2023 Annual General Meeting and Annual Report release
On behalf of Autism CRC, thanks to those who were able to attend our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and post-AGM event on 28 November. It was great to have so many people join us in person, particularly during the post-AGM event.
We were delighted to host Clare Gibellini, Co-chair of the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council, who gave an enlightening and informed update of the Strategy’s progress. It was heartening to hear how our work to inform both Strategy considerations and its co-design has flowed through with positive impacts on the Strategy’s development.
This was a year of new beginnings built on solid foundations as we moved to running in post CRC Program mode which you can read all about in the Autism CRC 2022-23 Annual Report.
For many, there will have been little apparent change as we continue to operate our successful collaborative model – engaging all stakeholder communities across Australia and beyond – in undertaking research on community-agreed priorities and translating the outputs to practice and policy. In reality, much had to be done to ensure a successful transition from our CRC Program activities and arrangements to our legacy operations.
Through the CRC Program, Autism CRC established itself as the national independent source of evidence for best practice, across the lifespan and the spectrum – and it was critical that we maintained the foundations of our collaboration and momentum of our activities through transition in order to provide continued support to the sector in that role. We want to thank all involved for making the transition a smooth one.
As you read through this year’s Annual Report, you will see the substantial body of work that our unique stakeholder collaboration has undertaken and the outcomes delivered. We commissioned several new projects in this financial year, the first with our new Member and Affiliate network. As a contributor to our collaboration, you can rightly be proud of the outputs and impacts delivered for the benefit of our end-user community – autistic people and their families, and those who strive to support them. These projects sought to:
- better understand the current support needs of autistic people, their families and carers across the breadth of service systems with which they engage, including for those with multiple and complex support and/or communication needs
- analyse the current international research evidence for best-practice supports, along with the gaps both in the research evidence base and in the translation of evidence to policy and practice
- expand and maintain our range of evidence-based practice guidance and related capacity-building resources relating to assessment and diagnosis, early childhood supports, inclusive education and employment, health and wellbeing
- support the development of a National Autism Strategy and other related government initiatives by providing research evidence and capacity through our collaborative national network.
On behalf of everyone at Autism CRC we thank you again for your ongoing support and look forward to furthering our vision to see autistic people with quality of life and opportunity in 2024. Best wishes for a safe and happy festive season.
First image: Professor Rob van Barneveld giving a speech at the 2023 Post-AGM event.
Second image: Clare Gibellini, Co-chair of the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council.
Third image: Clare Gibellini speaking to the audience at the 2023 Post-AGM event.