Research, co-design and community engagement to inform the National Autism Health Roadmap

What we did

To support the Australian Government’s National Roadmap to Improve the Health and Mental Health of Autistic People (the Autism Health Roadmap), we partnered with our national network of community organisations, including autistic-led organisations, to undertake a co-design, research and community engagement process.

This work involved almost 200 stakeholders, including autistic people from diverse backgrounds, families and carers, practitioners and service providers. We also analysed health-related data from nearly 5,000 autistic people, families, carers and professionals, drawing on national datasets and enquiries to Autism Connect.

These insights informed recommendations to strengthen health and mental health services for autistic people across the lifespan.

What we found

There is strong consensus that the stark health and mental health inequalities experienced by autistic people — as evidenced by the substantial life expectancy gap, high suicide rates, and prevalence of co-occurring conditions — must be urgently and comprehensively addressed.

Key priorities included neurodiversity-affirming and proactive models of care, stronger connections between health, mental health and disability services, improved autism education and training for health professionals, and greater investment in autistic-led research.

Why this matters

This work brought forward the experiences and priorities of autistic people, families, carers and professionals to identify what needs to change to improve health and mental health outcomes.

The findings highlighted systemic barriers affecting service quality and availability, including workforce capacity, funding constraints and limited autism understanding. Importantly, the project centred the perspectives of autistic people who experience the greatest health inequities and are often under-represented in decision-making.

The resulting recommendations were provided to the Australian Government to help inform the Autism Health Roadmap, creating health and mental health services that are more accessible, inclusive, coordinated and responsive to the needs of autistic people across the lifespan.

Project team

Cheryl Mangan, Jessica Paynter, Hayley Clapham, Dawn Adams, Stephanie Malone, Annette Carroll, Ocean Colville, Jayden Breasley, Wenn Lawson, Brendan James, Kathy Isaacs, Connie Allen, Madison Jones, Tianna Jones, Jessica O’Loghlen, Bonnie Ray and Mel Heyworth.