Popular award-winning Australian actress Chloé Hayden says she grew up thinking she "wasn't supposed to exist" because she never saw autistic people like herself represented in media.
Hayden — who has become a household name portraying an autistic character in the rebooted Heartbreak High series on Netflix — made the comments on Monday at a public hearing of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
The 31st hearing of the royal commission is exploring what should be done to create a more inclusive society.
Hayden won an Audience Choice Award last week at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. She is also an author and highly visible disability advocate who boasts 700,000 followers on social media.
The 25-year-old was diagnosed with autism when she was 13.
She told the royal commission it was hard growing up without any role models or seeing herself reflected in media.
"I grew up my whole life thinking I wasn't supposed to exist, and a very large reason for that was because I didn't see myself represented," she said.
"Young white people … that are able bodied and neurotypical see themselves without even having to consider it, because that's the norm.
"So, when a young autistic girl who doesn't act like any of these people when she watches the telly and she can't see herself … it gives us this impression that we're not supposed to be here."
'It would be so wonderful'
Hayden is among dozens of disability advocates and celebrities set to speak to the royal commission this week about their vision for an inclusive Australia, reflecting on their careers and experiences in a variety of industries.
Australian of the Year and tennis champion Dylan Alcott is scheduled to appear on Tuesday.
The royal commission heard on Monday Hayden was a role model for young people with disability across the country.
Hayden said she was "immensely proud'' to be autistic.
"It is who I am wholeheartedly," she said.
When asked for her vision of an inclusive Australia, Hayden said it would be "so wonderful to get to a point in our society where representation isn't even a word that we need anymore because it is simply the normal".
"We need autistic people in front of the camera. We need autistic writers, directors, producers and creative consultants. We need people in every single chair to make sure that representation happens," she said.
The disability royal commission has received more than 6,300 submissions in the more than three and a half years since it began in 2019.
Previous hearings have centred on the shocking abuse people with disability routinely experience in public spaces, "putrid conditions" inside supported living accommodation, and Australia's secretive guardianship system.
The inquiry has also heard allegations of horrific sexual assaults, the "heinous" removals of Indigenous babies from mothers with disabilities, and the story of a woman locked away for 20 years and kept in seclusion for up to 23 hours a day.
After this week, there will be two more public hearings in 2023, including a wrap-up hearing into service providers.
The final report is set to be delivered to the government in September next year.
The inquiry continues.
