Autism CRC welcomes in a new era

Published
28 Jun 2022

After nine successful years of activities our Cooperative Research Centre funding agreement expired on 30 June 2022. While Autism CRC will no longer be part of the CRC Program, the company and collaborating partners will continue to pursue our vision to see autistic people empowered to use their diverse strengths and interests through our legacy operations. 

Autism CRC Ltd was established in 2013 to manage the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism under the Australian Government’s CRC Program. So began the world's first national collaboration focused on autism across the lifespan. 

With our 56 Participant organisations from around Australian and overseas, together we have worked to address community needs, and in doing so changed the shape of the research landscape, its focus and funding. Autism CRC has now become the independent national source of evidence for best practice in relation to autism across the lifespan – a legacy we can all be proud of.

We are extremely grateful for the commitment and support of all our Participants and partners, individuals and organisations, for their contribution to our unique collaboration to date.

We are also very grateful for the support of the Commonwealth CRC Program office and Cooperative Research Australia for their support of our collaboration over the past nine years.  
 

Watch Highlights and Achievements video

Our mission is to motivate, facilitate, and translate collaborative autism research, across the life span and the spectrum, underpinned by inclusive practices. We are committed to inclusive research practices and co-production with autistic people and their supporters, to ensure our research provides practical and tangible outputs that benefit the community.

Through our CRC Program, we have built capacity within both the autism research community and the service sector by facilitating the training of some 63 post-graduate scholars. We have delivered national practice standards and guidance, supports and capacity-building resources for individuals, professionals and communities – all informed by evidence. 

There are so many highlights from the last nine years. And while it is impossible to list them all, there is no doubt that together we have delivered significant research outputs and impact in:

  • assessment and diagnosis 
  • inclusive education
  • transition planning and employment 
  • health and wellbeing
  • establishment of research assets for national and international autism research
  • co-production and community-driven priority setting for research and its translation to practice and policy
  • autistic self-empowerment programs, particularly through the Sylvia Rodger Academy.

To capture some of these highlights we asked our end-users for their perspectives on how our work has made a positive impact in their lives, or the lives of the people they help each day. These are now available to view. 

View available videos

1 July 2022 and beyond

Despite gains over the last decade, there remains much to do. Life outcomes in education, vocation, physical and mental health and social connection continue to be far from optimal for Australians on the autism spectrum and their families. Throughout our work, we have identified many areas of need yet to be addressed with evidence-based understanding and practice – consistently across all levels of government and service systems – including for the most marginalised, such as those in regional and remote communities and those with multiple and complex support needs.

As we move to Autism CRC Ltd’s legacy operations, we are very pleased to have signed on nine Member organisations and fifteen Affiliates to date. We welcome all our new partners and look forward to working with them. 

In moving forward with these and other future partners, we remain committed to a national collaborative model, working with all stakeholders – individuals on the spectrum, families, professionals, services providers, researchers and government – addressing agreed needs and co-producing outcomes with those stakeholders. One of our first priorities is supporting the Commonwealth government in the development of a National Autism Strategy, underpinned by a national research agenda and evidence-based practice. We were very pleased to see the support for a national strategy announced in the recent Federal election, along with funding for Autism CRC in this regard, and are committed to working in collaboration with the Government and all stakeholders in its development.

Our website, eNews and social media channels will continue as usual. 

We welcome our new Members

  • Autism New Zealand
  • Curtin University
  • F. Hoffmann-La-Roche Ltd
  • Griffith University
  • Mater Research Ltd
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • Telethon Kids Institute
  • University of Queensland
  • Victoria University of Wellington

We also welcome the continued support of the Queensland Department of Education as project partner.

We welcome our new Affiliates 

  • Amaze
  • Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Australia New Zealand
  • Aspect
  • Asperger’s Victoria
  • Australian Psychological Society
  • Autism Queensland
  • Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service 
  • Complex Connections
  • Macquarie University
  • Reframing Autism
  • Siblings Australia
  • Spectrum Space
  • Untapped Holdings
  • University of Southern Queensland
  • Wenn Lawson