National Guidelines: Update and capacity building

Autism CRC has supported the development of guidelines to provide guidance for practitioners, families, service providers and policy-makers around evidence-based practice and to ensure consistency in the clinical pathway from diagnosis to supports. The impact of the National Guideline for Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism in Australia and the release of the National Guideline for supporting the learning, participation and wellbeing of autistic children and their families in Australia, provide a foundation for deep and enduring systems change across Australia. Similar guidance has been developed in New Zealand through New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline.

To ensure these Guidelines deliver on the impact they promise, they need to be kept up to date and be implemented in clinics, communities, and systems across both countries. This project brought experienced guideline developers from Australia and New Zealand and:

• Revised the National Guideline for Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism in Australia
• Implemented the National Guideline for supporting the learning, participation and wellbeing of autistic children and their families in Australia
• Developed a plan for Aotearoa New Zealand Autism Guideline implementation, supports and services