Introduction

Australia’s Disability Strategy (the Strategy) is built upon a fundamental commitment to human rights, ensuring that people with disability can fully participate in society on an equal basis. At the heart of this commitment lies the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a landmark international agreement that sets out the rights and freedoms of people with disability and the obligations of governments to uphold them. By aligning with the CRPD, the Strategy is designed to help people with disability enjoy human rights and freedoms on an equal basis with all Australians.

The Outcomes Framework translates the Strategy’s vision into measurable outcomes, ensuring accountability and progress in key areas such as employment, education, healthcare, and community participation. For information on Australia’s Disability Strategy and Outcomes Framework, see Australia’s Disability Strategy Hub.

Outcomes Framework

The Australia’s Disability Strategy Outcomes Framework is a key part of the Strategy which lists measures that need to be tracked to know if the Strategy is working. Under the Strategy’s 7 outcome areas there are Policy Priorities. The Australia’s Disability Strategy Outcomes Framework dashboard (ADS OF dashboard) and annual reports show what progress is being made against each Policy Priority. Every quarter, available data are used to update the ADS OF dashboard.

Of the 64 measures with data on the ADS OF dashboard, 32 measures were given an updated progress status in 2025. An additional 12 measures had data available for the first time.

How did the Strategy do in 2025 under each outcome area?

  • Employment and financial security – 6 measures were updated and one measure had data available for the first time. Overall, this Outcome Area showed improvement since 2021, with 4 out of the 6 updated measures showing an improvement since baseline.
  • Inclusive homes and communities – 3 measures were updated and 2 measures had data available for the first time. Overall, this Outcome Area has regressed since baseline with one measure showing improvement and 2 showing regress.
  • Safety rights and justice – 5 measures were updated and 4 had data available for the first time. Overall, this Outcome Area showed mixed progress since 2021, with 3 out of the 5 updated measures showing regression since baseline, while 2 have improved.
  • Personal and community safety – 2 measures were updated and one measure had data available for the first time. Overall, this Outcome Area showed mixed progress since 2021, with one of the 2 updated measures showing improvement, and the other showing regression.
  • Education and learning – 5 measures were updated and one measure had data available for the first time. Overall, this Outcome Area did not show improvement in 2025, with 2 measures showing no change, one measure showing improvement, and 2 measures showing regression since baseline.
  • Health and wellbeing – 3 measures were updated and 3 measures had data available for the first time. Overall, the Outcome Area is improving. In 2025, 2 of the 3 updated measures were showing as improving, and one measure was showing as no change since baseline.
  • Community Attitudes – all 7 measures were updated. Overall, there was little change in this outcome area, with 5 of the 7 measures showing no change, one measure showing regress and one showing improvement. 

Further information on all measures is available on the ADS OF dashboard, including additional data for the 31 measures not updated in 2025.

A full list of measures can be found on the All Measures webpage of the ADS OF dashboard.

Snapshot on people with disability living in remote areas

Latest data from the 2021 Australian Census showed that 5.9% of people in Remote areas and 4.3% in Very remote areas needed assistance with core activities of self-care, mobility or communication – this is similar to the definition of severe or profound disability used by other Australian disability data sources. The National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) indicated that 5.2% of people in Remote areas and 5.5% in Very remote areas received disability-related government payments and services in 2022. 

Generally, Australians in rural and remote regions face unique challenges due to geographic isolation, limited infrastructure, and poorer access to services. This may lead to poorer health and wellbeing outcomes compared with people living in Major cities (AIHW 2024). Living in a remote location is likely to have an even greater effect on people with disability.

The focus of this snapshot is to present findings from ADS OF 2025 data on people with disability living in remote areas compared with those living in major cities. The terms ‘remote’ or ‘remote areas’ are used in this snapshot to describe people living in Remote or Very remote areas. While this snapshot does not specifically analyse outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people, it is important to note that they experience higher rates of disability and are over-represented in remote areas — which may be relevant when interpreting these data. Data are current as at the time of October 2025 release.

For most ADS OF measures across the 7 outcome areas, outcomes and experiences of people with disability were similar for those living in rural and remote areas and those living in Major cities. Still, some of the ADS OF findings suggested that people with disability in remote areas may struggle to access services. This is particularly the case for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants.

NDIS participants in remote areas were less likely than participants in Major cities to: 

  • get the support they needed to do their job (58% and 63%, respectively)
  • be employed in open employment at full award wage (21% and 25%, respectively) 
  • receive assistive technology supports (28% and 37%, respectively) 
  • feel that the NDIS had helped them have more choice and control over their life (74% and 80%, respectively).

Conversely, NDIS participants in remote areas were more likely to feel they were able to advocate for themselves compared with participants in Major cities (43% and 37%, respectively), and to spend time doing activities that interest them (69% and 64%, respectively).

Figure 1.1: Proportion of NDIS participants aged 15–64 in remote areas and Major cities, by selected outcomes

The bar graph shows that NDIS participants in Remote and very remote areas were less likely than those in Major cities to get job support but felt like they were more able to advocate for themselves.

Source: NDIA Business Systems. | Data source overview

Clients of Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) with disability who experienced domestic and family violence and needed assistance with accommodation in 2023–24 were more likely to be provided such assistance if they were in remote areas (92%) than in Major cities (77%).

When it comes to education and employability, the findings were mixed:

  • Students with disability in remote areas were less likely to complete their qualification than those in Major cities; the completion rates were 34% (remote) and 43% (Major cities) for vocational and education training (VET) students and 50% (remote) and 57% (Major cities) for higher education students with disability.
  • However, VET graduates with disability in remote areas were more likely to be employed on completion of training compared with those in Major cities (68% and 57%, respectively).

Figure 1.2: Education and employment, by selected outcomes

The bar graph shows that VET and higher education students with disability in Major cities were more likely than those in Remote and very remote areas to complete their qualification.

Sources:
Department of Education Higher Education Statistics Collection. | Data source overview
NCVER 2024 | Data source overview

How to read this report

This report presents a summary of measures that have an updated progress status since the previous annual report, and measures that have data available for the first time.

This report has 7 chapters based on the 7 outcome areas of the Strategy. Each chapter includes information on the following:

Measures with an updated progress status in 2025.

When a change is observed between the latest data and the baseline data (that is, the latest data available before December 2021, when the Strategy began), the measures are assigned a ‘progress status’ which includes the following categories:

  • improving
  • no change
  • regress.

As data collections have varying collection and reporting periods (for example, quarterly, annual or triennial), measures derived from different data sources may have different timings for baseline and updated data.

Key demographic insights for each measure with updated progress status in 2025. 

The ADS OF dashboard disaggregates measures by a range of characteristics where data allow. Measures can have the following disaggregations depending on the data source:

  • age group
  • sex and gender
  • lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning and asexual (LGBTIQA+) people
  • type and severity of disability
  • state and territory
  • First Nations people
  • culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people
  • remoteness.

This report highlights key demographic insights for each measure with a progress status update in 2025. It includes state and territory data for measures only where the data are available and there is a substantial variation between the highest and lowest proportions. For information on how data are disaggregated for each measure, see Appendix B: Figure notes and sources.

Measures with data available for the first time in 2025. 

Where appropriate, each chapter includes a table that lists the measures with data available for the first time in 2025. In 2025, new data were available for 15 measures. 

  • Wave 2 of Australia’s Disability Strategy survey provided data for 8 new measures. 
  • The Personal Safety Survey (PSS) provided baseline data for 3 measures
  • Linked data provided new baseline data and progress status for 3 measures. 
  • The Employment services measure has new baseline data due to a change in services.

About the data

Data sources

Data for the 64 measures reported in the ADS OF dashboard are drawn from 21 data sources. For more details, see ADS OF Data sources.

NDIS participant data for quarter 4 of 2025 were not included, except for data on NDIS participants’ use of assistive technology.

National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) first-generation disability indicators

The first-generation disability indicators were developed through the NDDA and used to examine 3 measures using National Health Data Hub (NHDH) data. These measures were reported in the ADS OF dashboard for the first time in January and April 2025.

The indicators combine linked data to flag “Whether a person has received disability-related government payments or services”. The indicators include participants of the NDIS, and people who have received Australian Government funded disability-related support payments.

Currently, this does not represent all people with disability in Australia. It is an interim method agreed for use through the NDDA co-governance arrangements until data improvements make more suitable additional data available. For more information, see the NDDA Disability Indicators Explanatory Notes.

Data limitations

The measures in the Outcomes Framework reflect what the Strategy would ideally like to track. However, most data collections used for reporting were not set up for the specific purpose of reporting against the Strategy. In the case of administrative data collections, statistical reporting is generally a secondary purpose to the data’s primary role in relation to service delivery. Some ADS OF dashboard measures have been revised slightly so that they align more closely to the available data; other measures have been revised slightly to clarify the intent of the measure. These adjustments are noted in the relevant ‘measure’ section of the report.

The complexities of disability sometimes make it difficult to define. A significant limitation for consistent reporting on outcomes for people with disability is the variation in how ‘disability’ is defined when data are drawn from a range of sources. The most comprehensive definition of disability comes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Survey of Disability, Aging and Carers (SDAC). Other ABS surveys such as the National Health Survey (NHS) and the PSS use the ABS Short Disability Module. Definitions of disability used by administrative collections often relate to the purpose of their service delivery. For definitions of disability used in different data sources, see ADS OF dashboard.

Currently, many collections include only the categories ‘male’ and ’female’. In some collections where additional categories are included, small numbers – together with requirements to maintain privacy – limit what can be reported. For more information, see ADS OF dashboard.

Impact of COVID-19 on baseline results

The Strategy’s start date, and the baseline data point for many indicators, fall within the period that restrictions were still in place in Australia to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community. This should be taken into account when reviewing changes over time against the baseline, particularly in relation to measures in the Employment and financial security outcome area.

For additional information on the data presented in this report, see:

References

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2024) Rural and remote health, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 8 October 2025.

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