Northcote electorate
Kat THEOPHANOUS (Northcote) (14:39): (273) My question is to the Minister for Education. I ask the minister what the Victorian Autism Education Strategy means for students and families in my electorate of Northcote. Across my community I have spoken to parents, carers and students about how our education system supports students with autism and indeed all forms of neurodivergence. The fact is that for a very long time our education system has been one size fits all, yet students learn in all sorts of different ways and our education practice needs to be adaptive if we want students to thrive. Data shows that around one in 70 Australians have autism, making it likely that there is an autistic student in every classroom. We know that students with autism are more likely to disengage from school, often need to change schools to have their needs met and are less likely to finish year 12. For autistic girls it can be even harder – an estimated 80 per cent remain undiagnosed at age 18, and it takes two to three years longer to get a diagnosis. For families, that continual struggle to advocate for their child is deeply felt. Our government has a nation-first autism education strategy, and I would love to hear more about it.