Undergraduate participation

What is being tracked?

Measure: Proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability

This measure is part of the Participation in tertiary education priority of the Strategy. This priority is about supporting people with disability participate in and complete additional education after high school.

The desired outcome is that more students with disability enrol in higher education.

Last updated: 04 Jul 2023

Outcome area: Education and learning Priority: Participation in tertiary education

Baseline value

10%in 2021
Latest value

10%in 2021

Status not known yet more data from after the Strategy started are needed

View the data source

Trends

Has the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability increased over time?

The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability (aged 15 and over). Data from 2011 to 2021 are used. In 2021, 10% of undergraduate higher education students had disability, compared with 5.0% in 2011.

Year	% of undergraduate students with disability
2011	5.0%
2012	5.2%
2013	5.4%
2014	5.8%
2015	6.2%
2016	6.5%
2017	6.8%
2018	7.3%
2019	7.7%
2020	8.1%
2021	10%

Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection (HESC) | Data source overview

State and territory

Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary between states and territories?

The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability (aged 15 and over), grouped by Australian states and territories. In 2021, in South Australia, 13% of undergraduate higher education students had disability, compared with 9.2% in Western Australia.

State/Territory	% of undergraduate students with disability
National	10%
New South Wales	9.4%
Victoria	11%
Queensland	9.8%
Western Australia	9.2%
South Australia	13%
Tasmania	11%
Australian Capital Territory	12%
Northern Territory	10%

Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection (HESC) | Data source overview

Population groups

Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary for First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians?

The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability (aged 15 and over), by Indigenous status. In 2021, 17% of First Nations undergraduate higher education students had disability, compared with 10% of non-Indigenous students.
Indigenous status % of undergraduate students with disability

First Nations 17%

Non-Indigenous 10%

All persons 10%

Notes:
Includes domestic students only.
Excludes domestic students with permanent home residence outside of Australia.
Includes Table A (Public universities) and Table B (Private universities that receive Commonwealth assistance) providers only.
'Disability' refers to students who have indicated that they have a disability, impairment or long-term medical condition which may affect their studies.
The data collection method for Higher Education student data changed in 2020, including changes to detailed disability categories.
Due to an issue related to implementation of the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) System over its first year of operation in 2020, enrolment numbers for students with disability were substantially under-reported in the case of several universities. As it is not yet possible to correct this oversight, the entire series has been reported as received and the figures for some individual universities, and the aggregate figures for states and university sectors have been affected. This issue can be seen in the 2020 access, participation, and success indicators and the 2020 retention rates as reported in the 2021 data set. For this reason, caution should be taken when including 2020 enrolment data for students with disability in either annual, aggregate, or cross-institutional comparisons.
Source: Department of Education Higher Education Statistics Collection.

Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection (HESC) | Data source overview
Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary by gender?

The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability (aged 15 and over), grouped by gender. In 2021, 8.4% of male undergraduate higher education students had disability, compared with 11% of females and 41% of students whose gender was recorded as ‘Indeterminate/ Intersex/ Unspecified’.
Gender % of undergraduate students with disability

Males 8.4%

Females 11%

Indeterminate/ Intersex/ Unspecified 41%

All persons 10%

Notes:
Includes domestic students only.
Excludes domestic students with permanent home residence outside of Australia.
Includes Table A (Public universities) and Table B (Private universities that receive Commonwealth assistance) providers only.
'Disability' refers to students who have indicated that they have a disability, impairment or long-term medical condition which may affect their studies.
The data collection method for Higher Education student data changed in 2020, including changes to detailed disability categories.
Due to an issue related to implementation of the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) System over its first year of operation in 2020, enrolment numbers for students with disability were substantially under-reported in the case of several universities. As it is not yet possible to correct this oversight, the entire series has been reported as received and the figures for some individual universities, and the aggregate figures for states and university sectors have been affected. This issue can be seen in the 2020 access, participation, and success indicators and the 2020 retention rates as reported in the 2021 data set. For this reason, caution should be taken when including 2020 enrolment data for students with disability in either annual, aggregate, or cross-institutional comparisons.
Source: Department of Education Higher Education Statistics Collection.

Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection (HESC) | Data source overview
Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary by age?

The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability (aged 15 and over), grouped by age. In 2021, 19% of undergraduate higher education students aged 65 and over had disability, compared with 9.3% in the 15–24 age group.
Age group % of undergraduate students with disability

15–24 9.3%

25–44 12%

45–64 15%

65 and over 19%

All ages 10%

Notes:
Includes domestic students only.
Excludes domestic students with permanent home residence outside of Australia.
Includes Table A (Public universities) and Table B (Private universities that receive Commonwealth assistance) providers only.
'Disability' refers to students who have indicated that they have a disability, impairment or long-term medical condition which may affect their studies.
The data collection method for Higher Education student data changed in 2020, including changes to detailed disability categories.
Due to an issue related to implementation of the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) System over its first year of operation in 2020, enrolment numbers for students with disability were substantially under-reported in the case of several universities. As it is not yet possible to correct this oversight, the entire series has been reported as received and the figures for some individual universities, and the aggregate figures for states and university sectors have been affected. This issue can be seen in the 2020 access, participation, and success indicators and the 2020 retention rates as reported in the 2021 data set. For this reason, caution should be taken when including 2020 enrolment data for students with disability in either annual, aggregate, or cross-institutional comparisons.
Source: Department of Education Higher Education Statistics Collection.

Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection (HESC) | Data source overview
Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary by language background?

The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability (aged 15 and over), by language background. In 2021, 10% of undergraduate higher education students from an English-speaking background (ESB) had disability, compared with 4.3% among the non-English-speaking (NESB) group.
Language background % of undergraduate students with disability

ESB 10%

NESB 4.3%

All persons 10%

Notes:
Includes domestic students only.
Excludes domestic students with permanent home residence outside of Australia.
Includes Table A (Public universities) and Table B (Private universities that receive Commonwealth assistance) providers only.
'Disability' refers to students who have indicated that they have a disability, impairment or long-term medical condition which may affect their studies.
The data collection method for Higher Education student data changed in 2020, including changes to detailed disability categories.
Due to an issue related to implementation of the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) System over its first year of operation in 2020, enrolment numbers for students with disability were substantially under-reported in the case of several universities. As it is not yet possible to correct this oversight, the entire series has been reported as received and the figures for some individual universities, and the aggregate figures for states and university sectors have been affected. This issue can be seen in the 2020 access, participation, and success indicators and the 2020 retention rates as reported in the 2021 data set. For this reason, caution should be taken when including 2020 enrolment data for students with disability in either annual, aggregate, or cross-institutional comparisons.
NESB: A domestic student who arrived in Australia less than 10 years prior to the year in which the data were collected, and who comes from a home where a language other than English is spoken.
Source: Department of Education Higher Education Statistics Collection.

Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection (HESC) | Data source overview
Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary by remoteness?

The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability (aged 15 and over), grouped by remoteness. In 2021, in inner regional areas, 11% of undergraduate higher education students had disability, compared with 8.3% in very remote areas.
Remoteness % of undergraduate students with disability

Major cities 10%

Inner regional 11%

Outer regional 9.5%

Remote 8.7%

Very remote 8.3%

All areas 10%

Notes:
Includes domestic students only.
Excludes domestic students with permanent home residence outside of Australia.
Includes Table A (Public universities) and Table B (Private universities that receive Commonwealth assistance) providers only.
'Disability' refers to students who have indicated that they have a disability, impairment or long-term medical condition which may affect their studies.
The data collection method for Higher Education student data changed in 2020, including changes to detailed disability categories.
Remoteness is based on location of permanent home residence.
Remoteness category 'All areas' does not sum to cohort total due to some addresses that could not be categorised.
Due to an issue related to implementation of the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) System over its first year of operation in 2020, enrolment numbers for students with disability were substantially under-reported in the case of several universities. As it is not yet possible to correct this oversight, the entire series has been reported as received and the figures for some individual universities, and the aggregate figures for states and university sectors have been affected. This issue can be seen in the 2020 access, participation, and success indicators and the 2020 retention rates as reported in the 2021 data set. For this reason, caution should be taken when including 2020 enrolment data for students with disability in either annual, aggregate, or cross-institutional comparisons.
Source: Department of Education Higher Education Statistics Collection.

Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection (HESC) | Data source overview

Indigenous status	% of undergraduate students with disability
First Nations	17%
Non-Indigenous	10%
All persons	10%

Gender	% of undergraduate students with disability
Males	8.4%
Females	11%
Indeterminate/ Intersex/ Unspecified	41%
All persons	10%

Age group	% of undergraduate students with disability
15–24	9.3%
25–44	12%
45–64	15%
65 and over	19%
All ages	10%

Language background	% of undergraduate students with disability
ESB	10%
NESB	4.3%
All persons	10%

Remoteness	% of undergraduate students with disability
Major cities	10%
Inner regional	11%
Outer regional	9.5%
Remote	8.7%
Very remote	8.3%
All areas	10%

Disability group

What type(s) of disability do undergraduate higher education students with disability have?

The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of students with specific disability types among the undergraduate higher education students with disability (aged 15 and over). In 2021, of undergraduate higher education students with disability, 39% had a mental health condition, while 1.5% had an acquired brain injury group (please note that for a high proportion of students, the disability information was collected as 'other' (30%) or 'medical condition' (30%)).

Disability group	% of specific disability types among undergraduate students with disability
Hard of hearing/deaf	4.2%
Learning	13%
Low vision/blind	5.2%
Medical condition	30%
Acquired brain injury	1.5%
Intellectual disability	1.9%
Mental health condition	39%
Neurological condition	8.9%
Physical	6.6%
Other	30%
Unspecified	1.9%

Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection (HESC) | Data source overview

Where did these data come from?

Data on undergraduate participation come from administrative data collected by the Australian Government Department of Education.

Learn more about these data

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Undergraduate participation

What is being tracked?

Baseline value

Latest value

Trends

Has the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability increased over time?

State and territory

Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary between states and territories?

Population groups

Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary for First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians?

Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary by gender?

Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary by age?

Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary by language background?

Does the proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability vary by remoteness?

What type(s) of disability do undergraduate higher education students with disability have?

Where did these data come from?

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