People with disability – specialised support services

Many Australians, including those with disability, use social support services intermittently throughout their life – for example, during periods of unemployment, relationship breakdown or in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Other Australians may need longer-term support to participate in all facets of life.

People with disability who need support may use specialist disability services (provided specifically for people with disability), mainstream services (such as education, healthcare and housing), and/or be supported by informal carers. They may also receive financial assistance (income support) to assist with everyday costs of living.

This page mainly focuses on one part of this system of supports – specialist disability services funded or provided by government. For information about the diverse experiences of people with disability when accessing mainstream services, see People with disability in Australia.

How many people have disability?

In 2022 (according to the latest available data on disability prevalence), an estimated 5.5 million Australians, or 21% of the population, had some form of disability (ABS 2024a).

The number of people with disability has increased since 2018 (4.4 million), as did the prevalence of disability (proportion of the population who have disability). In 2018, it was estimated that 18% of Australians had disability (ABS 2024a). The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2024a) notes that several factors may have contributed to the rise in reported disability prevalence, including:

• a growing awareness of disability in Australia
• a general increase in prevalence of some long-term health conditions
• changes in data collection methods
• an ageing population.

While each of these factors may have played a role in the increase of reported disability prevalence, it is not possible to determine how much impact they may have had (ABS 2024a).

In 2022, of people with disability:

• 48% (or an estimated 2.7 million) were males and 51% (or an estimated 2.8 million) were females
• 9.4% were aged 14 or under, 22% were aged 15–44, 27% were aged 45–64, and 42% were aged 65 or over
• 75% reported a physical condition as their main underlying health condition (the condition causing them the most problems), and 25% had a mental or behavioural disorder as their main condition
• 37% (an estimated 2.0 million people, or 7.9% of the Australian population) had severe or profound disability (ABS 2024a, AIHW analysis of ABS 2024b and ABS 2024c; Figure 1).

The prevalence of disability increases with age (Figure 2). Around 1 in 7 (15%, or 3.2 million) people aged under 65 have some level of disability, rising to 1 in 2 (52%, or 2.3 million) for those aged 65 and over (ABS 2024a). This means that the longer we live, the more likely we are to experience some form of disability.

Disability does not necessarily equate to poor health or illness. For more information about experiences of people with disability across various aspects of life see People with disability in Australia.

Children with disability

In 2022, 5.7% (about 86,000) of children aged under 5 and 14% (about 433,000) of children aged 5–14 had disability (ABS 2024a).

The prevalence of disability among children has increased between 2018 and 2022, after remaining relatively stable between 2003 and 2018: 

• The prevalence of disability among children aged under 5 increased from 3.7% (about 58,000) in 2018 to 5.7% in 2022.
• The prevalence of disability among children aged 5–14 increased from 9.6% (about 299,000) in 2018 to 14% in 2022 (ABS 2024a).

Older Australians with disability

In 2022:

• just over half (52% or 2.3 million people) of older Australians (aged 65 and over) had disability, up from 50% or 1.9 million in 2018
• the prevalence of disability among older Australians increases with age, from 40% of those aged 65–69 to 83% of those aged 90 and over (ABS 2024a).

Do people with disability get the support they need?

People with disability may require assistance with common everyday activities, such as showering or dressing, moving around, housework and gardening, or using transport. Assistance can be formal (provided by formal organisations or paid providers) or informal (provided by family, friends or neighbours). Not all people with disability require or use formal or informal assistance. 

In 2022, around 61% (or an estimated 3.2 million people) of people with disability living in households identified as needing help with at least one of 10 activities of daily living. The most common activities people needed help with were property maintenance (30%), health care (30%), and cognitive or emotional tasks (25%) (ABS 2024a).

Among people with disability living in households who needed assistance with activities, 57% received assistance from formal providers and 76% received assistance from informal providers (ABS 2024a); 43% received assistance from both types of providers (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024b). However, about 1 in 10 (10%, or an estimated 335,000) people needing assistance did not receive any assistance (ABS 2024a). 

Looking at the receipt and need for formal assistance only, of the people with disability who need assistance with daily activities:

• 52% have no unmet need for formal assistance: they either receive some formal assistance and do not need any more (27%), or have no need for formal assistance (25%)
• 35% have an unmet need for formal assistance: they either receive some formal assistance but need more (22%), or need formal assistance but do not receive any (13%)
• 13% are not sure if they need more, or any, formal assistance (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024b).

About 6 in 10 (57%) people with disability (aged 15 and over and living in households) who received or needed formal assistance were satisfied with the range of services available to assist with all activities they needed assistance for (where the level of satisfaction could be determined) (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024b). About 8 in 10 (83%) of those who received formal assistance in the last 6 months were satisfied with the quality of all services received (where the level of satisfaction could be determined) (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024b).

What formal specialist disability services are provided?

Specialist disability services are now largely provided through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). One notable exception is the Disability Employment Services (DES) program administered by the Australian Government. 

This section provides information about the NDIS and the DES program. It also outlines some of the other available support services for people with disability (both specialised and mainstream), including continuity of support programs for people with disability who were ineligible to transition across to the NDIS.

National Disability Insurance Scheme

At 31 December 2024, the NDIS had around 693,000 active participants with approved plans. Of these: 

• 61% (around 421,000) were males and 37% (around 259,000) were females
• 42% (around 294,000) were aged 14 or under, 34% (around 238,000) were aged 15–44, 18% (around 124,000) were aged 45–64, and 5.2% (around 36,200) were aged 65 and over
• the top 5 primary disability groups were:
  • autism (38% or around 262,000 people)
  • intellectual disability, including Down syndrome (15%, 106,000 people)
  • developmental delay (12%, 82,100 people)
  • psychosocial disability (9.3%, 64,500 people)
  • hearing impairment (4.1%, 28,300 people)
• 8.0% of participants identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people
• 8.8% of participants identified as culturally and linguistically diverse (Figure 3, NDIA 2025a).

The number of the NDIS participants has grown steadily in the past years, increasing from around 467,000 active participants with approved plans at 30 June 2021 (NDIA 2025a). It is estimated that, by 30 June 2028, the NDIS will have more than 800,000 active participants (NDIA 2025a).

In recent years, while the overall participant numbers were growing, some sub-groups had higher growth rates than others. For example, the group of participants with a primary disability of autism has grown by 14% over the year to December 2024, and 15% over the previous year (to December 2023), compared with 7.2% and 13% annual growth rates in the same 2 years for the total number of NDIS participants (NDIA 2025b).

At 31 December 2024, there were around 159,000 children younger than 9 years (5.6% of the general population aged 0–8) with an NDIS plan, and a further 23,700 children accessed early connections during the December quarter (NDIA 2025a). Early connections are part of the NDIS early childhood approach, designed to support young children and their families. Early connections provide support by linking children and families to practical information, mainstream and community supports, and peer supports. From 1 July 2023 the NDIA extended access to early childhood arrangements, through its early childhood partners in the community, to children younger than 9. These arrangements had previously been available to children younger than 7 (NDIA 2025a). 

The NDIS regularly collects data about the ongoing experiences of participants, their families and carers during their time in the scheme, and reports on the outcomes and goals achieved (NDIA 2023b).

Disability Employment Services

The Australian Government is responsible for managing DES. 

At 31 December 2024, there were around 245,000 participants in DES (DSS 2025a). Of these:

• 53% (or about 129,000) were males and 47% (about 116,000) were females
• 45% were aged 44 and under, 49% were aged 45–64, and 6.4% were aged 65 and over
• the top 5 primary disability types were psychiatric (41%), physical (41%), autism (5.3%), neurological (3.6%), and intellectual (3.6%) 
• 75% received JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance, 13% received Disability Support Pension (DSP), 3.9% were recipients of Parenting Payment (Single or Partnered), and 1.0% received other income support payments or allowances; the remaining 7.0% were not in receipt of any income support (DSS 2025a; Figure 4).

The number of DES participants has been steadily declining since June 2021 (around 316,000) to 273,000 in December 2022, 258,000 in December 2023 and 245,000 in December 2024 (DSS 2025a). This decline is due to a range of factors, including eligibility changes to the DES program made in 2021 and stronger labour market demand post COVID-19 lockdowns (AIHW 2025).

In line with declining participant numbers, DES employment placements fell from around 107,000 placements in 2021–22 to 90,000 in 2022–23 and 70,000 during 2023–24. The number of 26-week sustained employment outcomes also decreased over this period, from 48,000 in 2021–22, to 46,000 in 2022–23 and 35,000 in 2023–24 (DSS 2022, 2024).

From 1 November 2025, a new specialist disability employment program, Inclusive Employment Australia, will replace the current DES program (DSS 2025b).

Other specialised and mainstream supports

In Australia, governments also provide other services (specialised and mainstream) that support people with disability, including:

• the Disability Gateway, an Australian Government initiative aiming to assist all people with disability, their families and carers to locate and access services across Australia
• the National Disability Advocacy Program, which provides people with disability with access to effective disability advocacy that promotes, protects and ensures their full and equal enjoyment of all human rights 
• the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building program, which provides funding to deliver community projects that benefit all people with disability, their carers and families
• JobAccess, a national hub for workplace and employment information for people with disability, employers and service providers
• the Australian Disability Parking Scheme, which helps eligible people park nearer to their destination
• My Aged Care website and contact centre, providing Australians aged 65 and over (50 or older for First Nations people), their families and carers an entry point to Australian Government-funded aged care services for the general population
• the Disability Support for Older Australians Program, providing support to people with disability aged 65 and over (50 or older for First Nations people), who were receiving state-managed specialist disability services but were not eligible for the NDIS.

Disability Support Pension

Australia’s social security system, administered by Services Australia, aims to support people who cannot, or cannot fully, support themselves financially. In general, people with disability, especially those with severe or profound disability, are more likely than people without disability to receive their income primarily from a government pension, benefit or allowance (for more information, see People with disability in Australia).

Disability Support Pension (DSP) is the primary income support payment for people aged 16 and over with disability who have a reduced capacity to work because of their impairment that is likely to persist for more than two years.

At 27 December 2024, 815,000 people aged 16 and over received DSP (DSS 2025c). Of these:

• 53% (or around 432,000 recipients) were males and 47% (or around 383,000) were females
• 31% were aged 16–44, 51% were aged 45–64, and 18% were aged 65 and over
• the most prevalent primary medical conditions (conditions associated with the highest level of impairment for the recipient) were:
  • psychological or psychiatric (38%)
  • musculoskeletal or connective tissue conditions (17%)
  • intellectual or learning conditions (15%)
  • conditions of the nervous system (5.9%)
  • circulatory system conditions (3.1%)
  • other conditions (21%) (DSS 2025c; Figure 5).

Some people with disability may be ineligible to receive DSP due to the nature of their impairment, work capacity, age, or other factors. Depending on their circumstances, people with disability may receive other income support payments, such as Age Pension, Carer Payment, Parenting Payment, JobSeeker Payment, and others. For more information on these payments as well as the DSP, see Income support payments for the working age population and Income support for older Australians.

Disability workforce

Between 2014 and 2024, there has been significant growth in the workforce of carers for people with disability and the older Australians:

• There were around 333,000 people employed as carers in 2024, a greater than two-fold increase from 133,000 in 2014. The number of employees in this occupation increased from 570 per 100,000 population in 2014 to 750 per 100,000 in 2019, and 1,200 per 100,000 in 2024 (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024d and 2024e). 
• In 2024, 23% of people in the carer occupation were employed in Residential Care Services industry, 73% were employed in Other Social Assistance Services industry, and the remaining 4.1% were employed in other industries. The share of Residential Care Services industry among this occupation group has declined from 37% in 2014 to 33% in 2019 and 23% in 2024 (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024d). This is in line with government policy and people’s preferences to continue living independently in their homes, rather than move into residential care.

For Disability Services Officers, the total workforce numbers fluctuated from 6,400 (or 27 per 100,000 population) in 2014 to 9,200 (or 34 per 100,000) in 2024, reaching a peak of 11,300 (or 44 per 100,000 population) in 2021 (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024d and 2024e). 

Where do I go for more information?

For more information about people with disability, see:

• Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers
• People with disability in Australia
• Australia’s Disability Strategy Outcomes Framework website and annual reports

For more information on NDIS participants and recipients of specialised disability services, see:

• National Disability Insurance Agency Quarterly reports
• Department of Social Services (DSS) Disability Employment Services Monthly Data
• DSS Benefit and Payment Recipient Demographics.

For more on this topic, see Disability and Disability services.