Autism submissions to ACT budgets are just wasted effort

Again, the ACT Government is calling for submissions to its coming budget (see http://www.budgetconsultation.act.gov.au/). So far, budget submissions from the autism/ASD community have been wasted effort. Recent budget submissions from the autism/ASD community can be downloaded from the links below.

FaHCSIA updated HCWA documents

FAHCSIA published updated versions of two key documents (from 2006) for the Government's helping children with autism (HCWA) package. These are:

Submission on health and medical research in Australia

SOfASD and A4 sent a submission to the the Review of Health and Medical Research in Australia (see http://www.mckeonreview.org.au/). The submission suggests that research funding has a greater chance of having more impact when it is addresses health issues with higher "burden of disease and injury". It mentions that autism has a high burden for children (highest for boys), based on the available evidence ... yet very little of Australia's health and medical research funding is spent on autism.

Half of Australia’s carers are depressed – making a hard job even harder

Carers Week 14 – 20 October 2012

Research suggests that more than half of Australia’s carers (56 per cent) have at least moderate depression and a fifth of them have severe depression.

Research also shows that due to the constant and sometimes overwhelming nature of their roles, these people are often at greater risk of developing depression. With one in eight Australians supporting a family member or friend who is unwell, that amounts to thousands of people at risk of depression.

FaHCSIA revised review of autism early intervention

FaHCSIA published its updated A review of the research to identify the most effective models of practice in early intervention of children with autism spectrum disorders by Prior, M., Roberts, J. M.A., Rodger, S., Williams, K.& Sutherland, R.(2011).

The Executive Summary and full report of the 2011 Review are available below.

ABS autism reports

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) conducts its Survey of Disability Ageing and Carers about every 3 years. The SDAC report summaries on autism are available here (2012 data) and here (2009 data).

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ABS autism report