Thursday, 11 September 2025

Ministers statements: autism

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:29): I rise to update the house on TheVictorian Autism PlanProgress Report. The Victorian Autism Plan guides work across government to make things fairer and more inclusive for autistic people in Victoria. The plan was established in 2019 and refreshed in 2023, and it includes 93 actions which are designed to improve understanding of autism in the community and across our workforces. The autism plan progress report updates me as minister as well as the community on how we are tracking against each of the actions, and I am pleased that 10 have been completed, 81 are on track to be completed by December this year, one action is delayed and one was retired. Initiatives like publicly funded autism assessments, the disability liaison officer program, training for the mental health workforce and autistic-led mentoring programs are just some examples of how we are working towards achieving the plan’s ambitions.

This report also makes the connection to the new national autism strategy, and I was very pleased to meet with the advisory group last week to discuss developments on the national disability reform agenda and hear their reflections on the Commonwealth’s recent announcement in relation to Thriving Kids. We share their concerns that Victorian children with developmental delay and disability and their families will be worse off under Thriving Kids, and further, I have grave concerns that the Commonwealth are trying to sell out people with disabilities and their families for pet projects across the country. Children with developmental delay and disability should not be traded away for 30 pieces of silver. I would like to thank the advisory group, the Victorian Disability Advisory Council and the interdepartmental committee on disability reform for guiding the development of the plan and for providing oversight of this progress report. I look forward to continuing to work together on making our state more inclusive and accessible for all Victorians. To read the autism plan progress report and find out more, visit the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing web page.