A new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
(AIHW) quantifies the level of demand for disability support
services now and in the future, and shows that the number of people
aged under 65 with a profound or severe limitation in basic daily
activities is projected to increase to over 750,000 people by
2010.
The report, Current and future demand for specialist
disability services, reports on how much unmet demand there is
for accommodation and respite services, community access services
and employment services, what factors affect demand, and how levels
of demand are expected to change over coming years.
'Conservative estimates indicate that in 2005, there were 23,800
people aged 0 - 64 with unmet or under-met demand for accommodation
and respite services,' said Dr Xingyan Wen of the Institute's
Functioning and Disability Unit.
'In 2005, the unmet demand for community access services was
estimated at 3,700 people, but this estimate does not include
partially-met demand,' he said.
Based on projected ageing trends, the segments of the population
likely to require disability services are projected to grow
substantially in the next few years.
In addition to the obvious factors - the ageing of the
population in general and of people with disabilities in particular
- other factors that may contribute to an increase in future demand
include:
- increases in the prevalence of some disabling long-term health
conditions
- increases in need for assistance due to ageing service-users
and the ageing of their carers
- trends towards community-based living arrangements for people
with disabilities
- decreases in access to some mainstream housing options,
and
- a projected fall in the number of informal carers relative to
the number of people with a disability.
The report emphasises that disability services alone cannot meet
all the needs of people with a disability. People with a
disability, like the general population, rely on range of
government-funded services to meet their various needs.
'People ageing with a disability may need complementary
combinations of support from both the disability and aged care
service sectors.
'This is of particular relevance to people ageing with an early
onset disability and younger people with a disability living in
residential aged care accommodation,' Dr Wen said.
The report was commissioned by the Disability Policy and
Research Working Group to provide information on unmet demand for
services provided under the Commonwealth, State and Territory
Disability Agreement (CSTDA).
8 June 2007
Further information: Dr Xingyan Wen , AIHW,
tel. 02 6244 1177 or mob. 0418 271 395 or Dr Chris Stevenson, AIHW
tel. 02 6244 1216
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of Current and future
demand for specialist disability services