Dr MARJORIE O'NEILL (Coogee) — I rise today to inform the Parliament of Autism MATES, the fantastic initiative being organised by Randa Habelrih. MATES is an acronym for Mates Assisting To Engage Socially, and the goal of Autism MATES is to empower our young people living with autism by giving them a platform and a voice, so they can be more engaged. I had the pleasure of attending their inaugural Christmas lunch fundraiser. The money from this event will go towards bringing more events to life which empower, employ and upskill our speakers and participants. The big vision of Autism MATES is to open the Autism MATES Cafe, an integrated (not segregated) co-working space for our young people to learn new skills and to contribute their talents to our society. The Autism MATES Café will be a social enterprise created to fill the gap for our young people post-school. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Randa, and everyone else involved in organising this event and this initiative. The role that organisations like these play in the community is crucial, and they can't be thanked enough.