Mr. Alan Tennyson:

Ultimately it is about public protection. It is about protecting those in receipt of services.

Our view is those who need behavioural support should be assured those providing it have reached a minimum standard of education and supervised practice and they have ongoing assurance of providers' competence through continuing professional development being a mandatory requirement for practice. That continuing professional development gives us an opportunity to address concerns raised by the autistic community and others as the science develops. Ultimately, we are a learning community and we need to continue to learn as new evidence emerges.