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Debate, Think Autism Melbourne 2026
Indigenous business as a model for autistic enterprise, and why it scaled
In short
At Think Autism Melbourne in 2026, Dr Sharon Zivkovic held up Indigenous business as a model for autistic founders. From the audience, Kath Alexander, formerly in social procurement, said its growth rested on government priority and procurement targets.
Read it instead, 5 minutesThe transcript
The story
The model held up for autistic founders in the opening fireside chat of Think Autism Melbourne in May 2026 was the Indigenous business sector. Within ten minutes of the case being made, it was challenged from the floor on how that sector had grown, and Kyriakos Gold, who hosted the chat, had to point out that nobody on stage could speak for it.
The chat had been arguing that autistic people would have to change systems themselves, through entrepreneurship. Autistic people were amazing innovators, Dr Sharon Zivkovic said as she made that case, and the community had to support them. Then the argument turned to structure, with the line that “we can learn a lot from indigenous businesses and how they’ve actually structured themselves as a sector”.
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Sources the story draws on
- Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) (opens in a new tab), National Indigenous Australians Agency
- Insights from the 2021 Social Enterprise Summit Northern Australia (SESNA): On perspective, trust and allyship (opens in a new tab), The Yunus Centre, Griffith University
- Social enterprise sector failing Indigenous businesses (opens in a new tab), Pro Bono News (Pro Bono Australia)
- Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Noel Pearson (opens in a new tab), Pro Bono News (Pro Bono Australia)
More from Think Autism Melbourne 2026
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