Early searches for new physics with τ leptons using the ATLAS detector

In many new physics models, the third generation plays a special role. τ leptons are a sensitive probe of new phenomena such as supersymmetry, even in early LHC data taken at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. We report on an early search for new physics, the performance of the detector for such searches, and the expectations for the 2010-2011 LHC run.