How the campaign works, and what it has changed.
The campaign is the engine. The conference is a local outcome of it. This page walks through how change happens, who the campaign reaches, how it listens, and what participants report.
How change actually happens
Four stages. Select one to read it.
Every community resource is free. No gatekeeping, no approval. Not generosity. A precondition.
Autism reframed as a natural form of human diversity, not a deficit. Decision maker baselines shift.
Autistic people seen and heard on their own terms. Community is not soft. It is the source of the pressure for change.
Accessible hiring, paid co design, fair funding, public reporting. An accountability loop, not aspiration.
Who the campaign reaches
The majority are people, not institutions.
- Personal and community55%
- Business and corporate20%
- Not for profit and charity12%
- Education6%
- Government and councils5%
- Health2%
The ledger is built bottom up. More than half are individual autistic people, families and allies. The institutions follow the community.
Where the campaign reaches
Active across 22 countries. Share among the seven largest.
- Australia40%
- United Kingdom27%
- United States10%
- South Africa7%
- Canada4%
- Germany3%
- New Zealand2%
- Other 15 countries7%
22 countries in total. The other 15 include Ireland, France and the Netherlands.
The campaign listens before it speaks
The conference is how the campaign listens. Every conversation is analysed. What is heard becomes next year's theme.
Built with the community, across intersecting experiences, and carried from the room to the national stage.
Four years. Four themes. Sharper each time.
Each theme came from the year before. Select a year.
Everyday
Autistic life, made visible.
The seed year.
- 2024UnmaskedThe cost of masking. Sydney and Melbourne symposiums.
- 2025Unapologetically AutisticIdentity and justice. Think Autism at UTS.
- 2026Autism is trending. We act.Six subthemes and a policy brief. 34 speakers, 18 partners.
Unmasked
The cost of masking. Sydney and Melbourne symposiums.
City of Sydney.
- 2023EverydayAutistic life, made visible.
- 2025Unapologetically AutisticIdentity and justice. Think Autism at UTS.
- 2026Autism is trending. We act.Six subthemes and a policy brief. 34 speakers, 18 partners.
Unapologetically Autistic
Identity and justice. Think Autism at UTS.
Plus the UTS partnership.
- 2023EverydayAutistic life, made visible.
- 2024UnmaskedThe cost of masking. Sydney and Melbourne symposiums.
- 2026Autism is trending. We act.Six subthemes and a policy brief. 34 speakers, 18 partners.
Autism is trending. We act.
Six subthemes and a policy brief. 34 speakers, 18 partners.
Plus ACU. A demand.
- 2023EverydayAutistic life, made visible.
- 2024UnmaskedThe cost of masking. Sydney and Melbourne symposiums.
- 2025Unapologetically AutisticIdentity and justice. Think Autism at UTS.
Existence to cost to justice to a costed policy demand. Speakers and partners compound every year.
Direct impact: what participants report
The participant outcomes layer.
- 86%overall satisfaction
- 92%community and inclusion
- 88%content quality
- 85%venue and accessibility
- 87%networking
Indirect impact: strengthening the sector
A demonstrated trajectory of growing influence. Not asserted. Shown over time.
Local autistic entrepreneurs with no platform.
Active relationships with universities, five major autistic organisations, and major national diversity organisations.
Reach is not impact, and the figures on this page are read that way. The campaign reach and exposure numbers show scale. The participant survey and the speaker and partner counts show outcomes. The relationships at the end show what has changed in the sector. Each layer is stated for what it is, with its limits, and the Foundation’s theory of change sets out how they connect.
Help the campaign reach further.
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