Library / Watch / Think Autism Sydney 2025
Argument, Think Autism Sydney 2025
No government strategy has ever created systemic change, Sharon Zivkovic told Think Autism Sydney
In short
On the opening panel of Think Autism Sydney in 2025, Sharon Zivkovic warned autistic leaders against taking their direction from the National Autism Strategy, and pointed them to the movements that came before.
Read it instead, 5 minutesThe transcript
The story
Dr Sharon Zivkovic told the opening panel of Think Autism Sydney in May 2025 that “no government strategy has ever created systemic change”. The National Autism Strategy and its first action plan were by then in place, and her point was about where autistic leaders should take their direction from. In her view the strategy was a document to align with where it helped, and the movement should keep doing its own work regardless.
According to the Australian Government’s release notice, the Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, released the National Autism Strategy 2025 to 2031 on 14 January 2025. The government said it had worked with the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council and consulted widely with autistic people, and that a First Action Plan for 2025 and 2026 would support it. The published strategy sets out guiding principles that include partnership, under which it is co led and designed with autistic people, their families and support networks, and self determination and autonomy.
Sign in to keep reading, listening and watching.
Sign in with your email and everything in the Library is open to you: every story, every talk and every episode. It is free and it always will be. If you can, a donation helps keep it free for everyone.
Sources the story draws on
- Release of the National Autism Strategy 2025-31 (opens in a new tab), Australian Government (health.gov.au)
- National Autism Strategy 2025-2031 (opens in a new tab), Australian Government (health.gov.au)
- Measures of Australia's Progress, Aspirations for our Nation: A Conversation with Australians about Progress, 2011-12 (State and territory plans) (opens in a new tab), Australian Bureau of Statistics
- National Autism Strategy 2025-2031 Reference Group: Terms of Reference (opens in a new tab), Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
More from Think Autism Sydney 2025
All 44-
8 minutes 50 seconds, captioned A tender lost over two extra pages tested the autism strategy’s promise Kyriakos Gold At Think Autism Sydney in 2025, Kyriakos Gold asked whether the strategy was changing anything for autistic people or only describing them well. The panel answered that its value depended on what autistic people did with it. - 4 minutes 14 seconds, captioned Counting eye contact is not success, Rebecca McCash told Think Autism Sydney Rebecca McCash, Dr Sharon Zivkovic Asked what failure would look like for the National Autism Strategy, Sharon Zivkovic and Rebecca McCash both pointed to measurement, from opposite ends of the system.
-
4 minutes 10 seconds, captioned Three autistic leaders set different terms for staying at the strategy’s table Christina Chun, Dr Sharon Zivkovic Asked at Think Autism Sydney in 2025 for one non negotiable they would put to government, three panellists, among them Sharon Zivkovic and Christina Chun, gave different answers about who should hold power. - 1 minute 27 seconds, captioned A Think Autism Sydney panellist asked why Australia has no autism procurement policy Think Autism Sydney 2025 At Think Autism Sydney in 2025, a panellist proposed adding autistic led businesses to the targets in government purchasing rules. An audience member argued for a wider disability category, and another panellist pointed to the UK.
- 3 minutes 3 seconds, captioned Schools are still teaching young autistic people to mask, a Think Autism panellist said Think Autism Sydney 2025 Kyriakos Gold asked the Think Autism Sydney panel in 2025 how to guide a generation that knows it is neurodivergent and expects the system to be ready. A panellist said school was teaching them the opposite.
- 2 minutes 51 seconds, captioned Sharon Zivkovic on growing up autistic when it was called childhood schizophrenia Dr Sharon Zivkovic, Christina Chun and 1 more At Think Autism Sydney in May 2025, two autistic leaders described going through school without a diagnosis, and why an earlier label might have made things worse.