Kia ora koutou,
We are very excited to announce that the Social Investment Agency has partnered with Autism New Zealand to fund a new pathway of early identification, diagnosis, and support for preschool-aged tamariki in Wellington.
For years Autism New Zealand has been advocating to government for improved services for the autistic community. We continually advocate for a society where autistic people are valued and supported. It is exciting to get to a stage where this work is recognised.
The programme will take a social investment approach offering family and whānau a chance to access support early, when it can be most impactful for them. It will be available to family and whānau in the Wellington region from October 2025 and will support approximately 200 tamariki over four years.
This programme will provide a flexible pathway of support including:
- Identification of autism from 12 months of age
- Diagnostic assessment options
- Parent/whānau support programme
- Educator/professionals education programme
- Ongoing individualised and responsive support within the home and early childhood education setting through to school transition.
The programme will be co-designed with the autistic community. It will take a neurodiversity-affirming and culturally responsive approach designed to support autistic tamariki and those around them to flourish. It will focus on enabling more participation in education as well as family and whānau wellbeing.
While this is great news for our Wellington community, we know there is need across the country. This will put us in a position to show the impact and deliver nationally. We are also committed to providing a pathway for autistic people throughout their lives, including education programmes for teachers and professionals supporting school-aged tamariki and growing our employment support service and transition from school into work and general life.
Today let us celebrate a significant investment from the government to support a good start in life for young autistic tamariki, their family and whānau.
The SIA announcement can be found here and the Beehive announcement here.
We have also put together an FAQ which you can read here.
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact Larah van der Meer, Research and Advocacy Manager on: larah.vandermeer@autismnz.org.nz