Dr. Frances O'Connell:

We call what the Deputy just presented the "wicked problem" in society and the multifaceted nature of it. It is better than what it was. I take the fact that we have 128 autistic students registered in TUS as a positive. It is a positive that the students are declaring to be autistic. It is that maturity of all of us in the system, as I call it, working, our public service providers and our political system, to recognise that these are the statistics of those with autism we now have in our population. As a mature society in the 21st century, we need to support those. It is that ability to respond efficiently and effectively to that evidence base and say that this is a permanent situation. We recognise it, we will not question it and we submit the reports. We need to have, what I call, whole-of-institutions maturity and courage in accepting this is what we need to do. It is not just the funding for the people and buildings and that, but the upstream investment for the long-term gain.