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Specialist Clinics

Autism

  • Introduction

    This guideline relates to potential autism spectrum disorders in paediatric patients. Referrals for a paediatrician can only be accepted by a medical practitioner. If you are an allied health professional or maternal and child health nurse please refer children with developmental concerns to their GP, with relevant assessments and reports suggesting review with a local paediatrician.

    When to refer

    Wait time for appointments 

    Specialist Clinic wait times   

    Services available closer to home

    For alternative paediatric services available in Victoria, please see: Local Health Service Networks 

    Referral criteria/required information

    • History:
      • Birth and development
      • Medical history (is the patient known to another health service?)
      • Family and social history
      • School
    • Reason for referral: assessment/diagnosis, treatment plan/advice on management strategies, ongoing intervention, shared care or transfer of care
    • Treatments: recommended, delivered and response to treatment
    • Information regarding previous assessments including
      • Mental health assessment
      • Language assessment
      • Cognitive assessment
      • Audiology results
    • Information regarding any known risk factors e.g., SES, single parenting, young parents, CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Child Protection

    Suggested pre-referral management

    Prior to referral, the child/family may benefit from the following community support:

    • Early Childhood Approach of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
      • Available to eligible children under the age of 7 years with a developmental delay or disability
      • A diagnosis is not required to access the Early Childhood Approach of NDIS
      • Parents can apply for this support by contacting their local NDIS Early Childhood Partner, contact details are available at: NDIS-Getting help through the early childhood approach
      • Alternatively, the family can contact the NDIS by phone on 1800 800 110. Parents can access interpreters by calling the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. 
    • National Disability Insurance Scheme(NDIS)
      • Available to eligible children with a diagnosed disability
      • Eligibility criteria and access requests forms for NDIS can be found via:Applying to access NDIS
    • Speech pathology:
    • Physiotherapy:
    • Psychology:
    • School based services: 
      • School based student support services are best placed to review academic progress and cognitive profile in the first instance, as well as provide advice and guidance on teaching approaches
      • The school can implement an Individual Education Plan (IEP).  This may also include referral to a school speech pathologist for language assessment or school psychologist for cognitive assessment if required (ie. If the child is not performing academically at the level expected of peers)

    How to refer     

    Specialist Clinic referral and

    Developmental Intake referral form

    Please complete the above and submit via:

    Information for families

    The Raising Children Network can help families navigate their way through services and support or they can call the Developmental Intake team for advice or support

    Resources and links

    Acknowledgements

    The development of this guideline was coordinated by the Developmental Intake team. Guideline reviewed in July 2025.