, called for national laws on industrial manslaughter. He said:

...

Second, Australians die in mental health institutions. The Age, for example, reported in September 2011 that 36 people died unexpected, unnatural or violent deaths in Victorian mental health facilities alone between 2008 and 2010 according to Coroner's Court files.

Report on mental health and autism spectrum disorders

By convenor |

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4) released a new report on the relationship between autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and mental health.

It deals with a number of perception and outcomes about ASD in the context of mental health.

This report may or may not relate to the Senate Community Affairs Committee Inquiry into mental health and its "omission" of A4's submission to the inquiry (see http://a4.org.au/a4/node/417).

underwhelming results from DSP "reforms"

By bobb |

A report1 says "the growth rate for the [Disability Support Pension] DSP is falling, with a 1.4 per cent drop in the rate between June 2010 to June 2011, compared with the previous year".

In the 2011-12 Federal Budget, the Government announced changes2 that it said would reduce DSP recipients by around 40% ... so an outcome of 1.4% can hardly be said to confirm reforms are working as intended; this is just spin.

Australian governments ignore bad outcomes for autism/ASD

By bobb |

As yet there is no sign that governments in Australia even recognise the particularly bad outcomes reported for people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A4 says, so far the parts of governments in Australia that are responsible for treatment, rehabilitation, education, etc. just ignore reports from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) that people with ASD have especially poor education, employment and disability support outcomes.

The ABS online 4428.0 - Autism in Australia, 2009 report says:

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