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Argument, Think Autism Sydney 2025
Téa Rundback asked for spaces built with autistic people already in mind
In short
At Think Autism Sydney in May 2025, Téa Rundback set the measure of belonging at never having to prove eligibility. Georgia Zentrich explained why autistic people on every side of the support needs line still end up proving themselves.
Read it instead, 4 minutesThe transcript
The story
At Think Autism Sydney in May 2025, the disability advocate Téa Rundback offered a test for whether an autistic person belongs anywhere. Belonging, she said, begins at the point where nobody has to prove anything to be included, where needs do not have to be approved and where a person’s existence does not hinge on eligibility criteria. For her it came down to “the difference between being accommodated and being anticipated”, which she described as spaces built with people like her already in mind.
The panel, Community Is the Cure: Belonging Beyond the System, was hosted by Anita Aherne, director of Living on the Spectrum. Her opening question asked Rundback what true belonging looks like when it is untethered from a system, a service or a diagnosis. Rundback told the room she had prepared her answers, and she delivered them in a few short sentences. A person who belongs, she said, is no longer a project, a patient or a participant. They are a person valued for being themselves.
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Sources the story draws on
- Our Final Report: A guide for people with disability and their families (opens in a new tab), Independent Review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS Review)
- Thriving Kids (fact sheet) (opens in a new tab), Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
- Fact sheet: Foundational Supports and Thriving Kids (opens in a new tab), Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
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