Impact report, 2023 to 2026
Our impact.
What the campaign has done, counted from our own records and updated as the campaign moves.
- 22countries where the campaign is active
- 2,092,688total digital exposures in the 2026 campaign
- 93%growth in exposures on the previous period
- 55%of those reached are individual people, not institutions
Exposures count views across channels, not people.
Theory of change
How change actually happens.
The campaign is the engine. The conference is a local outcome of it.
Step 1. Remove the barriers first
Every resource is free. No cost, no gatekeeping, no approval. This is not generosity. It is a precondition.
Step 2. Awareness to understanding
Autism reframed as a natural form of human diversity, not a deficit. Decision maker baselines shift.
Step 3. Build community that holds
Autistic people seen and heard on their own terms. Community is not soft. It is the source of the pressure for change.
Step 4. Change the systems
Accessible hiring, paid co design, fair funding, public reporting. An accountability loop, not aspiration.
Reach
Who and where we reach.
The majority are people, not institutions. The ledger is built bottom up.
- Personal and community55%
- Business and corporate20%
- Not for profit and charity12%
- Education6%
- Government and councils5%
- Health2%
22 countries in total. Beyond the seven largest, they include Ireland, France and the Netherlands.
The loop
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.
Reaches people at scale across 22 countries, majority individual people.
The conference gathers the community locally. $0 community, filmed, global on 18 June.
Every panel and the open dialogue is analysed through human centred design. The room sets it.
Co designed with the community into next year's national theme and policy direction.
Feeds back
Four years
Four years. Four themes.
Each theme came from the year before it. Existence, then cost, then justice, then a costed policy demand.
2023
Everyday
Autistic life, made visible.
- Conference participants
- 60
- Autistic speakers and facilitators
- Not recorded
- Talks on Watch
- 4
The seed year.
2024
Unmasked
The cost of masking. Sydney and Melbourne symposiums.
- Conference participants
- 80
- Autistic speakers and facilitators
- 20+
- Talks on Watch
- 12
City of Sydney.
2025
Unapologetically Autistic
Identity and justice. Think Autism at UTS.
- Conference participants
- 150
- Autistic speakers and facilitators
- 25+
- Talks on Watch
- 6
UTS partnership.
2026
Autism is trending. We act.
6 subthemes and a policy brief. 34 speakers, 18 partners.
- Conference participants
- Not yet published
- Autistic speakers and facilitators
- 34
- Talks on Watch
- 6
ACU. A demand.
Direct impact
What people did.
Direct impact on the people in the room.
- 602023
- 802024
- 1502025
More than doubled in three years.
- 20+2024
- 25+2025
- 342026
From volunteers, to speakers, to recognised voices.
From 142 responses to the 2025 post event survey
- 86%overall satisfaction
- 92%community and inclusion
- 88%content quality
- 85%venue and accessibility
- 87%networking
These are attendee self reports, not third party validation.
Indirect impact
Strengthening the sector.
A trajectory of growing influence. Not asserted. Shown over time.
- Where it started
Local autistic entrepreneurs with no platform.
- Where it is now
Active relationships with universities, five major autistic organisations, and major national diversity organisations.
8 campaign partners in 2023. 18 in 2026.
What we do not claim.
Reach is exposure, not outcome. Satisfaction is perceived value, not behaviour change. We evidence contribution to early links in our theory of change and do not claim sole causation of later ones. Publishing the limits is part of the work.
In their words
In their words.
Three founders share what Autistic Pride Day did for them. Each one started as a volunteer, speaker or audience member. Today they are leaders, sponsors or board members.
This started with people no one was funding. It is not a small thing anymore.
Zoe Atterbury
Founder Bloom Cycle
From volunteer to speaker, recognised social entrepreneur, and sponsor.
APD has absolutely helped me grow as both a leader and a business owner. Speaking and participating gave me a platform to share my lived experience, build confidence in my voice, and connect with people who understand the value of disability led leadership.
It helped me see Bloom Cycle not just as a creative business, but as part of a bigger movement for inclusion, employment and social change.
Rebecca McCash
Founder & CEO Futuretech Australia
From speaker to facilitator, established social entrepreneur, and Advisory Board member.
Autistic Pride Day 23 was my first big speaking event. I was so excited to meet some of the people who’s work I had been in such admiration of for such a long time. I was newly identified and starting FutureTech and I was still making sense of it all. Both a baby autistic and a baby entrepreneur I found home, friendship and love in the community of dreamers who came together to celebrate our beautiful uniqueness. Today, FutureTech has supported hundreds of neurodivergent young people. We employ 20 staff (majority neurodivergent) and I am still gifted with the community I found in those early days where I was trying to find my feet in this journey of life. Not only do I not think I would be here today without them, I don’t think I’d be able to continue to do what I do and be who I am without them.
Jeremy Nagel
Founder, Focus bear app
From audience participant to speaker, social tech entrepreneur, and sponsor.
Being involved with Autistic Pride Day (APD) has had a much bigger impact on me, and on Focus Bear, than I ever expected. Through Kyriakos, Just Gold and the APD community, I’ve met wonderful collaborators like Jacob and Michelle who I’ve worked closely with since. Just as importantly, APD has shifted something in me personally. I carry less self stigma about being autistic and a lot more genuine pride. I wear my APD t shirt every chance I get and it always sparks great conversations. On top of that, Kyriakos’ recommendation was pivotal in me being awarded a Snow Foundation Fellowship, which has been transformative for Focus Bear. I’m genuinely proud to sponsor APD and grateful to be part of what Kyriakos and Just Gold have built.
