Our Story
Every organisation has a story… here is ours.
In August 2015, the Australian Advisory Board on Autism initiated an invitation to key autism groups to establish the proposed “Australian Autism Alliance” – a pioneering network of organisations seeking to add unique value to the lives of people on the autism spectrum in Australia.
It was recognised that there was a need to bring together key autism organisations representing people on the autism spectrum, their parents and carers, service providers and researchers with the common aim to realise the potential of autistic Australians.
The Australian Autism Alliance was formally established in August 2016 to be one strong voice for autism.
After an open competitive grant process, the Autism Alliance National (trading as the Australian Autism Alliance) was selected to be a Department of Social Services funded Disability Representative Organisation (DRO) from 1st July 2024 to 30 June 2026. This was the first-time autism has been elevated to a national peak status in its own right.
Refer Media Release: https://ministers.dss.gov.au/media-releases/15181
The DRO program provides the opportunity for people with disability, and their representative organisations, to have their views communicated to the Australian Government. This is to ensure that disability issues and a diversity of voices are represented in:
- decision-making
- legislation
- policy development
- implementation of programs and policies that may affect people with disability.
For more information visit: https://www.dss.gov.au/disability-advocacy/disability-representative-organisations
Learn more about the Australian Advisory Board on Autism.