Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is caused by exposure to alcohol during pregnancy — and is Australia's most prevalent preventable developmental disability. Affecting an estimated 2-5% of Australians (up to 1.3 million people), FASD causes a range of brain-based impairments affecting cognition, behaviour, memory, communication, and self-regulation. Despite its prevalence and impact, FASD is significantly underfunded, underdiagnosed, and poorly understood by professionals and the public. Grant funding is essential to change this.
Prevalence
What FASD looks like
Brain-based impairments affecting:
- Executive function (planning, impulse control, decision-making)
- Memory (difficulty retaining information day to day)
- Attention and hyperactivity
- Social communication and understanding
- Sensory processing
- Adaptive behaviour (daily living skills)
- Physical features (in some, not all)
Lifetime impact
Without support:
- 90% of people with FASD have mental health problems
- 60% have disrupted school experience
- 60% have contact with the criminal justice system
- 50% experience incarceration
- 80% have disrupted employment
- High rates of homelessness and substance use
Who is most affected
FASD is found across all socioeconomic groups — but:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have been studied more (due to historical research focus), but FASD is not an "Aboriginal problem" — it's universal
- Children in out-of-home care have very high FASD rates (often due to prenatal alcohol exposure when mothers were in crisis)
- Justice-involved populations have very high FASD rates (often undiagnosed)
National FASD Action Plan 2021-2031
The federal government's 10-year action plan commits to:
- Prevention (reducing alcohol use in pregnancy)
- Diagnosis (building diagnostic capacity)
- Support (improving support for affected individuals and families)
- Awareness (reducing stigma and increasing knowledge)
Department of Health and Aged Care
Funds FASD through:
- FASD Hub Australia (information and resources)
- FASD prevention campaigns
- Research investment through NHMRC
- FASD diagnostic clinic development
State governments
States fund FASD through health, education, and justice portfolios — though inconsistently.
FASD philanthropy in Australia is growing:
The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE)
FARE funds FASD research, prevention, and community awareness — a significant FASD funder.
NOFASD Australia
National Organisation for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder — information, support, and advocacy. Receives some philanthropic and government funding.
FASD research networks
University-based FASD research receives NHMRC and philanthropic funding.
Prevention
Preventing alcohol use during pregnancy:
- Social norm campaigns (it's normal to not drink in pregnancy)
- Brief interventions in primary care (GP and midwife conversations)
- Community education and awareness
- Health professional training
- Pregnancy labelling advocacy
Diagnosis
Building capacity to diagnose FASD:
- FASD diagnostic training for paediatricians and allied health
- Multidisciplinary assessment clinics
- Telehealth FASD diagnosis for rural and remote
- Community-based screening
Education support
Children and young people with FASD in schools:
- Strengths-based educational approaches
- Sensory-aware classroom environments
- Teacher training in FASD
- Learning support coordination
- Transition planning
Justice system
FASD in the justice system:
- FASD assessment for justice-involved people
- Diversion and support
- Court-based FASD accommodation
- Police and court officer training
- Prison programmes for people with FASD
Family and carer support
Families caring for people with FASD:
- Information and support groups
- Respite care
- Parent coaching (brain-based parenting strategies)
- Peer support connections
- Counselling for secondary trauma in carers
Adult support
Adults living with FASD:
- Supported decision-making
- Employment support (cognitive and regulatory differences)
- Housing support
- Community participation
- Social skills programmes
Research
Addressing stigma
FASD is deeply stigmatised — families fear shame, mothers fear blame. Applications must explicitly address anti-stigma approaches. Frame FASD as a brain-based disability (which it is), not as a moral failure.
Strengths-based approaches
People with FASD have strengths — often warmth, humour, creativity, loyalty. Applications that build on strengths rather than only addressing deficits are more effective and more ethically sound.
Intersectionality caution
Be careful about FASD and Aboriginal communities — research has historically over-focused on Indigenous communities in ways that created stigma. Emphasise that FASD is not an Aboriginal-specific issue, while still acknowledging elevated support needs in communities with higher rates.
Justice system urgency
The FASD-justice system intersection is a particularly compelling funding case — the costs of incarceration, the preventability of offending with appropriate support, and the disproportionate impact on Aboriginal youth make this a powerful evidence argument.
Diagnostic bottleneck
Diagnostic services are severely limited — there are very few FASD diagnostic clinics in Australia. Applications that build diagnostic capacity address a critical system bottleneck.
Tahua's grants management platform supports health and disability funders working on FASD — with programme participant tracking, prevention campaign data, diagnostic service outcome measurement, and the tools that help FASD funders demonstrate impact in addressing Australia's most prevalent and most overlooked developmental disability.