Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031 Outcomes Framework: 4th annual report

Why is this outcome area important?

Participation in education, both formal and informal, is critical to:

• developing skills
• providing pathways to find fulfilling employment
• gain financial independence.

Education leads to enhanced general wellbeing and enriched lives.

Policy priorities

1. Participation in early childhood education (2 measures): Helping children with disability to be ready to start school.
2. Participation in school education (4 measures): Supporting students with disability to finish high school.
3. Participation in tertiary education (4 measures): Supporting people with disability to participate in and complete additional education after high school.
4. Participation in informal education (life skills) (2 measures): Supporting people with disability to continue to learn life skills.

2025 Summary

Data are available for 8 of 12 measures. In 2025:

• 5 measures were updated (Table 6.1)
• 1 measure had data available for the first time (Table 6.2)
• 2 measures were not updated.

Of the 5 updated measures:

• 1 showed improvement
• 2 showed no change
• 2 showed a regression.

Overall, this Outcome Area is not showing improvement since 2021.

• The single measure for Participation in early childhood education showed no change.
• Both measures for Participation in school education showed improvement.
• Of the 4 measures for Participation in tertiary education, 1 showed improvement, 1 showed no change and 2 measures showed regression.
• Progress for the single measure in Participation in informal education (life skills) is not yet known.

Key findings

• In 2024, 7.6% of children enrolled in a preschool program in the year before full-time schooling (YBFS) had disability. This was higher than in 2023, when 7.1% of children enrolled in a preschool program in the YBFS had disability. However, children with disability were still under-represented in preschool programs: in 2022, 8.8% of children aged 4–5 in the community had disability. [2022 is the latest year for which data on prevalence of disability in the community are available.] 
• Since baseline, the proportion of domestic VET students with disability aged 15–64 had decreased by 0.5 percentage points, from 4.4% in 2021 to 3.9% in 2023. This indicated that the measure has not improved since the start of the Strategy (Figure 6.2).
• In 2023, the proportion of domestic undergraduate higher education students with disability aged 15 and over was 13%. This was 3 percentage points higher than in 2021 (10%), which indicated an improvement in the measure since the start of the Strategy (Figure 6.3). 
• The qualification completion rate for cohort 2019–2023 domestic VET students with disability aged 15–64 was 42% compared with 49% for those without disability. This represented a gap of 7 percentage points. The gap increased by one percentage point compared with the 2017–2021 cohort, indicating that the measure had not improved since the start of the Strategy. Between cohorts 2015–2019 and 2019–2023, the completion rate for students with disability increased from 39% to 42% (3 percentage points). For students without disability, it increased from 43% to 49% (6 percentage points) (Figure 6.4). The gap in completion rates between students with disability and students without disability had increased year on year from 4 percentage points for cohort 2015–2019 to 7 percentage points for cohort 2019–2023.
• Over half (55%) of domestic students with disability aged 15 and over who commenced their studies in 2018 had completed a higher education qualification (undergraduate or post-graduate) by 2023 (cohort 2018–2023). Likewise, 55% of students with disability who commenced their studies in 2016 had completed a qualification by 2021 (baseline cohort 2016–2021). This indicated that the measure had not improved since the start of the strategy. The proportion of domestic students with disability who completed a higher education qualification over a 6-year period had consistently fallen over time (Figure 6.5). While the proportion had fallen, the number of students had consistently increased over the reference period. More than 12,200 students with disability in the 2018–2023 cohort completed their qualification, compared with just under 4,700 students in the 2005–2010 cohort.

Information on each measure below includes the latest update, baseline and progress status, key demographic insights, and a chart showing the direction of the change since baseline. 

^*Measure wording has been revised to reflect available data more accurately or clarify the measure’s intent. See relevant measure section below for more information.

pp – percentage points; VET – vocational education and training.