What the Tasmanian Liberals will do:

Support the retention and expansion of the “A-Team” across the State.

What the Liberals will do:

A Hodgman Liberal Government will provide an additional $1.3 million for the A-Team (Autism) model program, which will not only fund the continuation of the program in the North, but will see the program rolled out around the State for a three year trial.

The evidence from parents, teachers and students is that the A team works with school age children with autism, who have either dropped out of school, or only have access to distance education, or struggle to cope with the noisy and ever changing environment of most busy schools.  

It has also been shown to help schools and teachers to better understand autism, and to arrange their own school environment and management systems to enable some of these children to get back to school.

Some children will always need a program like the A team.

The State Liberals are committed to undertake a full independent review of the program, with the terms of reference and progress reports made in regular consultation with a reference group including parents.  We commit to publicly releasing both the interim report for feedback from all stakeholders, and the final report.

The State Liberals recognize that these two initiatives are just part of the reforms needed to the Tasmanian education system to ensure that children with autism get a proper education.

Children with additional needs need additional support.

After 12 years of Labor...

For 11 long years Labor has neglected proper support for students with special needs in Special Schools and with autism, and last year withdrew support for the critical “A-Team” pilot in the North which supports students with autism. The Labor Government wants to reintegrate these children back into their schools, despite evidence that many schools and teachers are not ready for this, and that there is a need for this alternate program for both children and teachers alike.

Under Labor, far too many children with autism are not getting a proper education, are not attending school regularly, with many having to rely on distance education.