CEO: Parliamentary Inquiry a big win for our community, but what's next?

Today the Victorian Parliamentary Family and Community Development committee tabled its 400-page report into services for autistic people in Victoria.
The report is the culmination of an 18 month long inquiry.
We’re delighted to see its arrival and want to share this day with you.
You may recall Amaze made a submission to the Inquiry based on information we received from more than 700 members of our community through our online surveys and discussions where you told us what needed to change for autistic people and their families.

Ensuring the voices of our community are heard

Amaze’s number one role is to ensure the voices of our community are heard.

Our submission made 55 recommendations based on what you told us, coupled with the evidence of what works.
All of those recommendations appear within the 101 recommendations in the Inquiry’s Report and, in my view, the best recommendation was that autistic people and their families must always be included and consulted in any policies and programs and works that affect them.  We know they are the experts!
We were also pleased to see the recommendation to develop a new Autism State Plan and a National Autism Strategy.
We understand that state and national plans may seem removed from your day to day lives right now, but they do serve to galvanise support and call for action.
It is also encouraging, in light of yesterday’s misguided and offensive comments by Pauline Hanson, that we have many elected members of parliament who support action for autism to create a more inclusive world for autistic people.
We also see in the recommendations:

• Greater investment in diagnosis and services in the early years
• Schools being funded and resources to meet the needs of autistic students
• A strategy to give more autistic adults employment – and training for employers
• The National Disability Insurance Scheme providing better, clearer information and a greater understanding of autism.
• A comprehensive approach to ensure the same services are accessible in regional and remote Victoria

The Report is a big win for our community _ and it wouldn’t have happened without you. But what’s next?
We now need the Government to accept the Inquiry’s recommendations – they have six months to respond.
In the coming weeks Amaze will be developing a campaign to call on the Government to accept the recommendations – we will be in touch to let you know how you can stay involved.
So we congratulate the Family and Community Services Committee for their comprehensive work on this Inquiry and again I send huge thanks to people in our community that made their voices heard.
We heard you, and so did the Parliament!