€9,000 a month payment to Malta Autism Centre stopped following Director’s abuse claims

Public funding for the Malta Autism Centre (MAC) has been completely halted in view of an investigation followed by the arraignment of one of its directors on serious criminal charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of a minor under his care, The Shift is informed.

Information obtained by The Shift through investigations and a Freedom of Information request confirms that the Ministry for Inclusion, together with Aġenzija Sapport, stopped all payments to the Mosta-based NGO in December 2025. The centre had been receiving more than €9,000 a month in public funds since at least 2021 under agreements to provide specialised intervention services to autistic persons.

No further public funds have been allocated since then.

The decision followed mounting concerns over the NGO’s compliance failures and police criminal investigations involving one of its co-directors and founders, Melvin Attard, now facing court charges.

He is denying the accusations.

Police sources confirmed to The Shift that Attard is facing charges linked to the alleged defilement and sexual abuse of an autistic minor receiving services at the centre. The criminal proceedings followed a police investigation and a magisterial inquiry led by Magistrate Philip Galea Farrugia.

The case was triggered after the alleged victim and his family filed a formal report with the police following disclosures made by the minor. Sources within the Office of the Attorney General said the inquiry, which lasted several months, was concluded weeks ago and forwarded with a recommendation for prosecution.

Questions sent by The Shift to Attard were not answered.

Apart from the ongoing criminal proceedings, documentation seen by The Shift reveals that the NGO had failed to provide the government with several mandatory documents required under its public funding agreements. These included operating certificates, licensing documentation, staff vetting confirmations required under the Protection of Minors Act, and health and safety clearances.

According to government correspondence, the Malta Autism Centre had been given until December 2025 to regularise its position.

Sources confirmed this deadline had elapsed without the required full documentation being submitted, leading the ministry to terminate funding arrangements entirely.

It is still unclear what action, if any, has been taken by Aġenzija Sapport regarding the centre’s operations, particularly since the NGO is understood not to hold a valid operating licence. The agency is headed by former Labour MP Oliver Scicluna.

These developments mark a dramatic reversal from the government’s position only months earlier.

Last year, Inclusion Minister Julia Farrugia had announced that public funding to the centre would be suspended because of serious compliance failures identified during reviews by the authorities. Those failures included the absence of a valid licence issued by the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education, deficiencies in mandatory staff vetting procedures, and missing documentation related to health and safety obligations.

However, following strong backlash from parents of autistic children attending the centre, the government reversed its decision within 48 hours and entered into a temporary agreement to continue financing the NGO on condition that it regularise its legal and operational position.

The NGO had previously insisted that it was fully compliant and described the dispute with authorities as a misunderstanding, though no evidence was publicly produced to support those claims.