The first national data on government and non-government
disability support services and clients under the
Commonwealth/State Disability Agreement (CSDA) were released by the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare today.
The report, Disability Support Services Provided under the
Commonwealth/State Disability Agreement: First National Data
1995, presents data collected using the 1995 CSDA Minimum Data
Set (MDS) from Commonwealth, State and Territory CSDA services
(Western Australian data for 1995 were not able to be
included).
4,219 CSDA services responded to the Minimum Data Set
collection, a response rate of 93%, including:
- 2,752 (66%) from non-government funded services and 1,453 (34%)
from government funded services;
- 1,763 of all services offered accommodation services, 859
community support services, 483 community access services, 308
respite services, and 772 offered employment services.
Richard Madden, Director of the Institute, stated that 'this
report is a timely overview of client characteristics and services
for the current CSDA renegotiation'.
Data were collected from 63,530 consumer forms, representing
people receiving services on the snapshot day (excluding those in
Western Australia). Of service consumers in 1995:
- 59% were male;
- 67.7% were reported to have intellectual disability as the
primary disability type;
- over 75% of consumers needed support in activities of daily
living and almost as many needed social and emotional support;
- service recipients of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
origin were more likely to be represented in State- or
Territory-funded services than in the general population-this is
consistent with findings from other data of higher rates of
disability among people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
origin.
- data on other disabilities, country of birth, language, income
source and living arrangements are also included.
The report contains information on the development of the
collection, the questions and definitions used to gather the data,
and recommendations for future collections.
21 March 1997
Further information:Mr Ken Black, ph. 02 6244
1178.
For media copies of the report (84pp):Chris
Finnegan, ph. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications Catalogue
for details.