How ASA is enabling neurodiversity in the workplace, one employer at a time
By Geoff Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Spatial Analytics
This Neurodiversity Celebration Week I’ll start with a sentiment that might surprise you, Australian Spatial Analytics (ASA) is working hard to make itself obsolete. Our goal is to reach the point where what we do is no longer necessary, because every organisation has figured out how to include neurodivergent people in their workforce without our help.
But we're not there yet. Not even close.
The employment crisis no one wants to talk about
Right now, the unemployment rate in Australia for autistic people is 34%. That is more than three times the rate for people with disabilities and almost eight times the national rate. And over 50% of unemployed autistic Australians have never held a paid job, despite often possessing the skills, qualifications, and a strong desire to join the workforce.
This is not a personal failing of neurodivergent people. This is a systemic failure of Australian employers, hiring processes, and workplace culture.
Apart from the social cost, the economic cost is staggering. If Australia reduced its 34% unemployment rate by just one-third, we could add a substantial $43 billion to the Gross Domestic Product every year. We are not talking about a nice-to-have inclusion initiative. We are talking about an enormous untapped productivity opportunity.
Over 350,000 autistic Australians are autistic. That number is almost certainly an undercount, given diagnostic wait times, costs, and those who have never sought a formal diagnosis. But unfortunately, the workforce is systematically locking these people out.
Neurodivergence: let’s get rid of the stereotypes
The stereotypes around neurodivergent people — that they can't work in teams, are difficult to manage, need hand-holding, and are only good for narrow, repetitive tasks are costing Australia billions of dollars and ruining lives. Suicide rates for the autistic community are three times higher than those for the general population. Autistic unemployment is not just a social and economic statistic. It is a health crisis.
The evidence, including our own lived experience, contradicts the assumption that autistic people lack the skills to work. Most employed autistic Australians would like to work more hours and be given a more challenging role, with 45% reporting that their skills are higher than required in their current position. We are not talking about a population that needs to be managed down. We are talking about a population that is being profoundly underutilised.
Autistic strengths include intense focus, memory, creative thinking, and attention to detail, combined with personal characteristics such as honesty and loyalty. But many autistic people feel their managers never understood or valued their neurodivergence. Sadly, most have experienced bullying or other workplace problems that led to being let go or resigning. That's not a neurodivergent problem. That's a management problem.
The ’big data’ opportunity that Australia cannot afford to miss
At ASA, we work in the geospatial and digital engineering data services space. Our team members are 48% better at pattern recognition and 92% more productive than their neurotypical counterparts in these roles. These are not aspirational figures. These are what we observe every day in the work our team delivers to clients across all levels of government and multiple industries.
The research backs this up comprehensively. The 2025 EY Global Neuroinclusion at Work Study found that neurodivergent employees outperform peers in roles that require pattern recognition, logical reasoning, detail orientation and sustained focus — scoring highest in critical emerging fields such as AI, big data analytics, and cybersecurity.
JPMorgan Chase estimated that employees hired through its neurodiversity program for tech roles are 90% to 140% more productive than others and produce consistent, error-free work. Deloitte says that workplaces with neurodivergent professionals in various roles can be up to 30% more productive.
Meanwhile, more than 6.5 million big data jobs will be required in Australia by 2030 to keep pace with the technological transformation ahead. We have a talent shortage and a talent surplus sitting side by side and we are doing almost nothing to connect them.
ASA is a proof of concept
ASA is small. We're a not-for-profit social enterprise, and we have no illusions about our scale. We cannot solve Australia's neurodiversity employment crisis alone.
What we can do is prove the model works.
We have successfully transitioned neurodivergent employees from ASA into permanent roles with our clients. These are organisations that came to us uncertain, perhaps a little hesitant, and left as confident, enthusiastic employers of neurodivergent talent. The transition isn't just a job placement. It's an organisational transformation. When managers see that a neurodivergent team member is more accurate, more focused, and more loyal, misconceptions disappear quickly.
This is what a true proof of concept looks like. It’s not a workshop or a diversity statement but a living, working, replicable model that other organisations can adopt anywhere. We are a case study. Come and look at our work. Talk to our clients. The evidence and track record are there.
We cannot do this alone and we shouldn't have to
ASA is not resourced to transform the Australian (and global) employment culture on our own. But we are far from alone in this fight, and it's important to acknowledge organisations that are leading by example.
DXC Technology's Dandelion Program, launched in Australia in 2014, is one of the most respected neurodiversity employment initiatives worldwide. The program currently employs neurodivergent people in positions such as software testing, cybersecurity, and data analytics.
ANZ Bank's Spectrum Program has demonstrated that major financial institutions can build neuroinclusive pipelines that work not as charity, but as a competitive talent strategy.
Deloitte, EY, and SAP all operate neurodiversity programs. These are not small organisations hedging their bets on a social trend. These are sophisticated businesses making calculated decisions that neuroinclusive teams outperform homogeneous ones.
Plus, we have dozens of our Talent Services partners. They have taken on our data analysts for their next career step and are reaping the benefits of neurodiverse teams.
The evidence is overwhelming. The question is no longer whether neurodiversity works in the workplace. The question is why we are still asking the question.
What needs to change
The single biggest barrier to neurodivergent employment is not neurodivergence itself. It’s the employers' inability to address their outdated recruitment and retention practices, rather than the job requirements themselves. In other words, the problem is almost always on the employer side of the equation.
While the sad current reality is that autistic people feel unsupported in finding paid work and challenged by the lack of understanding from potential employers, the message from Australia's autistic community is abundantly clear. They want to work, and for employers to give them opportunities to participate in the workforce.
Many of the adjustments required are low-cost or no-cost. Modified interview processes that test actual skills rather than social performance. Clear communication. Structured onboarding. Flexible sensory environments. These are not extraordinary requests. They are what good management looks like for anyone. They are measures that allow everyone to perform at their very best.
An uncomfortable truth
The neurodiversity employment crisis is, at its core, a failure of imagination among Australian employers.
We have spent decades designing workplaces around a narrow cognitive template, only to wonder why people who don't fit that template can't succeed in them. We have let a broken recruitment model built around interviews that favour neurotypical social performance over actual job competence quietly exclude some of the most talented, dedicated, and analytically gifted people in the country.
ASA demonstrates a better way. Our ambition is to prove it so thoroughly, and to help so many other organisations replicate it, that we work ourselves out of a job. The day ASA is no longer needed will be a very good one! We’re aiming for the awareness generated throughout Neurodiversity Celebration Week to become ingrained in every workplace culture.
In the meantime, what is stopping you from taking the first step? The talent is there. The evidence is there. The economic case is there.
The only thing missing is the decision to act.
