Hansard debates

Ms SHEED (Shepparton) — (Question 376) My constituency question is for the Minister for Education. I have been contacted by the coordinator of the Resource, Information, Support and Education Centre in Shepparton, the RISE Centre. The service provides assistance to families of children with additional needs. The centre currently supports 210 families, of which the majority have at least one child on the autism spectrum disorder. The coordinator says that her working week involves continuous phone calls from parents saying that they have serious issues with the schools their children attend in terms of lack of services and lack of funding. This leads to children being able to attend school on only a part-time basis. What steps is the Victorian government taking to address the chronic underinvestment in services for children with autism in our schools, and particularly in regional areas?