Amaze welcomes Labor’s Disability Plan and commitment to a National Autism Strategy
Posted on
Pictured is members of the Australian Autism Alliance and Bill Shorten at Labor’s policy announcement, from left to right: James Ong, Chris Varney, Katharine Annear, Bill Shorten, Nicole Rees, Chloë Polglaze
Amaze welcomes the Australian Labor Party’s Disability Election Policy and we are delighted that Labor has committed to a National Autism Strategy as part of this announcement. Shadow Minister for the NDIS Bill Shorten emphasised that the proposed National Autism Strategy will be a whole-of-life strategy for all Autistic people, not just those eligible for the NDIS. The Strategy would be informed by the findings of the Disability Royal Commission and the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into Autism.
We were also pleased to see Labor recognising the importance of co-design with people with disability, emphasising the philosophy ‘nothing about us without us’, when making changes to the NDIS, including a commitment to increasing the number of people with disability to the board of the NDIA.
Highlights from the policy included:
- an alternative dispute resolution as an easy alternative to an Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) review when wanting to challenge NDIA decisions
- removing staffing caps for NDIA, which will improve customer service and enable people to speak a real person
- focus on disability employment, with the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in disability employment, and
- an increase in funding towards disability advocacy, $10 million over four years.
Amaze CEO Jim Mullan says that the policy and commitment to a National Autism Strategy is important for the autism community: “This commitment is a win for our community and an opportunity to create real change that will improve the lives of Autistic people in Australia. Autism is not a partisan issue, and we would welcome a commitment to a National Autism Strategy by all parties.”