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

A person’s mental health is a major determinant of general health and wellbeing and affects the ability to lead a productive and fulfilling life. Poor mental health can lead to lower levels of social and community engagement – and poorer education, employment and housing outcomes – which, in turn, can worsen mental health. Having appropriate, effective and accessible mental health supports and services that meet the needs of people with disability, and embedding a cross-sector approach to building mental health and wellbeing, are essential (Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031). 

High psychological distress

Psychological distress refers to a person’s overall level of psychological strain or pain. Self-reported psychological distress is an important indication of the overall mental health of a population (AIHW 2022). 

Data for this measure are based on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-10 (K10). Questions in the K10 ask about negative emotional states experienced by the participant in the last 4 weeks (ABS 2019). Higher levels of psychological distress indicate that a person may have, or is at risk of developing, mental health issues (AIHW 2022). 

The desired population outcome for this measure is to see an increase in people with disability experiencing good mental health.

For the latest data and breakdowns of the data, see Australia’s Disability Strategy Outcomes Framework | High psychological distress.

NDIS participants life satisfaction

Life satisfaction measures how people evaluate their life as a whole rather than their current feelings. Measuring life satisfaction can be helpful for understanding happiness and subjective wellbeing (OECD 2022).

The desired population outcome for this measure is to see an increase in people with disability reporting that they are happy with the life they live. Data for this measure are from the NDIS Long Form Outcomes Framework questionnaire, and include participants who responded ‘Delighted’, ‘Pleased’ or ‘Mostly satisfied’ to the question ‘Thinking about my life in general now and in the future, I feel’.

Care should be taken when looking at reported progress for this measure as there is some uncertainty in the data see Things to consider when interpreting results.

Latest results: 2022–23

• In 2022–23, 47.3% of NDIS participants aged 15–64 reported feeling satisfied about their life in general now and in the future. 
• The 2022–23 result was 1.6 percentage points higher than at baseline (2020–21) (45.7%), indicating progress since the Strategy began. However, this is the same as the 2021–22 result (47.3%) 

Things to consider when interpreting results

• Data for this measure come from the NDIS Long Form Questionnaire, and are collected from a voluntary, non-probability sample of NDIS participants over a 3‑month period (September through November). In 2022–23, the sample for the age range 15–64 was around 2,300 NDIS participants.
• The data collection has been established for NDIS longitudinal reporting, rather than the cross-sectional reporting used here. The nature of the sampling methods means that results may not be representative of the whole NDIS population. For this reason, care should be taken when looking at reported progress for this measure as there is some uncertainty in the data.
• 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.

For figure notes, see Appendix C: Figure notes and sources.

For the latest data and breakdowns of the data, see Australia’s Disability Strategy Outcomes Framework | NDIS participants’ life satisfaction.