Rick Morton

The $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme will face a ­series of test court cases relating to its imprecise eligibility criteria, with challenges expected to target conditions including autism, chronic fatigue and mental illness, legal ­experts say.

THE majority of Australians have heard of autism but less than a third actually feel confident interacting with and supporting autistic people and their families.

Ally Foster

“IF YOU’VE met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”

This well-known quote by Dr Stephen Shore, internationally renowned for his research surrounding autism, shows that living with the condition can mean different things to different people.

We are pleased to announce we are establishing an Australian Autism Research Council to review and determine national priorities for autism research and address areas of need for the autistic and autism communities

Our vision is that the priorities established by the Australian Autism Research Council will guide the future focus of research activities and research funding by government as well as research and development undertaken by non-government organisations and other industry members who provide programs and services for the autism community.

Commonwealth Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe today released a report into the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) handling of reviews of decisions under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. The report discusses systemic issues highlighted by complaints and stakeholder feedback including significant backlogs, delays in decision making and poor communication practices.

Media Release

Today, the NDIS fell into chaos: it removed its access/eligibility criteria from its website.

Rick Morton

The early-intervention strategy for children with autism in the $22 billion NDIS is in disarray, and ­rationing has been introduced for services worth $300 million a year after 30,000 kids were granted ­access.

Worldwide best practice for autism intervention in young children, known as Applied Behaviour Analysis, requires a minimum of 20 hours of one-on-one therapy a week, but under the ­National Disability Insurance Scheme most of the youngest children receive about half of that, with packages between $10,000 and $15,000 a year.