In summary, whether a person with disability has their home modified, as well as types of modifications, varies by age and level of disability (Figure NEEDS.1). For example:
- older people (aged 65 and over) with disability, and those with severe or profound disability, are the most likely to have their home modified
- while handrails and grab rails are a common adjustment for all age groups, this modification is more common among older people
- some modifications (such as structural changes) are more often made for younger people (aged under 65) than for older people (aged 65 and over).
Satisfaction with home and neighbourhood
Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey
Data in this section are sourced from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Survey is a nationally representative, household-based longitudinal study of Australian households and individuals conducted in annual waves since 2001. Members of selected households who are Australian residents and aged 15 or over are invited to participate in a personal face-to-face interview. This section presents cross-sectional analyses of the 17th wave (2017). In 2017 almost 18,000 people from around 10,000 households participated in the HILDA survey.
The HILDA Survey defines disability as an impairment, long-term health condition or disability that restricts everyday activities and has lasted, or is likely to last, for 6 months or more. This is similar to the definition of disability used by the ABS Short Disability Module. In this section people who always or sometimes need help or supervision with at least one core activity because of their disability are referred to as people with ‘severe or profound disability’. Core activities include self-care, mobility and communication. People who have a disability but do not always or sometimes need help or supervision with at least one core activity are referred to as people with ‘other disability’. The HILDA Survey does not collect information on level of disability in every wave. The most recent collection was in the 17th wave (2017) (Summerfield et al. 2019; Wilkins et al. 2019).
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 HILDA Survey collects information on 17 disability types, which have been combined into the following 6 disability groups:
- sensory: includes sight, hearing, and speech problems
- intellectual: includes difficulty learning or understanding things
- physical: includes difficulty breathing, blackouts, chronic pain, limited use of arms or fingers, difficulty gripping things, limited use of feet or legs, physical restrictions, and disfigurement or deformity
- psychosocial: includes nervous or emotional conditions, and mental illness
- head injury, stroke or other brain damage
- other: includes long-term conditions that are restrictive despite treatment or medication, and other long-term conditions.
Satisfaction with home and neighbourhood
In 2017, HILDA Survey participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with the home they live in and their neighbourhood on a 0–10 scale. Ten represents the highest level of satisfaction and 0 the lowest (DSS and MIAESR 2019). In this analysis, people who indicate a satisfaction level between 0 and 5 are referred to as not being satisfied.
One in 7 (14%) people aged 15–64 with disability are not satisfied with their home compared with 1 in 13 (7.8%) of those without disability. People with disability aged 65 and over are less likely (5.9%) to be not satisfied with their home than those aged 15–64. Of people with disability aged 15–64:
- those with severe or profound disability are more likely (20%) to be not satisfied than those with other disability status (13%)
- those with intellectual disability or psychosocial disability are more likely to be not satisfied (19% and 17% respectively) than those with sensory disability (11%), and 14% of those with physical disability are not satisfied (DSS and MIAESR 2019).
People with disability aged 15–64 are more than twice as likely (17%) to be not satisfied with their neighbourhood as those without disability (8.0%). People with disability aged 65 and over are less likely (8.5%) to be not satisfied with their neighbourhood than those aged 15–64, but almost 3 times as likely as people without disability aged 65 and over (2.9%). Of people with disability aged 15–64:
- females are more likely (19%) to be not satisfied with their neighbourhood than males (15%)
- those with severe or profound disability are more likely (24%) than those with other disability status (16%)
- those with intellectual disability or psychosocial disability are more likely to be not satisfied (24% and 25% respectively) than those with sensory disability 18%, and 20% of those with physical disability are not satisfied (DSS and MIAESR 2019).
Moving house
What is meant by moving house?
The HILDA Survey is collected every year from the same people, although not all people respond every year and some new people are added to the survey. HILDA asks continuing respondents whether they have moved house since their last interview. It asks new respondents whether they have moved in the previous 12 months (DSS and MIAESR 2019).
How is remoteness defined?
The remoteness categories used in HILDA are based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard Remoteness Area framework (Summerfield et al. 2019).
AIHW analysis of HILDA 2017 data shows that 12% of people with disability had moved house in the previous year or since their last interview. Younger people with disability aged 15–24 or 25–34 are more likely (21% and 28% respectively) to have moved house than those aged 55–64 (8.6%) or 65 and over (6.6%). This is similar for people without disability. Of people aged 15–64:
- 16% of those with disability had moved house in the previous year or since their last interview and 18% of those without disability
- those with disability in Major cities were less likely (13%) to have moved than those in Inner regional areas (20%), or Outer regional, remote and very remote areas (21%)
- reasons for moving for those with disability who had moved house were family (30%), lifestyle (24%), getting a larger or better place (17%), property no longer available (16%), job or study (10%), getting a smaller or less expensive place (9.6%), health reasons (7.6%) and other reasons (4.2%)
- those with disability who have moved are more likely (7.6%) to have done so for health reasons than those without disability (0.7%)
- those with disability who have moved are less likely to have done so for lifestyle reasons (24%) or job or study (10%) than those without disability (31% and 16% respectively)
- more than half (55%) of continuing respondents with disability who have moved house since their last interview moved less than 10km from their previous home, 1 in 3 (32%) moved between 10km and less than 100km, and 1 in 8 (13%) moved 100km or more (DSS and MIAESR 2019).
Need to move house
What is meant by need to move house?
The SDAC collects information on whether people living in households have ever needed to move house because of their condition or age.
One in 12 people with disability (8.6% or 358,000) have moved house because of their condition or age. People with severe or profound disability (15% or 187,000) are more than twice as likely as people with other disability (5.8% or 172,000) to have done so. Younger people (aged under 65) with disability (8.2% or 197,000) are about as likely as older people (aged 65 and over) with disability (9.3% or 164,000) to have done so (Figure NEEDS.2).