Lived experience and data come together in new disability mental health research
This media release is under embargo until 12:01am, Wednesday 15 July 2026.
New inclusive research, combining lived experience with linked national data, provides the first insights into patterns of hospital-based mental health care among people receiving government disability supports.
Understanding mental health service use by people with disability builds on work undertaken through the National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) and presents preliminary findings on how people receiving government disability supports access mental health care in public hospitals. The report examines mental health-related emergency department (ED) presentations and hospitalisations for 2022–23.
‘What makes this work unique is that people with disability worked alongside subject matter experts to shape the research priorities and understand the findings, ensuring the focus remained on the issues that matter most to people with disability,’ said AIHW spokesperson Sam Chambers.
The findings focus on people receiving government disability supports, including National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants, people receiving the Disability Support Pension (DSP), and those receiving both. This group represents around 25% of people with disability in Australia.
People receiving government disability supports had a rate of mental health-related ED presentations 9.3 times as high and a rate of mental-health related hospitalisations 10.8 times as high as people not receiving these disability supports, after adjusting for age. This pattern was observed across all disability support groups examined in the report.
One in 25 DSP recipients had at least one mental health-related ED presentation.
Compared to people who do not receive any government disability supports, NDIS participant's rate of mental health-related ED presentations was 10.8 times as high, after adjusting for age. The rate was 19.9 times as high for those receiving both NDIS and DSP.
It is important to note that these findings describe patterns of hospital use. They do not explain why these differences occur. A range of factors, including underlying health needs, disability type, support eligibility and broader life circumstances may influence the results.
‘While this report does not include everyone in Australia with disability, it is a good starting point for exploring how people with disability use mental health services,’ said Mr Chambers.
‘More work is needed to understand these findings, including how different groups experience mental health services and the pathways that lead people to hospital-based care.'
‘We hope these results provide a foundation for further research, discussion and action to improve mental health outcomes for people with disability.’
The report is the first in a new series, Shaping Change: Bringing disability lived expertise and data together, that combines lived experience with evidence to drive better outcomes.
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