E&OE...
Well Kay I want to thank you very, very warmly for that welcome and can I also acknowledge the presence of my other parliamentary colleagues, Mal Brough the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, my parliamentary colleagues in Margaret May and David Jull; I hope my future parliamentary colleagues in Wendy Creighton and Stuart Robert; and very particularly I acknowledge the presence of Adrian Ford, the CEO of Autism Spectrum Australia, Mr Bob Buckley, Autism Aspergers advocacy group and representatives of many autism groups around Australia and particularly from the Gold Coast and from the Brisbane area.
I am taking this opportunity this morning along with a number of my colleagues around Australia simultaneously to announce a major policy initiative in relation to autism. It has been developed over a period of time. It has been developed after discussion with a lot of groups, a lot of parents, a lot of people who have an understanding of the autism condition; who have had first hand experience and I have been reminded of that this morning, in my discussion with parents, the challenges that are involved. And this is a range of policies which we believe will make over time a difference.
We don't pretend that it's the one and only response. We acknowledge that more can always be done and will be done but it does address in a very direct way after a lot of discussion and based on the knowledge that we have accumulated, the principal challenges in this area. And I want to thank Mal in particular, and my other two Ministers involved in it, Tony Abbott, the Minister for Health and Julie Bishop, the Minister for Education, both of whom as I speak are also involved in similar forums in other parts of Australia.
This group more than any would understand what autism is all about. I don't think the rest of the community though understands that it affects one in every 160 children aged between six and 12. It represents over 10,000 children in this age group and probably more than 20,000 children in the age range of 0 to 12, although many of those will not yet have been effectively diagnosed.
The number of children diagnosed has increased quite dramatically over the last 10 to 15 years and it's fair to say that our understanding of this problem is much greater now than what it was even five years ago and certainly 10 or 20 years ago. You all know the stress that autism can cause, the sibling difficulties, the family breakdown, the marriage breakdown, all of the stresses and strains that are placed upon the parents of children with autism and there are some major gaps in the community services that are provided for people with autism.
I think you also know that it doesn't respond to any one intervention. You can't have a one size fits all. You can't say well this is the policy that will fix autism. You really have to have a whole range of policies because the degree, the intensity of the condition varies enormously and you need some very, very graduated responses.
Above all, early intervention is critical. All of the research tells us that early intervention is absolutely fundamental. I want to say before I announce the details of our plan, I want to say that we will continue to work very, very closely with advocacy groups and with health professionals. And I want to acknowledge before I announce the details of it that it's not a complete answer and I am not representing that it's a complete answer or that it's the final word, but it is a carefully thought through significant beginning in tackling the problem.
The policy has five elements. The first of those; and we'll hand out all sorts of documents and everything so you'll know all about it, but the first of those is the introduction of new Medicare-funded services to diagnose autism spectrum disorders and to provide follow-up services. And that will increase the early and accurate diagnosis of autism. It will support the development of treatment plans by paediatricians and child psychiatrists. It will open up access to allied health services including speech pathology and occupational therapy to enable children's development needs to be addressed and it will provide, under this category of service, it will provide health services for up to 8,000 children in the first year and 3,000 in subsequent years.
Now the second component of the plan and by far the largest is in the introduction of early intervention services for approximately 15,000 families of young children aged up to six years who are diagnosed with autism. This will allow the creation of 200 new autism specific playgroups for 8,000 children with autism to encourage learning and development. And that playgroup interaction is so important because there is a sharing of the burden and a sharing of the experiences and a sharing of the responses. And we all know from our experience, whatever it may be with our children, that interaction through groups, and in this case playgroups, is so tremendously important.
It will also involve intensive and structured programs for up to two years for up to 4,000 eligible children with moderate to severe autism. You all know that there are gradations for autism from the not-very-severe to the moderate to very severe. This plan has been graduated to deal with those particular levels.
Moving on and moving further up the scale, so to speak, there will be subsidies of up to $20,000 over two years per child, $20,000 over two years per child, for intensive early intervention from approved centres for up to 1,200 children with severe autism. Now that is at the top of the scale of intervention recognising that children with severe autism need very intensive moving to one-on-one responses and that, of course, requires, on a per-head basis, a much larger financial commitment.
There will also be 20 new childhood autism advisers to help families find the best services available to meet the particular needs of their child and there will be funding for autism groups to help them support families.
Now the third element of the plan is training and support for parents of young children with autism. I sometimes think the expression training is a little patronising and I apologise to the parents for using it. I think we should just say extra support. I think it is others who need the training rather than the parents. This will involve education support services and a website to help families and carers better cope with and undertaking early intervention activities.
Fourthly, we'll have workshops and information sessions for parents with school age children with autism. Now that can be a further element of help and also, and I realise the great relevance of this in some of my discussions with parents a few moments ago, professional development courses for 1,800 teachers over four years to improve learning outcomes for school age children with autism.
Now all of that amounts to an expenditure of some $190 to $200 million over a period of two* years. Of course, I mean, there's money involved in everything but it's the scope, I hope, of the plan that will be seen as positive as much as the allocation of the money.
I just want to go back to what I said at the beginning. I don't pretend that I don't represent to you, and neither will the Minister, that this is all that a Government can do and that this is going to solve the problem and it's going to meet all of the unmet need, I am not arguing that for a moment. But what I am arguing is that it touches what we are advised after a lot of consultation are the important bases. It recognises the critical importance of early intervention. It recognises the critical importance of helping people who interact with children with autism more effectively. It recognises the tremendous value of group sharing of the burden and the challenge and that is why we have this emphasis on developing the specific playgroups. I think to have 200 of them catering for about 8,000 children, that will be a wonderful medium, a vehicle through which people can share the burden and in that process develop greater insights and greater understanding; and it has been put together after a lot of discussion.
We have learnt a lot more about autism. One of the great things about modern Australia, I know it gets criticised by some, unfairly, but one of the great things about modern Australia is that we talk more directly and openly about challenges such as autism and we're more candid and frank and upfront and in the process, those of us who haven't had the experience with our own children get to understand in a more direct way, the enormous challenge that people have in relation to this.
My heart, as a man, as an individual, as a father, as a grandfather now, really does go out to the parents and I have known many who have to grapple with this. I admire their love and their compassion and their stoicism and they need recognition. They also need help. They need advice but we also need their advice. So this package I hope will go a significant way towards meeting some of the immediate needs but, and it is targeted it is directed in areas that we regard as hugely important.
You'll understand my saying this, but it is important, thank heaven we're in a financial position as a nation to do this. Thank heavens our economy is strong enough that we can afford it. And I want to say that this is not the end. It is a significant and important and meaningful beginning and I want to wish those involved, the parents, all the best that I can of good fortune. I admire you very greatly, you are wonderful people and you deserve every last drop of assistance that comes out of this policy and out of this package and can I echo the expressions of thanks that Kay expressed to the community centre for allowing us to use it for this very important policy launch.
Thank you.
*5 years [ends]