Advocating for Australians Living with AuDHD

Living with co-occurring Autism and ADHD presents distinct and often compounding challenges. Many Australians navigate workplaces, professional environments, and social systems that were not designed with their cognitive profiles in mind. Without appropriate understanding and support, these environments can become exclusionary — despite the significant strengths that people with AuDHD bring to the workplace.

The AuDHD Council of Australia was established to change this reality. We exist to ensure that adults with co-occurring Autism and ADHD are visible, represented, and meaningfully included in Australian workplaces, policy development, and community life. Our mission is to advocate for inclusive systems, equip employers with practical guidance, and empower professionals to thrive in their careers.

Through national advocacy, strategic engagement, and collaboration with government, employers, and peak bodies, we are working to close long-standing gaps between awareness and action.

Our Advocacy So Far

Since our establishment, we have held introductory and strategic meetings with similar bodies, national institutions, and peak bodies, including:

• National Mental Health Commission
• National Suicide Prevention Office
• Safe Work Australia
• Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)
• Council of Small Business of Australia
• Aspect Australia

These meetings represent early but critical steps in embedding lived experience with AuDHD into national conversations on mental health, workplace safety, employment policy, and small business. Across these discussions, we have consistently highlighted the systemic barriers faced by adults with co-occurring Autism and ADHD — particularly in employment — and the urgent need for policy settings that move beyond awareness toward practical inclusion.

Our Role in Workplace Inclusion

Creating inclusive, accessible, and psychologically safe workplaces is a core focus of the AuDHD Council of Australia. Through our advocacy and stakeholder engagement, we promote evidence-informed practices that support employees with AuDHD while strengthening organisational performance.

We encourage workplaces to adopt adjustments such as:

• Flexible scheduling to accommodate fluctuating energy, focus, and sensory load
• Sensory-considerate environments, including options for quiet or low-stimulation workspaces
• Clear, direct, and predictable communication
• Structural supports for executive functioning, such as task clarity and realistic deadlines

Our engagement with Safe Work Australia has highlighted the importance of recognising neurodivergence as a workplace health and safety consideration — not merely an individual issue. We also continue to advocate for policy frameworks that protect the rights of workers with AuDHD and recognise the intersection between neurodivergence, mental health, and employment outcomes.

Looking Ahead

Our early engagements with national bodies — including those working across mental health, suicide prevention, workplace safety, and employment — signal that the conversation is shifting. The AuDHD Council is committed to ensuring that this shift results in lasting structural change: in policy, in workplaces, and in the support systems that Australians with co-occurring Autism and ADHD rely on.

We remain ready to collaborate, to engage, and to advocate — with and for our members — at every level of government and industry.