Inclusive homes and communities
Outcome: People with disability live in inclusive, accessible and well-designed homes and communities.
Why is this outcome area important?
Having the option of an affordable, appropriate, and long-term place to live in a community that is accessible and inclusive is central to how people with disability live, work and socialise (Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031). Ensuring that public buildings and facilities, and public transport, are accessible to people with disability is crucial to an inclusive society. With services increasingly online across all aspects of life, access to technology and accessibility of online services is also crucial for people with disability to be digitally included.
Under the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Australia has an obligation to recognise the right of all persons with disabilities have adequate standard of living and to live in the community with appropriate supports, in addition to ensuring persons with disabilities have access to the physical environment and to transportation (UN 2006a, 2006b, 2006c).
What are the policy priorities?
- Housing affordability/stress: Improving access to affordable housing for people with disability.
- Housing accessibility: Making sure people with disability can live in homes that meet their needs.
- Social inclusion and participation: Supporting the inclusion of people with disability in their communities.
- The built and natural environment accessibility: Making sure the buildings and facilities people with disability visit are accessible.
- Transport system accessibility: Making sure people with disability can access the public transport they need.
- Information and communication systems accessibility: Supporting people with disability to be able to find and use information they need.
Measures
For the 6 policy priorities under this outcome area, data are available for 3 system measures and 6 population measures (Table 3.1).
There is 1 measure where baseline data are included in this report for the first time. There are also 4 measures with updated post-baseline data in this report all of which showed regress.
For future measures requiring development, see Future measures.
Policy priority | Measure | Baseline time point | Baseline value | Latest time point | Latest value | Change since baseline(f) | Progress status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Housing affordability and stress | Average time waited for newly allocated households with a member with disability in public housing or SOMIH* (system measure) | 2020–21 | 413 days 389 days | 2021–22 | 562 days 416 days | 149 days 27 days | Regress
Regress |
Housing affordability and stress | Proportion of households with at least one person with disability in lowest 40% income whose housing costs exceed 30% of household income (system measure) | 2019–20 | 17.7% | 2019–20 | 17.7% | n.a. | Not known yet |
Housing accessibility | Proportion of social housing dwellings that meet Livable Housing Design silver accessibility standards(a) (system measure) | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
Housing accessibility | Proportion of NDIS participants who are happy with current home(b) (population measure) | 2021–22 Q2 | 73.4% | 2022–23 Q4 | 72.8% | -0.6 pp | Regress |
Social inclusion and participation | Proportion of NDIS participants who spend free time doing activities that interest them(c) (system measure) | 2021–22 Q2 | 65.5% | 2022–23 Q4 | 64.3% | -1.2 pp | Regress |
Social inclusion and participation | Proportion of people with disability who participated in community or social activities in the past 12 months* (population measure) | 2018 | 95.1% | 2018 | 95.1% | n.a. | Not known yet |
The built and natural environment accessibility | Proportion of people with disability who have difficulty accessing government buildings (system measure) | 2018 | 8.1% | 2018 | 8.1% | n.a. | Not known yet |
The built and natural environment accessibility | Proportion of people with disability who had no difficulty accessing buildings or facilities in the last 12 months (population measure) | 2018 | 69.1% | 2018 | 69.1% | n.a. | Not known yet |
Transport system accessibility | Proportion of people with disability who can use all forms of public transport with no difficulty(d) (population measure) | 2018 | 66.3% | 2018 | 66.3% | n.a. | Not known yet |
Information and communication systems accessibility | Difference in digital inclusion between people with disability and the Australian population*(e) (population measure) | 2021 | 9.1 points | 2022 | 11.7 points | 2.6 points | Regress |
* 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 (see Appendix B: List of measures). Back to content Back to content Back to content Back to content Back to content Back to content
n.a. – not available; pp – percentage points; SOMIH – state owned and managed Indigenous housing.
- Data for this measure are being developed.
- This measure will be replaced in the future by ‘Proportion of people with disability whose home is suitable and accessible’.
- This measure will be replaced in the future by ‘Number of community, political, social, recreational, sporting, religious and cultural groups that have active inclusion policies for people with disability’.
- This measure will be replaced in the future by ‘Proportion of people with disability who can access public or private transport when needed’.
- This measure will be replaced in the future by ‘Proportion of people with disability reporting the internet sites and apps they want to use are accessible’.
- n.a. indicates that there has not been an additional data point post-baseline to enable an assessment of progress.
Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031 (2021), Department of Social Services, Australian Government, accessed 5 September 2023.
UN (2006a) ‘Article 9 – Accessibility’, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UN, accessed 3 November 2023.
—— (2006b) ‘Article 19 – Living independently and being included in the community’, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UN, accessed 3 November 2023.
—— (2006c) ‘Article 28 – Adequate standard of living and social protection’, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UN, accessed 3 November 2023.
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