Personal and community support worker attitudes Data dictionary

Personal and community support workers are disability confident and respond positively to people with disability¹.

2022

2022

Personal and community support workers – people aged 18 and over who are employed in the residential care (including aged care, hospices, crisis care, group homes) or social and community services sector (including adult day care, disability assistance services, youth welfare, and family support and counselling).

Number of positive responses from personal and community support workers to a series of questions about confidence in responding positively to and in ability to advise, assist and treat people with disability.²

Number of valid responses from personal and community support workers to a series of questions about confidence in responding positively to and in ability to advise, assist and treat people with disability.²

For each personal and community support worker respondent, the number of positive responses about confidence in responding positively to and in ability to advise, assist and treat people with disability is divided by the number of valid responses to these questions. The resulting proportion is then weighted and averaged across all personal and community support workers.

Expressed as an average percentage of positive responses.

Sum of [Respondent weight × (Numerator ÷ Denominator)] ÷ Weighted number of valid personal and community support worker respondents

1. The Strategy was set to see the following tracked – Proportion of personal and community support workers who are disability confident and respond positively to people with disability. Measure wording has been revised to clarify its intent. The revised measure reports the average rate of confidence and positive attitudes in interacting with people with disability, recognising that for each person the attitude is a continuum.
2. The personal and community support worker attitudes are based on 6 questions about confidence in responding positively to and ability to advise, assist or treat people with disability. Valid responses could be positive or negative. The questions were:
   1. How confident are you that you respond in a positive way to people with disability? (Positive responses: ‘Very confident; ‘Quite confident’; negative responses: ‘Not very confident’, ‘Not at all confident’)
   2. In your current job, how confident are you in your ability to advise, assist or treat people with:
      • an intellectual disability such as Down syndrome?
      • a neurological condition such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?
      • a physical disability such as reduced mobility or movement?
      • a psychosocial condition such as severe anxiety or depression?
      • a sensory or communication impairment such as being deaf or blind?
      Positive responses: ‘Very confident; ‘Quite confident’. Negative responses: ‘Not very confident’, ‘Not at all confident’.
      
      Skipped responses, or responses of ‘Not sure’ or ‘Prefer not to answer’ are deemed non-valid.
      Respondents who gave non-valid responses to more than 2 out of 6 questions were excluded from the calculation.