Autism SA and Novita: What School Support They Actually Provide in SA
When your child has autism or another disability and the school is struggling to provide adequate support, two organisations are often mentioned in the same breath by SA parents: Autism SA and Novita. Both are legitimate, experienced, and SA-based. But what they can actually do for your child — and what the limits are — is often misunderstood.
Autism SA: The School Inclusion Program
Autism SA runs a School Inclusion Program that places consultants — typically speech pathologists and occupational therapists — directly into South Australian schools to provide advice and support. This program is available across government (Department for Education), Catholic (CESA), and independent (AISSA) school sectors.
What the School Inclusion Program does:
- Consults with school staff on how to support an autistic student's participation and learning
- Advises on sensory accommodations, communication strategies, and behavioural support
- Provides professional development to teachers and SSOs working with autistic students
- Can observe the student in their classroom environment and make practical recommendations
What it does not do:
- Directly replace NDIS therapy services
- Provide ongoing weekly therapy to individual students
- Substitute for the school's own obligation to provide reasonable adjustments under the DSE 2005
Critical point: Parents cannot request the Autism SA School Inclusion Program themselves. The request must come from the school's principal or special education coordinator. If you believe your child would benefit from this program, ask the inclusion coordinator explicitly whether they have engaged Autism SA and, if not, why not.
The program is funded through Autism SA's own service model and is not charged to individual families. This makes it a genuinely accessible resource for schools — which means a school's failure to use it, when a student is clearly struggling, is a reasonable thing to flag in a One Plan meeting.
Autism SA also provides a broader suite of services including diagnostic assessments, individual therapy, family support programs, and its own guides to navigating SA services. Their "Guide to Services and Support in SA" is freely available and covers everything from early intervention through to post-school pathways.
What Autism SA's School Inclusion Program Cannot Do
Understanding the limits of the program prevents families from overestimating what it will change.
Autism SA consultants advise schools — they do not mandate compliance. If a school receives advice from an Autism SA consultant and then fails to implement it, the consultant has no enforcement authority. The advice becomes documented, however, which means you can ask the school what Autism SA recommended and whether those recommendations have been incorporated into the One Plan.
The program is also not designed for crisis management. If your child is being suspended regularly, is experiencing significant distress, or has needs that the school has declared it cannot meet, the Autism SA program is a useful tool but not a substitute for the formal IESP application process or, if needed, the DfE complaint pathway.
Novita: Disability Services Across SA
Novita is one of South Australia's largest disability service providers, offering allied health therapy, assistive technology, home modification services, and post-school supports. They serve children and adults across a wide range of disability types — not exclusively autism.
What Novita provides that is relevant to school-aged children:
- Speech pathology, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy
- Assistive technology assessment and provision (AAC devices, communication aids, seating and positioning equipment)
- Positive behaviour support
- Early childhood intervention
- Life skills programs
Novita services are typically funded through NDIS packages. If your child has an NDIS plan with capacity-building funding (specifically Improved Living Arrangements or Improved Daily Activities budgets), you can use those funds to access Novita therapy.
Novita's geographic reach is one of its defining strengths for SA families. Novita operates locations across metropolitan Adelaide and has outreach services reaching regional areas. Their Berri centre serves the Riverland, providing face-to-face therapy that would otherwise require families to drive to Adelaide. Port Lincoln is served by Novita's Eyre Peninsula services. For deeply remote areas, Novita uses telehealth alongside periodic in-person visits.
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Novita and NDIS Therapy at School
A common question is whether Novita therapists can deliver services on school grounds during school hours. The answer in South Australia is: sometimes, and only with principal approval.
The DfE maintains strict protocols for external non-education service providers accessing school sites. Any NDIS provider — including Novita — must:
- Hold appropriate qualifications and child protection clearances
- Complete any required site-specific screening
- Operate within the school's physical capacity to host therapy
- Maintain "line of sight" between the therapist, student, and school staff at all times (to satisfy duty of care requirements)
The principal has discretion over whether to grant access. If access is approved, a formal licence agreement is executed between the provider and the site. This is not an automatic right — it requires the school to actively approve it.
Practically, many schools are willing to accommodate NDIS therapists if the request is made professionally and the administrative process is followed. Some schools are resistant, particularly if they have had poor experiences with providers in the past or if space is limited.
If Novita (or another NDIS therapist) has been providing school-based services and the school has withdrawn access, that withdrawal should be discussed at the One Plan meeting. The question to ask is: what school-based support will replace the therapy access that has been removed?
The Relationship Between Novita/Autism SA and the School's Own Obligations
Both Novita and Autism SA are part of the support ecosystem around a student — they are not a substitute for the school's own legal obligations.
Under the Disability Standards for Education 2005, the school is responsible for providing reasonable adjustments regardless of what external services the family is accessing through NDIS. If a school argues that your child has "enough support" because of NDIS therapy with Novita, they are conflating two separate systems. NDIS capacity-building supports are funded federally and are meant to build the child's skills and independence — they are not designed to fund what is legally the school's responsibility.
Similarly, Autism SA's School Inclusion Program consultancy strengthens the school's capacity — it does not discharge the school's obligation to fund appropriate SSO support, implement the One Plan, or submit an IESP application for a child with substantial or extensive needs.
Getting the Most Out of These Organisations
If you want to engage Autism SA's School Inclusion Program:
- Raise it at the next One Plan meeting as a specific agenda item
- Ask the inclusion coordinator to submit a referral
- Follow up in writing to confirm the referral was submitted
If you want to access Novita services:
- Check whether your child's NDIS plan includes capacity-building funding in the relevant support categories
- Contact Novita directly for an intake assessment
- If you want services delivered at school, initiate a written request to the principal at least four weeks before the intended start date
For a full picture of how these organisations fit into SA's broader disability education ecosystem — including how to use their involvement as supporting evidence in IESP applications and One Plan meetings — the South Australia Disability Support Blueprint covers the practical steps in detail.
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