What we cannot see in the data
Hospital mental health care by disability type
Mental health care experiences and need may vary between people with different types of disability. This could not be explored in our analysis.
Read about people included in the disability flags
Populations that cannot be identified
We were not able to report the results for some populations who cannot be identified in the data used for this report. This includes First Nations people and people from the LGBTIQA+ community.
Read about how people with disability are represented
Populations that are under-represented in government disability supports
Some groups of people with disability are less likely to access government disability supports and therefore are under-represented in the National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) disability flags. This can be due to eligibility criteria as well as barriers to navigating or accessing supports. For example, people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds with disability are consistently under-represented in disability supports.
The following story highlights how difficult it can be for a person from a CALD background to access the NDIS.
‘A 58-year-old man from a migrant background lives with depression and early-stage cognitive decline following a stroke. He lives with his adult daughter, who works full-time. His NDIS access request was deemed ineligible on the grounds that his impairments were not considered permanent or sufficiently severe under the access criteria.
The notice advising that he was not eligible was issued in English only. His daughter, who translated it for him, did not fully understand the merits review pathway. They did not appeal. Without NDIS funding, he was referred to a state-funded community mental health service. The service had no in-language speaking clinicians and no budget allocated for professional interpreters.
His daughter attended appointments as an informal interpreter, disclosing her father's symptoms and emotional state to clinicians while managing her own distress. He disclosed significantly less than he might have with a professional interpreter present.
His cognitive decline progressed during this period without adequate support. His daughter reduced her working hours to provide care, placing the family under financial strain. No carer support, navigational assistance or culturally appropriate community mental health service was available to them.
He has not re-applied to the NDIS. He does not know he can.’
Hypothetical, based on real experiences of National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) members
You can read more about Who is not well-represented by the first set of disability flags?
It is important that we work towards better representing these less visible populations in our data. As the disability flags continue to improve, our ability to more accurately represent people with disability in Australia will also improve.
Broader context about accessing mental health services
The data in this report show patterns in hospital mental health care use, but they cannot show everything that shapes a person’s experience. They do not tell us about the challenges someone may face in getting support, such as how severe their mental health needs are, whether community services are available, or what barriers might make care harder to access.
The following story highlights how difficult it can be for a person from a CALD background to get appropriate support, even when they are an NDIS participant.
‘A 34-year-old woman from a refugee background lives with complex PTSD linked to her pre-migration experiences.
She has an NDIS plan recognising her psychosocial disability. Her initial planning meeting was conducted through a telephone interpreter who spoke a different regional dialect. She could not adequately explain her circumstances and was not told she could request a replacement assessment.
Over the following year, her mental health deteriorated. Her family, navigating cultural stigma around psychosocial conditions, did not seek outside help. She had not used her NDIS mental health funding because no culturally appropriate or in-language psychologist was available locally.
When she was admitted to an acute mental health unit following a crisis, no professional interpreter was arranged. Her trauma history and home circumstances were recorded as incomplete.
She was discharged with a referral to a community mental health team. At plan renewal, her psychosocial support budget was reduced. The reduction was not explained to her in language. She was not told she could request a review.’
Hypothetical, based on real experiences of National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) members