Jigsaw Autism Services

26/02/2026

🚀 Research Opportunity
Researchers from the University of Western Australia and The Kids Research Institute Australia are looking for families to help inform psychological research.

💡 What’s the Purpose of this Research?
We want to further understand the social preferences of autistic children by exploring how they feel about moving with others.

📋 What’s Involved?
We’ve designed a short survey, but we need your help to make sure it is clear and accessible! If you’re interested, you and your child will be invited to the University of Western Australia to give feedback on our survey.

❔ Who Can Participate?
Autistic children aged between 7 and 16 years (and their parents).

For more information or to register your interest, please email matthew.mcqueen@research.uwa.edu.au.

To complete the eligibility questionnaire: https://uwa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2slUiaP01D6Uflk

15/02/2026

15/02/2026

Have your say. A draft of the National Guidance for best practice in inclusive education for autistic students is now available for community feedback. Consultation closes Sunday 15 March at 11:59pm AEST (QLD time).

03/02/2026

We’ve finally got a bit more detail on the Thriving Kids initiative, with the government publishing advice from the Thriving Kids Advisory Group.

So what was recommended?

🧒 A focus on better identifying children with developmental delays, including at early childhood centres and healthcare settings.

🧒Children and families should be able to access online advice, general information and potentially a national hotline.

🧒Parenting support programs should be available to help families support their kids.

🧒 Once developmental support needs are identified, Thriving Kids should offer multiple easy entry points so families can access timely support no matter where they begin.

🧒Children with more moderate support needs should be able to access more targeted supports, like allied health, assistive technology and help to navigate the system.

🧒Children with significant and permanent disabilities should still be able to access the NDIS.

The final design of Thriving Kids will be outlined in agreements with States and Territories. The gov expects these agreements to be finalised by the end of February. The Thriving Kids roll out will now start on 1 October 2026, finish by 1 January 2028.

Read more:https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-02/thriving-kids-advisory-group-final-report.pdf

21/01/2026

Exclusive: Experts also alarmed ICAN tool – a three-hour interview – may be conducted by people with no allied health background

17/01/2026

Taking drug in pregnancy does not raise chances of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability, ‘gold standard’ review finds

04/12/2025

Administrative review tribunal no longer authorised to alter a person’s plan or reinstate funding, agency confirmed

04/12/2025

A place for children and families to access free mental health, behavioural and developmental support.

That's what our new Central Coast Medicare Mental Health Kids Hub offers.

Located in Tuggerah, the hub’s multidisciplinary team supports children aged 0-12 years old.

We're investing more than $35 million to establish 4 Medicare Mental Health Kids Hubs across NSW, in collaboration with the State Government.

For more information, call 02 4394 1799 or visit https://www.medicarementalhealth.gov.au/finding-help/kids-hubs.

04/12/2025

It’s hard to overstate the potential dangers of replacing discretion with algorithms in a system as consequential as the national disability insurance scheme

03/12/2025

Sweeping changes to the way National Disability Insurance Scheme support plans are generated criticised amid fears they amount to ‘robo-planning’

03/12/2025

EXCLUSIVE: Funding and support plans for national disability insurance scheme participants will be generated by a computer program and staff will have no discretion to amend them, under a major overhaul of the NDIS to be rolled out next year, Guardian Australia can reveal.

Under the changes, human involvement in deciding support for NDIS participants will be dramatically reduced.

03/12/2025

Today we celebrate International Day Of People With Disabilities! ✨

This year’s theme is ‘Fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress’.

This theme emphasizes the importance of creating societies that are more inclusive, fair, and supportive of people with disabilities to help advance social progress for everyone. 💜