National Autism Guideline officially launched today
We are very pleased to let you know that the National Guideline for the Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Australia was officially released this morning.
The Guideline release was announced at 11.30am (AEDT) in the Parliament House Senate Gardens by the Honourable Minister for Families and Social Services, Paul Fletcher, and the Honourable Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, with Professor Andrew Whitehouse, Dr Kiah Evans, Professor Robert van Barneveld and Andrew Davis in attendance.
Today's release is the culmination of two years’ work, which has included a major international research exercise followed by extensive consultation across Australia with the clinical, allied health, service provider, autistic and autism communities.
The guideline aims to create greater consistency in assessment and diagnosis practices across the country to ensure individuals on the autism spectrum, and their families, receive quality and knowledgeable advice.
Developed and published by Autism CRC, with financial support from the National Disability Insurance Agency, it is Australia’s first national guideline for the assessment and diagnosis of autism.
The recommendations of the guideline have been approved by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), which demonstrates that they are of high quality, based on best available scientific evidence and developed to rigorous standards.
You can now register and receive a free copy of the Guideline and supporting documents.
The Autism CRC team would like to thank Professor Andrew Whitehouse and Dr Kiah Evans, for their significant contributions to bringing the Guideline to fruition, along with the other members of the Research Executive Committee for the project. We also express sincere thanks to the members of the Steering Committee for providing the essential and valuable stakeholder guidance to the project.
The development and NHMRC approval of the Guideline is a major achievement, of which we are very proud. The collaborative CRC structure has been a key factor in enabling this major inter-disciplinary, high-quality and national milestone to be achieved.