Autism Association 2024 Annual Report

President’s Report

2023/2024 was another year of dedication to supporting people with Autism and their families to live their best life. Demand for our services continued to grow across areas including Therapy and Clinical Services, Community Living support, Individual Community Options support, Employment support, and Diagnostic services. However, our ability to respond in a number of our program areas remained impacted by sector-wide workforce shortages. Notwithstanding the challenges, we delivered on our strategic priorities and maintained high-quality service delivery to the people we support. We achieved service growth in several areas including Community Living, Individual Community Options, Employment support and Diagnostic services. To support our services, we continued to

make the necessary adjustments to align with the changing operational environment. We reviewed our staff and program structures; and refined our service offerings to people with Autism and their families. We continued our five-year infrastructure development initiative to expand Community Living options for individuals. We also continued development of our digital transformation to enhance our response to the needs of individuals who require our support. Collaborative work in the Western Australian advancement of Autistic people, progressed throughout the year. We were also very pleased to continue our work with East Java this year. In addition to direct service provision, we were very pleased to advance our work in advocacy and best practice initiatives through a number of specialist projects. 2025 will be a significant year, and we look forward to hosting the Asia Pacific Autism disability sector and with national and international bodies dedicated to the

Conference in November, with the theme of Inspiring and Creating the Future Together. The conference will bring together a wide range of people in research, medicine, education, allied health, policy makers, and support organisations from Asia and beyond. I would like to acknowledge our stakeholders, including the State Government through the Department of Communities and State and Federal funding bodies for their ongoing support. I would also like to extend my thanks to the Board for their dedication and support of the organisation to advance its mission. I look forward to continuing our endeavours in the year ahead. In concluding, I would like to pay special thanks to all staff led by our Chief Executive Officer, Joan McKenna Kerr, for their dedication to the Autism Association’s mission on behalf of people with Autism and their families. Dr Rob Storer President and Chair of the Board

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