The National Guideline for supporting the learning, participation, and wellbeing of autistic children and their families in Australia (shortened to the ‘Supporting Autistic Children Guideline’ or ‘Guideline’) focuses on practitioners delivering supports in community and clinical settings.
The Guideline provides clear and consistent Recommendations and Practice Points for practitioners who deliver supports to autistic children and their families, to ensure they are doing so in ways that are effective, safe and desirable to children and their families.
However, the Guideline is also a valuable resource for autistic individuals and their supporters, educators and families, organisations providing training to practitioners or students, and governments and other policy-making organisations.
The Guideline has a lifespan perspective, recognising that early supports should lay the foundation for a positive future and focuses on the delivery of non-pharmacological supports in community and clinical settings that aim to support children aged 0-12 years.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has approved all 84 Consensus-Based Recommendations within the Guideline and was developed through deep consultation with more than 1,000 Australians - autistic people, family members and practitioners.
You can read more information About the Guideline without registration. This section includes information about the development process, how to read and use the resources, and a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
The Guideline provides clear and consistent Recommendations and Practice Points for practitioners who deliver supports to autistic children and their families to ensure they are doing so in ways that are effective, safe and desirable to children and their families.
You can download the Guideline or use this website to access the same content as a series of interactive pages with additional features.
For first time users, we suggest starting in the About the Guideline section which includes information about the development process, how to read and use the resources, and a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
Recommendations
Recommendations are accompanied by Good Practice Points that provide clinical context. In this online format, you will be able to view the supporting evidence underpinning each Recommendation.
Supporting documents
The supporting documents provide more detailed information about the Guideline development process and the evidence behind the Recommendations.
About the Guideline
Find out more about the Guideline, the development process and how to read the Guideline and use the resources. Includes a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
Easy Read of Guiding Principles
The Guiding Principles help us to understand what is important when we support autistic children and their families. We use pictures to help explain some ideas.
For practitioners
Explore eLearning opportunities to help you implement the Guideline in practice. Includes access to the resource library.
For community
Explore eLearning opportunities and access the community resource library, which includes a journeyplanner for parents and caregivers.
Publication Approval
The guideline recommendations were approved by the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) on 6 December 2022 under section 14A of the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992. In approving the guideline recommendations, NHMRC considers that they meet the NHMRC standard for clinical practice guidelines. This approval is valid for a period of five years.
NHMRC is satisfied that the guideline recommendations are systematically derived, based on the identification and synthesis of the best available scientific evidence, and developed for health professionals practising in an Australian health care setting.
This publication reflects the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of the Australian Government.