Autism Association 2025 Annual Report

A Community for All

We remain committed to creating a community where all can participate and all are welcome. We work to achieve this through greater understanding and awareness of Autism and working with West Australian organisations to create more opportunities for Autistic people to get involved in community activities and events. Our Autism in Cricket program is now in its seventh year. In September we welcomed over 200 children to our annual Come and Try Session alongside Autism Association staff and Program Ambassador Adam Gilchrist. We have also built on our relationships with endorsed cricket clubs across Perth, supporting them to create inclusive sporting environments and opportunities on and off the field. We continued collaborating with and providing training to staff and volunteers from Ocean Heroes, an organisation supporting people with disabilities to feel confident and safe when participating in water-based activities.

We commenced work with Volleyball WA to support with developing a suite of resources and training sessions to increase inclusion in volleyball for individuals with Autism and other disabilities. To create better experiences for all, we continued our work as part of the Perth Airport Access and Inclusion Panel, Optus Stadium Disability Inclusion Advisory Panel, and Western Australian Electoral Commission Disability Reference Panel. We had 14 Sensitive Santa days during the festive season across five Perth shopping centres in October and November. Over 200 families registered to enjoy sensory-friendly Christmas cheer with the support of our staff. To recognise World Autism Month in April, we again launched the Learn Together. Grow Together campaign. We also hosted our largest Light Up the Spectrum event to date, with more than 51 buildings and landmarks spanning metro and regional WA taking part to light up the state in a spectrum of colour.

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