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Argument, Think Autism Melbourne 2026
The case that every autistic owned business is a social enterprise
In short
At Think Autism Melbourne in 2026, a panellist defined autistic enterprise by its social mission, and Roo Harris called entrepreneurship the ultimate accommodation. Both were questioning a model that leaves autistic people waiting on employers.
Read it instead, 5 minutesThe transcript
The story
The first question Kyriakos Gold, who hosted the session, put to the panel on autistic entrepreneurship at Think Autism Melbourne on 30 May 2026 asked for a definition of an autistic business. The first panellist to answer made a claim broad enough to take in almost every autistic founder in the room. The panellist considered “all autistic owned and led businesses are by definition social enterprises”, because each of them has a social mission whatever it sells.
Autistic owned businesses, the panellist said, are changing society’s perception of autism, and they also push back on the economic model autistic people are usually offered. In the panellist’s words, “we’re also moving away from the dominant prevailing view that for autistic people to be engaged economically, we have to depend on employers making accommodations”.
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Sources the story draws on
- What is a social enterprise? (opens in a new tab), Social Enterprise Australia
- National Autism Strategy overview (opens in a new tab), Amaze
- National Autism Strategy 2025 to 2031, First Action Plan 2025 to 2026 (opens in a new tab), Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Social Services)
- Autism in Australia, 2022 (opens in a new tab), Australian Bureau of Statistics
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