Senator HUGHES (New South Wales) (12:24): I rise today to respond to the Governor-General's address and acknowledge the government's focus on improving and delivering the NDIS. As I said in my maiden speech a few weeks ago, the NDIS is for all of us. The NDIS may not be applicable to some people now. They may not need it. They may not require it. Their family may not need to utilise the supports and services available. But that's not to say at some stage in the future, be it by birth or by accident, that families may need to access the NDIS. Therefore, it is important for all of us, here in this place and in this parliament as well as for the Australian people, to deliver an NDIS that is fit-for-purpose and that focuses with the best intentions to support all Australians should they require it. I would also like to pay tribute to the Prime Minister and the government with regards to the focus and attention that they are putting on those with autism and their families. I'd like to acknowledge a lot of the work that is already underway in this area. With the attention and acceptance that's been given, and their willingness to take advice and listen to those who have a lived experience of the condition itself or to a parent and carer, we are working towards significantly improving the conditions for autistic people and their families. I look forward to that improving as we move forward, day by day. I want to share today some of the feedback that I have been receiving, not only since coming to this place but also previously, from families and from autistic people about things that we can improve upon to help autistic people and their families. One of the things that is consistently raised with me from parents is that guidelines on therapy options at diagnosis are still unavailable and are still ad hoc, depending on who you see at the time of diagnosis. Whilst autism has a high profile—and I'd like to think sometimes I may have had something to do with that—and we talk about it a great deal and there are lots of people who advocate very strongly for it, unfortunately, a lot of these invisible and developmental disabilities are still often poorly resourced at the diagnostic stage. Improved access to guidelines around therapy options should be made available and worked towards, with directions provided more clearly to parents at a time that is of considerable grief. At the time of diagnosis—being a parent myself—it would be wonderful to hear that things will get better and that this is not the end of the world. It is difficult for a lot parents to come to terms with the diagnosis at that time because their ideal of what their child and what their child's future was going to look like all of a sudden looks very different. So, during that time of confusion and grief, it would be helpful for parents to receive a lot more guidance about the therapy options and choices that they need to make. There are resources available, and I'd like to acknowledge the government's website Raising Children. There are very good resources. Unfortunately, though, parents are not often made aware of them at the time of diagnosis. I'd also like to see, and a lot of parents and those who've worked in the space for a considerable amount of time would like to see, the focus come back to capacity building rather than being therapy based—looking at how we work with children and focus on their strengths rather than their deficiencies, how we can improve their lives and increase their daily living capabilities and how we can increase the functionality within the parents and families themselves to make sure that children are developing and improving and gaining further independence as quickly as possible and in the best and most productive way as possible with access to services. As we talk about the NDIS, obviously the under-seven cohort is considerable with early childhood, but autism is also playing a really large part when it comes to the numbers of NDIS participants. One of the positive steps forward that I'm looking forward to are seeing disability-specific planners so that people will be able to see a planner who actually has a previous knowledge of that disability, of that condition, so that a parent is only having to advocate for their child and not having to educate the planner on what the disability means and what the therapy options are that are required. One of the most disturbing things I have had reported to me through my office on a number of occasions was that planners have asked when children grow out of autism. I can assure you, from the very definition of autism being a lifelong disability, that doesn't occur. With the right supports and with the right interventions, children will move up and down the autism spectrum as they go through their lives. We should be encouraging that and making sure that that happens as successfully as possible. We certainly should not be looking to the option that they will grow out of autism, because that doesn't happen. Another thing that would be a step forward and that a lot of parents would be looking forward to is more access to in-clinic programs, more programs that are run within a centre-like environment, as opposed to the in-home programs that are fundamentally being looked at and funded at the moment. Rather than consortium programs of speech therapy, OT, early intervention and psychology being administered at home, a lot of families would be much better serviced, taxpayers' dollars would be better spent and children would benefit much more from having access to therapy options in a preschool- or kindergarten-type setting. All this can be demonstrated through stronger database reporting, particularly with the younger cohort. Any best practice behavioural program will consist of taking data. That data should be made available and our reporting should be much better. When the NDIS is such a significant investment by the taxpayer and our community, we should be making sure that what we're investing in is actually working and making sure that the children are getting access to the therapy that is making the biggest difference to their lives. That will occur, and I think we'll start to see more market based led interventions as parents start to understand the choice and control side of the NDIS a lot better and also as the market players start to respond much more to a market environment as opposed to the former block-funding model. I must admit there is one part of block funding that I do miss. One of the unintended consequences of the NDIS—and I have certainly welcomed the Prime Minister's interest in this area—is around siblings and families and carers. Because the NDIS and the plans associated with participants are very much person centred, the idea of respite has been knocked back. I can tell you that, as a parent, I need respite from both my child with a disability and my children without a disability. It's just easier to organise for the children without a disability. We shouldn't be looking at respite as a dirty word, and we should be starting to build that into the plan and functionality of the NDIS so that we are supporting the siblings and parents and carers. I'd just like to acknowledge Senator Scarr and the comments he made with regard to mental health, depression, and the use of medication. One of the hidden consequences of disability, particularly for parents and carers with young children, is that, as they go through the process of diagnosis and development of therapy programs and beyond, there can be a dip in mental health and extreme stress both in an intellectual capacity and an emotional capacity. A lot of relationship breakdowns occur throughout these processes and times, and depression is quite common within the carer cohort. So the acknowledgement of the use of medication and the importance of therapy and those sorts of things should be much more of a focus. They should be looked upon much more favourably and acknowledged throughout the process of children being diagnosed with autism. Today I would like to also acknowledge Kate Strohm and Siblings Australia, who do great work talking to families and siblings about how they can best deal with having a brother or sister with a disability. Children who have a brother or sister with a disability quite often miss out. They can suffer from their own forms of depression and other mental health issues due to the fact that so much time, effort and energy of the parents is focused on the child with the disability. As I acknowledged in my speech on the condolence motion for Tim Fischer last week, Dominic Fischer is such a wonderful sibling and brother to Harrison, and Tim and I would quite often speak about the impact that people like Dominic had on Harrison and the impact people like Millie and Rupert Hughes have on their brother, Fred Hughes, in my household. I know how important Clare Fraser is to Jack, and I know of a number of other children who are wonderful carers, wonderful influences and wonderful mentors to their siblings with a disability as well as great supports to their parents. I would like to acknowledge three wonderful autistic individuals and the contributions that they make to Australian society and community in general. Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge Tim and Judy Sharp. Tim is a brilliant artist and an autistic man with a mother who is just an absolutely dynamo. Tim is the developer of Laser Beak Man. The portrayal of Laser Beak Man in Tim's art has an incredible following, and the character has also been developed into a play, which is currently playing around Australia. The hero, Laser Beak Man, lives in Power City, the most beautiful city in the world, and he uses his laser to turn bad into good. Senator Farrell: That must be Adelaide! Senator HUGHES: It's not quite Adelaide; I think it might have been Moree for a while there, but unfortunately it hasn't rained to clear the air. As an old Adelaide girl, though, I will give that to you, Senator Farrell. Being born in Adelaide, it's a pretty good place to start. Tim and Judy Sharp really demonstrate what can be done when you work together as a family and a unit to create a successful business and go on to influence and inspire so many other families. I acknowledge Sam Best and his parents, James Best and Benison O'Reilly. I mentioned Benison in my first speech; she literally wrote the book on autism, with The Australian Autism Handbook, both volumes one and two. Sam, her son, and James, her husband, travelled to Africa a couple of years ago and wrote a book and made a documentary of their experiences, demonstrating how the neuroplasticity of the brain in teen years can mean experiences and independence can be opened up when challenges are put in front of children who, far too often, parents are told will never achieve much. Sam Best made such a great leap forward in his own development and showed so many parents and other children what advances you can make when you challenge your teenagers; it's not just for younger children. I'd like to also acknowledge Chris Varney, an autistic adult who set up the I CAN Network, which is so important, offering mentoring to other children on the autism spectrum and providing an autistic body in itself. I think that if those outside of the autistic community could start to really get a better understanding of the contribution that autistic people make, the supports that they require to make those contributions and the supports that they can provide to each other we would make this community and their lives so much better, and so much better for their families, moving forward. I'd like to finish by paying tribute to the Prime Minister and the government for their focus on the NDIS: their assurance that it will be fit for purpose and that it will focus on ensuring that services and supports are available to all Australians should they require them going forward.