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

Notes:

1. Data was run on 1 July 2025 (as at 30 June 2025) for claims created between 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025. Participant characteristics are as at the claim creation date.
2. This is not a count of distinct participants, but the count of valid claims created regarding a participant. Claims are counted for a period by the date that the claim was created. However, multiple claims could be created for the same participant for different job placements in that period.
3. The data cannot provide any insight into how many people did not achieve 12 months of full employment.
4. The eligibility criteria for the Disability Employment Services (DES) program is available from the DES Eligibility Referral and Commencement Guidelines.
5. Full outcome claims for employment are outcomes claimed by eligible DES providers for employment where the hours worked each week for the DES participant was at or above their estimated employment benchmark on average.
6. 52-week employment outcomes were only claimable for contracts established under the DES Grant Agreement following the 2018 DES reforms on 1 July 2018. Hence, 52-week Employment Outcomes could only be claimed 52 weeks after the participant had commenced placement with a DES provider contract established from 1 July 2018 (i.e., 1 July 2019 onwards).
7. Claims data are for people aged 15 or over.
8. The decline in claims is due to eligibility changes to the DES program made in 2021 and stronger labour market demand post-COVID-19 lockdowns. With less participant numbers there were fewer people achieving outcomes. However, as the percentage of the total population, outcomes achieved by DES participants remained at a reasonably consistent rate.
9. Small discrepancies with data included in earlier releases of the webpages are due to revisions of the data.
10. DES data are not comparable with other employment services data as they are from different sources, cover different populations, and measure different outcomes.

Source: Department of Social Services, using administrative data from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) Employment Business Intelligence Warehouse (EBIW).

Notes:

1. Denominator includes participants who answer 'Yes' to 'Are you currently working in a paid job?', and answer either 'Yes' or 'No' to 'Do you get the support you need to do your job?'.
2. Numerator includes participants who answer 'Yes' to 'Are you currently working in a paid job?', and answer 'Yes' to 'Do you get the support you need to do your job?'.
3. To be eligible for the NDIS, a person must meet the disability requirements or the early intervention requirements. Disability requirements include that the disability is caused by an impairment, is likely to be permanent and significantly impacts the individual's ability to perform everyday activities and is likely to need NDIS support for life. Early intervention requirements are that the individual has an impairment that is likely to be permanent or are a child younger than 9 with development delay and that early intervention supports are likely to reduce their future support needs and be of benefit to the individual.
4. Time series analysis for the NDIS data presented here is different from the longitudinal approach taken in NDIS reporting. See Data sources | National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) for more details.
5. Several external factors may influence responses to the question ‘Do you get the support you need to do your job?’. Respondents may not need additional support to do their job, or they may receive the disability-related support required but other sources of support are lacking, such as informal or employer-provided support.
6. Data are for participants aged 15–64.

Source: National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) Business Systems.

Notes:

1. Denominator includes participants who answer either 'Yes' or 'No, but I would like one' to 'Are you currently working in a paid job?'.
2. Numerator includes participants who answer either 'Yes' or 'No, but I would like one' to 'Are you currently working in a paid job?', and answer 'Open employment market with full award wages' to 'What type of employment is it?'. The numerator excludes participants who answer 'Self-employed' to 'What type of employment is it?'. It also excludes participants answering 'Australian apprenticeship' or 'Other' (as well as those in the Supported Wage System and Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs)).
3. To be eligible for the NDIS, a person must meet the disability requirements or the early intervention requirements. Disability requirements include that the disability is caused by an impairment, is likely to be permanent and significantly impacts the individual's ability to perform everyday activities and is likely to need NDIS support for life. Early intervention requirements are that the individual has an impairment that is likely to be permanent or are a child younger than 9 with development delay and that early intervention supports are likely to reduce their future support needs and be of benefit to the individual.
4. Data from NDIS participants who answered ‘Yes’ or ‘No, but I would like one’ to the question ‘Are you currently working in a paid job?’ are intended to capture NDIS participants who are in the labour force.
5. Time series analysis for the NDIS data presented here is different from the longitudinal approach taken in NDIS reporting. See Data sources | National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) for more details.
6. The measure looks at the proportion of NDIS participants aged 15–64 in the labour force who are in open employment at full award wage. It does not provide insight into the proportion of employed individuals with disability who are in open employment, which may show different results.
7. Data are for participants aged 15–64.

Source: National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) Business Systems.