This section looks at the impact of COVID-19 on the health of people with disability compared to people without disability. It draws on the ABS Household Impacts of COVID-19 Surveys conducted between April 2020 and June 2021, and data on the subset of the population who are NDIS participants. Note that population-wide administrative data sources about COVID-19 infections, vaccinations and deaths do not include information about disability status. For information about the impact of COVID-19 on the whole population see ‘Chapter 1 The impact of a new disease: COVID-19 from 2020, 2021 and into 2022’ in Australia’s health 2022: data insights.
COVID-19 vaccinations
Many people with disability are at an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19, both due to direct impacts of any underlying chronic conditions and to possible challenges with maintaining physical distancing and applying other COVID-19 precautions (Department of Health 2021b). For these reasons, people with disability were one of the priority groups to become eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in the early stages of Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout strategy (Department of Health 2021a).
Based on the Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey data, in June 2021, adults with disability were more likely than those without disability to report:
- having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (46% of adults with disability compared with 28% of adults without disability)
- being motivated to get a vaccine because:
- it was recommended by a general practitioner (GP) or other health professional (38% compared with 28%)
- they had health conditions which made them more vulnerable to COVID-19 (28% compared with 13%) (ABS 2021b).
See more information on COVID-19 cases and vaccinations in People with disability in Australia, Experiences of people with disability during COVID-19 pandemic and ‘Chapter 1 The impact of a new disease: COVID-19 from 2020, 2021 and into 2022’ in Australia’s health 2022: data insights.
COVID-19 cases among NDIS participants
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) collaborated with other government agencies (including the Department of Social Services, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, Services Australia, and state and territory governments) to support NDIS participants through the pandemic.
As of May 2022:
- A total of 12,721 COVID-19 cases had been reported among NDIS participants.
- There were 74 COVID-19 related deaths (0.6% of NDIS participant cases) (Department of Health 2022).
Self-assessed health
Based on the Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, in December 2020, results for self-assessed excellent or very good physical health for adults with disability compared with those without disability (25% and 64% respectively) were broadly similar to previous results for general health from the 2017–18 National Health Survey (see ‘General health’).
Results have varied throughout the COVID-19 pandemic both for adults with and without disability. However, between December 2020 and May 2021, the proportion of adults with disability reporting excellent or very good physical health was consistently lower than for those without disability (25% compared with 64% in December 2020, 21% compared with 50% in January 2021 and 29% compared with 55% in May 2021).
Psychological distress
In November 2020, as well as March and June 2021, the Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey collected information about negative events or feelings experienced by respondents in the 4 weeks leading up to the interview. This allows identification of levels of psychological distress of adults aged 18 years and over.
Adults with disability were consistently more likely to experience high or very high levels of psychological distress than those without disability (34% compared with 16% in November 2020, 30% compared with 16% in March 2021 and 29% compared with 17% in June 2021).
For more information on experiences of people with disability during the COVID-19 pandemic and their physical and mental health status, see People with disability in Australia, Experiences of people with disability during COVID-19 pandemic.
Use of mental health or support services
Adults with disability were more likely than those without disability to report that they had used at least one mental health or support service between March 2020 and April 2021 (29% of adults with disability, compared with 13% of those without disability).
The most common services used in April 2021 were (more than one service could be reported):
- GP for mental health (20% for adults with disability compared with 8.2% for those without disability)
- psychologist, psychiatrist or other mental health specialist (19% compared with 7.1% for those without disability) (ABS 2021a).
See more information on experiences of people with disability during the COVID-19 pandemic and their use of health services in People with disability in Australia, Experiences of people with disability during COVID-19 pandemic.
Use of telehealth services
In April 2021, adults with disability (21%) were more likely than those without disability (12%) to report having had a telehealth consultation in the previous 4 weeks. For adults with disability, this was a decrease from November 2020 (30%), while remaining similar for those without disability (14% in November 2020) (ABS 2020, 2021a).
For more information on the health of people with disability, see:
Visit Disability for more on this topic.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2019a) Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: summary of findings, 2018, ABS, Australian Government, accessed 14 April 2022.
ABS (2019b) Microdata: National Health Survey: First Results, 2017–18, AIHW analysis of ABS TableBuilder, accessed February 2020.
ABS (2019c) Microdata: National Health Survey: First Results, 2017–18, AIHW analysis of ABS microdata, accessed April 2019.
ABS (2020) Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, November 2020, ABS, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2022.
ABS (2021a) Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, April 2021, ABS, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2022.
ABS (2021b) Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, June 2021, ABS, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2022.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2022). People with disability in Australia, AIHW, Australian Government.
Department of Health (2021a) COVID-19 vaccination – Australia's COVID-19 vaccine national roll-out strategy, Department of Health website, accessed 20 April 2022.
Department of Health (2021b) For people with a disability | Australian Government Department of Health, Department of Health website, accessed 20 April 2022.
Department of Health (2022) Coronavirus (COVID-19) case numbers and statistics, Department of Health, accessed 2 May 2022.
NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) (2021) COAG Disability Reform Council, quarterly report, 30 June 2021, NDIA, Australian Government, accessed 14 April 2022.
WHO (World Health Organization) (2001) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, WHO, accessed 14 April 2022.