The Advisory Group met with portfolio areas across government to share insights into current priorities and inform thinking about refreshed actions.
The Advisory Group also affirmed the value of drawing on new actions and reform approaches set out in Inclusive Victoria.
While many business-as-usual activities of government were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Advisory Group continued to play a critical role, providing advice to inform the Victorian Government’s pandemic response, including:
- identifying emerging issues, such as mental health and hardship impacts
- calling out barriers to living safely and well presented by restrictions to movement, mask use, testing and isolation requirements
- advocating for accessible communication
- shaping key messages for the public, particularly to help the community understand why many autistic people were exempt from particular public health directions.
The Advisory Group provided much advice for this refresh, drawing on members’ organisational and personal expertise.
Members’ observations highlight the pandemic’s complex and interdependent effects, which cut across personal, organisational and community domains. These effects are profound and ongoing. Disruption to essential supports and services during the pandemic and lessons learned from the experiences of autistic people have reinforced a strong commitment to co-design and addressing the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the wellbeing, health, education and employment of autistic people.
The Advisory Group’s key priorities include:
- Early identification and support – early identification, specialist interventions and connection to appropriate support can make a significant difference to people’s lives. For autistic people, this means timely access to assessment, referral pathways from identification to supports, and maximised opportunity to access NDIS or other services.
- Health and wellbeing – autistic Victorians continue to miss out on access to appropriate health and mental health supports when they need them most. Health professionals often overlook or misunderstand autistic people’s wellbeing and mental health needs. Health services are difficult environments for autistic people to negotiate.
- Education and employment pathways – autistic Victorians face significant barriers to the full participation in education and employment pathways. Autistic students may be left further behind as schools returned to face-to-face schooling. More needs to be done to support students transition from school to further education and training. In the employment sphere, negative attitudes around disability are an enduring barrier to employment and the value of inclusive and neurodiverse workforces is not widely understood.
- Data and research – there is minimal data available about autistic Victorians. This limits opportunities to understand, identify and address issues. Data is often designed and controlled by non-autistic people, limiting or undermining its validity.
Peer-to-peer support
Autistic people and their families and support networks see peer-to-peer support as increasingly important. This key theme emerged during the work on the refreshed plan.
Many autistic people receive services and supports that aim to build their skills and behaviours in more normative interactions. Peer support provides a space for autistic people to enjoy and celebrate their shared but diverse experience outside of a therapeutic frame. They help autistic people build networks in which they can experience pride and wellbeing. Advisory Group members noted the importance of establishing an evidence base for how these peer-to-peer activities assist in promoting good mental health and better long-term outcomes.
Through commitments under Inclusive Victoria, we will continue to work to ensure all Victorians have equal rights. We will challenge discrimination through a thriving disability advocacy sector led by and for people with disability. This includes strengthening peer-support groups and establishing and expanding peer mentoring and support programs for young people with disability in rural and regional and outer suburban areas.
Group members shared these and many more insights in meetings with portfolio leads during the second half of 2022. They have been a primary resource for portfolio leads in refreshing or adding to actions under the plan.
Updated