Disability

People with disability in Australia 2020: in brief presents key highlights from the AIHW’s main report People with disability in Australia.

People with disability in Australia brings together information from a range of national data sources to contribute to a greater understanding about disability in Australia.

In 2018–19, about 230,000 people used disability support services funded under the National Disability Agreement (NDA). Of these, 68% used the Australian Government’s open employment services. During the year, about 29,200 NDA service users transitioned to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, many of whom (65%)  had an intellectual or learning primary disability.

Australia’s welfare 2019: in brief tells the story of welfare in Australia with key findings on housing, education and skills, employment and work, income and finance: government payments, social support, justice and safety, and Indigenous Australians.

Australia’s welfare 2019 is the 14th biennial welfare report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. This edition introduces a new format and expanded product suite:

• Australia’s welfare 2019: data insights
• Australia’s welfare snapshots
• Australia’s welfare 2019: in brief
• Australia’s welfare indicators

Australia’s welfare 2019: data insights presents an overview of the welfare data landscape and explores selected welfare topics—including intergenerational disadvantage, income support, future of work, disability services, elder abuse and child wellbeing—in 8 original articles.

Australia’s welfare 2019 is the 14th biennial welfare report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. This edition introduces a new format and expanded product suite:

• Australia’s welfare 2019: data insights
• Australia’s welfare snapshots
• Australia’s welfare 2019: in brief
• Australia’s welfare indicators

People with disability in Australia: in brief provides an overview of key content from the AIHW’s comprehensive People with disability in Australia online report. These highlights draw upon the most recent available data at the time of publication.

More detailed information, such as on trends and groups within the disability population, is presented in the online report.

Aged care is generally provided on the basis of need, so sometimes it is used by even very young people. In permanent residential aged care, around 2,000 younger people (aged under 65) take up care every year. Their pathways into care are often short, but once in permanent care, their care needs vary considerably—from short stays due to palliative care to long stays due to common older age-related conditions.

In 2017–18, about 280,000 people used disability support services funded under the National Disability Agreement (NDA). During the year, about 40,000 (14%) NDA service users transitioned to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), almost two-thirds (67%) of whom had an intellectual or learning disability.

This report explores the association between 8 selected chronic conditions and disability in Australia: coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis and related disorders, back pain and problems, osteoporosis, asthma and emphysema. These conditions are generally long term and persistent, and can lead to gradual deterioration of health, and disability. This report examines disability prevalence and severity; and the types of impairments, limitations and restrictions experienced by those with the selected conditions.

People with disability use a range of mainstream health services—such as GPs, medical specialists and dentists. Some experience difficulties in accessing these services, such as unacceptable or lengthy waiting times, cost, inaccessibility of buildings, and discrimination by health professionals.

While people with disability participate actively in all aspects of Australian life, they are more likely to face challenges than people without disability, and their rates of participation in various life areas are generally lower. These fact sheets use data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers to look at changes that occurred between 2003 and 2015 for people with disability in the key life areas of education (DIS 69), employment (DIS 68), and community life (DIS 67).

Australians are living longer, and their state of health in these years has important implications for population health and wellbeing and for Australia’s health and care systems. Between 2003 and 2015, life expectancy at birth increased for both sexes, and most of this increase corresponded with an increase in years living free of disability and free of severe or profound core activity limitation. Older Australians have also seen increases in the expected number of years living free of disability.

Autism spectrum disorder (also simply termed autism) is a persistent developmental disorder, characterised by symptoms evident from early childhood. In 2015, an estimated 164,000 people had autism, representing about 1 in 150 Australians. In 2014–15, around 43,500 people with autism accessed disability support services under the National Disability Agreement (NDA).

Chronic back problems are common conditions in Australia (16% of the total population) and cause of disability (28% of the total population with disability) in Australia. Chronic back problems can have a strong negative effect on a person’s quality of life, affecting their ability to participate in daily activities, work, family and social activities. This bulletin provides the latest detailed information on the impacts (in terms of quality of life and disability) of chronic back problems in Australia.

This report uses data from the 2012 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers and 2011–12 ABS National Health Survey (NHS) to examine how health-related factors affect the health status of Australians with disability.

This report examines the characteristics and service use of people who accessed both Disability Services and Home and Community Care programs. In 2010–11 around 54,800 people were known to have used both programs, and the majority of these people were aged under 65 (89%). The report found that people using both programs required higher, more complex and diverse supports, and relied on a wide range of complementary services from both programs to support their distinct support needs.

The report examines the association between diabetes and disability in Australia using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 2009. People with diabetes were twice as likely to have a disability (39% compared with 17%) and almost 3 times as likely to have a severe or profound limitation (14% compared with 5%) than people without diabetes. Among working-age people with diabetes and disability, 40% said they were permanently unable to work compared with 20% of people with a disability who did not have diabetes. People with diabetes reported higher rates of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, depression, vision loss and kidney related disorders than people without diabetes.

This report details the number of people who experienced severe incontinence in 2009, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers. It includes estimates of prevalence rates and total expenditure on incontinence, as well as the number of primary carers of people suffering from the condition. It also updates data development since the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's 2006 incontinence report.