Policy Priority: Value and respect for people with disability
This policy priority aims to improve community awareness and understanding of disability to increase inclusion and accessibility for people with disability so that people with disability achieve the same outcomes as people without disability.
For many people with disability, it is not simply having an impairment or impairments that is disabling, but rather the interaction of impairment(s) with barriers to participation in society (Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health 2021).
There is one measure under this policy priority.
The updated measure is discussed below.
Measure: Feel valued and respected
Full name – Proportion of people with disability who report feeling valued and respected in their community
As part of the ADS Survey, people with disability were asked “In general, how often do you feel valued and respected in your community?”.
Feel valued and respected
Latest update: 53% (2024)
Baseline: 54% (2022)
Progress status: No change
In 2024:
- most people with disability aged 65 and over (43%) felt valued and respected in their community, compared with people with disability aged 25–44
- people who reported having severe or profound disability (41%) felt less valued and respected than people with other disability status (57%)
- those whose highest education level was a Bachelor Degree or higher (60%) felt more valued and respected than those whose highest education level was Year 12 (54%), a Certificate/Diploma (51%), or none or below Year 12 (50%).
Figure 8.7: Proportion of people with disability who report feeling valued and respected in their community, 2022 to 2024
The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of people with disability (aged 18 and over) who felt valued and respected in their community. Data from 2022 to 2024 are used. In 2024, 53% of people with disability felt valued and respected, as did 54% in 2022.
| Year | % of people with disability who feel valued and respected in community | 95% Confidence Interval |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 54% | (52.4%–56.0%) |
| 2024 | 53% | (51.7%–54.9%) |
Notes:
- The measure was calculated as the number of people who answered ‘Always’ or ‘Often’ to ‘In general, how often do you feel valued and respected in your community?’, divided by the number of people who responded to the question. People who were not sure or did not provide a response were excluded from the calculation.
- For this measure, people with disability are those who have, and self-identify as having, disability or a long-term health condition.
Sources:
- DHDA (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing) 2025. Australia's Disability Strategy Survey – Share with us 2024, DHDA, AIHW analysis of unit record data, accessed 17 March 2025.
- DSS (Department of Social Services) 2023. Australia's Disability Strategy Survey – Share with us 2022, DSS, DSS and AIHW analysis of detailed unit record data, accessed 24 July 2023.
Source:
Australia's Disability Strategy Survey – Share with us
|
Data source overview
For figure notes, see Appendix B: Figure notes and sources.
Australian Council of Learned Academies (2024) Community attitudes Targeted Action Plan 2021–2024, Disability Gateway website, Australian Government, accessed 15 October 2025.
AIHW (2025) ADS Survey Wave 2 (2024) Analysis Report and Summary, Disability Gateway website, Australian Government, accessed 17 October 2025.
CRE-DH (Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health) (2021) Community Attitudes towards People with Disability – National Survey results, CRE-DH, accessed 15 October 2025.
United Nations (2006) Article 8 – Awareness-raising [website], Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD), UN, accessed 15 October 2025.
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