Introduction
People with disability may have specific housing-related needs. These can include modifying their dwelling, moving to more suitable accommodation, or moving closer to other services.
Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers
Data in this section are largely sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC). The SDAC is the most detailed and comprehensive source of data on disability prevalence in Australia.
The SDAC considers that a person has disability if they have at least one of a list of limitations, restrictions or impairments, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least 6 months and restricts everyday activities.
The limitations are grouped into 10 activities associated with daily living – self-care, mobility, communication, cognitive or emotional tasks, health care, reading or writing tasks, transport, household chores, property maintenance, and meal preparation. The SDAC also identifies 2 other life areas in which people may experience restriction or difficulty as a result of disability – schooling and employment.
The severity of disability is defined by whether a person needs help, has difficulty, or uses aids or equipment with 3 core activities – self-care, mobility, and communication – and is grouped for mild, moderate, severe, and profound limitation. People who always or sometimes need help with one or more core activities, have difficulty understanding or being understood by family or friends, or can communicate more easily using sign language or other non-spoken forms of communication are referred to in this section as ‘people with severe or profound disability’.
Disability group
Disability group is a broad categorisation of disability. It is based on underlying health conditions and on impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. It is not a diagnostic grouping, nor is there a one-to-one correspondence between a health condition and a disability group.
The ABS SDAC broadly groups disabilities depending on whether they relate to functioning of the mind or the senses, or to anatomy or physiology. Each disability group may refer to a single disability or be composed of a number of broadly similar disabilities. The SDAC identifies 6 separate groups based on the particular type of disability; these are:
- sensory and speech (sight, hearing, speech)
- intellectual (difficulty learning or understanding)
- physical (including breathing difficulties, chronic or recurrent pain, incomplete use of limbs and more)
- psychosocial (including nervous or emotional conditions, mental illness, memory problems, and social or behavioural difficulties)
- head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury
- other (restrictions in everyday activities due to other long-term conditions or ailments) (ABS 2019).
Modifications to accommodation
Some people with disability may need modifications to buildings or fittings to help them move around or live with greater independence.
Of people living in private dwellings:
- 1 in 8 (12% or 511,000) with disability, and 1 in 4 (26% or 314,000) with severe or profound disability, have modifications made to their home because of their condition or age
- 1 in 5 (20% or 359,000) aged 65 and over with disability, and 2 in 5 (41% or 210,000) aged 65 and over with severe or profound disability, have done so
- those with disability aged under 25 (5.0% or 32,000) or 25–64 (7.0% or 124,000) are less likely to have done so than those aged 65 and over (20% or 359,000) (Table NEEDS.1).
Table NEEDS.1: People with disability(a) whose dwelling has been modified, by disability status and age group (%), 2018
Disability status
|
Under 25
|
25–64
|
65 and over
|
All ages
|
Severe or profound disability
|
8.5
|
19.9
|
40.6
|
25.5
|
Other disability
|
**
|
3.1
|
11.8
|
6.7
|
All with disability
|
5.0
|
7.0
|
20.3
|
12.2
|
** Estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use.
(a) People with disability living in households.
Source: ABS 2019; see also Table NEED2.
The percentage of people with disability living in private dwellings who have modifications made to their home varies by disability group and increases with age:
- People with head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury are more likely to have modifications made to their home than any other disability group. 14% (24,000) of those aged under 65 with disability caused by head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury and 38% (42,000) of those aged 65 and over have modifications made to their home.
- The increase by age is lowest for people with sensory or speech disability, and those with sensory or speech disability aged 65 and over are also least likely (21%, or 178,000) to have modifications made to their home compared with people aged 65 and over of any other disability group (Table NEEDS.2).
Table NEEDS.2: People with disability(a) whose dwelling has been modified, by disability group and age group (%), 2018
Disability group
|
Under 65
|
65 and over
|
All ages
|
Sensory and speech
|
8.5
|
20.8
|
16.0
|
Intellectual
|
7.5
|
30.8
|
11.2
|
Physical restriction
|
10.0
|
25.3
|
17.1
|
Psychosocial
|
9.9
|
33.9
|
15.3
|
Head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury
|
14.3
|
38.4
|
22.5
|
Other
|
11.1
|
31.2
|
19.5
|
(a) People with disability living in households.
Source: ABS 2019; see also Table NEED4.
For those with disability who have their home modified:
- almost half of those aged under 65 (47% or 74,000) have the toilet, bath or laundry modified, and 47% (or 168,000) of those aged 65 and over
- almost half of those aged under 65 (46% or 72,000) have handrails or grab rails installed, compared with 3 in 4 (74% or 264,000) of those aged 65 and over
- 23% (or 36,000) of those aged under 65 have ramps installed, and 21% (or 74,000) of those aged 65 and over (Figure NEEDS.1).