Autism Strategy

Draft State Autism Strategy 2024–2029 open for consultation

In 2022 the South Australian Government committed to consult and collaborate with the Autistic and autism communities to co-design the first State Autism Strategy, a 5-year roadmap aiming to shape a more inclusive state for all.

From November 2022 to February 2023, the Department of Human Services led one of the largest public consultations ever held in the state on disability-related matters, with more than 1,200 submissions received from the Autistic and autism communities who shared their lived experiences and highlighted the main barriers, goals, and aspirations for the future.

The draft Strategy is now ready for South Australians to have their say and contribute to this important piece of work that will guide future inclusion policies in the state.

Public consultation on YourSAY is open from 4 to 29 March 2024. To participate you can:

Visit YourSAY and complete survey, or
Submit a written, audio or visual submission via email to saautismstrategy@sa.gov.au

Read the Draft State Autism Strategy 2024-2029

Draft State Autism Strategy 2024-2029 (PDF 1.4 MB)
Draft State Autism Strategy 2024-2029 Easy Read (PDF 10.6 MB)
Draft State Autism Strategy 2024-2029 Plain Text (DOCX 108.1 KB)

What’s next

Following public consultation, the final Autism Strategy document will be formally released across the state later in 2024.

The final Autism Strategy will also align to the new State Disability Inclusion Plan and complement the work undertaken in relation to the Federal Government’s National Autism Strategy currently under development

Further updates on the final Autism Strategy will be announced in the upcoming months.

Previous steps

Discussion Paper: Starting the conversation

On 25 November 2022, the South Australian Government launched South Australia’s First Autism Strategy Discussion Paper 2023 (including an Easy English version) to support the consultation process. Autistic people, parents and carers, non-government organisations, public sector agencies, local councils and other interested parties were invited to participate and have their voices heard. Members of the Autistic and autism communities could provide feedback by:

completing a YourSAy survey
participating in community forums
posting or emailing a written, visual or audio submission.

Consultation Report: What we heard

The Consultation Report, endorsed by the State Autism Strategy Advisory Committee, was released in 2023 to outline the consultation process used, feedback received and summarises the key findings.