People with disability in Australia 2026

Introduction

This summary presents key findings on experiences and outcomes for people with disability in various areas of life. The People with disability in Australia 2026 report includes detailed information on Disability population and characteristics of disability and Health of people with disability. Detailed analyses on other topics will be released in future updates of this report.

Topics ‘How many people have disability’ and ‘Health of people with disability’ are also available as downloadable fact sheets. These fact sheets can be accessed from the Related material link in the left navigation menu. Fact sheets for other topics will follow in future releases.

How many people have disability?

People with disability are diverse. They have different types of disability and different support needs, and come from all demographic and socioeconomic groups. For example, of people with disability in 2022:

• 51% were female
• 9.4% were aged under 15, 49% were aged 15–64, and 42% were aged 65 and over
• 3.5% (of those living in households) identified as First Nations people
• 26% were born overseas, including 15% in non-English speaking countries
• 25% reported a mental or behavioural disorder as their main condition (the condition causing them the most problems) and 75% reported a physical disorder as their main condition
• 37% had severe or profound disability – that is, needed assistance with one or more core activities of self-care, mobility, and communication
• 51% (of those aged 5 and over and living in households) had a schooling or employment restriction.

6 in 10 people with disability living in households needed assistance with one or more activities of daily living:

• 30% needed assistance with health care
• 25% needed assistance with cognitive or emotional tasks
• 25% needed assistance with mobility
• 46% of those aged 65 and over needed assistance with property maintenance (24% of those aged 15–64).

Just over half (53%) of people with disability (living in households) use aids or equipment to assist with daily tasks:

• 24% use aids to assist with communication
• 23% use medical aids to manage health conditions
• 16% use aids to assist with mobility.

Disability rates increase with age – the longer people live, the more likely they are to experience some form of disability. In 2022:

• 11% of children aged 0–14 years had disability
• 14% of people aged 15–24 years had disability 
• 17% of people aged 25–64 years had disability
• 52% of people aged 65 years and over had disability.

The rate of disability in Australia increased between 2018 and 2022, from 18% to 21%. This could be because people have a better understanding of disability now than they did in the past. It could also be because some health conditions have become more common, or because new 2022 data collection methods were better at identifying disability.

People in Australia are living longer. As life expectancy goes up, so do the numbers of years people can expect to live with and without disability. Living with disability does not mean poor health, and the years lived with and without disability are equally valuable. Knowing the number of years people are expected to live with and without disability helps shape policies and services to support good health, independence, and community involvement.

• Boys born in 2003 could expect to live 78 years on average, of them 59 years without disability and 19 years with disability. Girls born in 2003 could expect to live 83 years on average, of them 62 years without disability and 21 years with disability.
• Boys born in 2022 can expect to live 81 years on average, of them 62 years without disability and 20 years with disability. Girls born in 2022 can expect to live 85 years on average, of them 64 years without disability and 22 years with disability.

Health of people with disability

People with disability are more likely than those without disability to have poor general and mental health, and higher levels of bodily pain.

People with disability have higher health risk factors than those without disability. In 2022:

• 14% of adults (aged 18 and over) with disability smoked daily, compared with 8.7% of those without disability.
• 39% of adults with disability had a BMI in the obese range, compared with 28% of those without disability.

Health risk factors are higher for some groups of people with disability than others. For example, in 2022:

• 37% of men (aged 18 and over) with disability exceeded alcohol consumption guidelines, compared with 18% of women with disability. This pattern is similar to the general Australian population.
• 41% of people with disability aged 65 and over had uncontrolled high blood pressure, compared with 22% of those aged 18–64.

Some people with disability experience barriers to accessing and using health services. These include long waiting times, high cost of services, the accessibility of buildings, and a need for coordination of care among health professionals. In 2022:

• 46% of people with disability who did not see a dental professional when needed said cost was the main reason
• 43% of people with disability who did not see a GP when needed said waiting time or service availability was the main reason
• nearly half (47%) of people with severe or profound disability saw 3 or more health professionals for the same condition, as did one-third (35%) of people with disability other than severe or profound
• more than 1 in 10 (11%) people with disability aged 5 and over who had challenges with communication or mobility had difficulty accessing medical facilities.

Attitudes of health workers are an important factor in service use experience. In 2024, 15% of adults (aged 18+) with disability who had used health services in the past 12 months felt they would have been treated better by health workers if they did not have disability.

Social support

In this report, social support refers to government-funded supports provided by specialist disability services. This topic also covers social inclusion and the experiences of people with disability when accessing key mainstream services.

Government-funded specialist disability support services are now largely provided through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). 

Among NDIS participants in December 2025:

• 61% were males and 38% were females
• 43% had autism as their primary disability
• 8.3% identified as First Nations people
• 8.7% identified as culturally and linguistically diverse
• 1.5% were from remote and very remote areas (NDIA 2026).

In 2022, around 6 in 10 (61%) people with disability needed assistance with activities of daily living (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024b). Of people who needed assistance:

• 57% received assistance from formal service providers (organisations or individuals providing regular paid care; the services they cover may include mainstream services and specialist disability services such as those provided by the NDIS). Most of this group also received some assistance from informal providers (such as friends and family).
• 33% received assistance from informal providers only
• 10% received no assistance (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024b).

About a third (35%) of people with disability who needed assistance with activities had an unmet need for formal assistance. This meant they either received some formal assistance but needed more (22%), or needed formal assistance but did not receive any (13%) (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024b).

Satisfaction with assistance from formal providers varied in 2022. Among people with disability aged 15 and over living in households who received assistance from formal providers:

• 83% were satisfied with the quality of services, and 57% were satisfied with the range of services available (where levels of satisfaction could be determined) (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024b).

People with disability may experience lower rates of social participation and greater risk of isolation and loneliness than those without disability:

• About 1 in 18 (5.6%) people with disability (aged 15 and over and living in households) had not seen family or friends living outside of the same household in the last 3 months in 2022 (ABS 2024a).
• 1 in 5 (19%) people with disability aged 15–64 experienced social isolation (lack of social contact with others) in 2021, compared with 9.5% of those without disability (AIHW analysis of DSS & MIAESR 2022).
• 3 in 10 (29%) people with disability aged 15–64 reported in 2021 that they often felt lonely, compared with 17% of those without disability (AIHW analysis of DSS & MIAESR 2022).

Positive experiences when accessing services are essential in enabling full social and economic participation of people with disability. In 2024, among people with disability aged 18 and over who accessed key mainstream services (health care, education, personal and community support, and justice and legal):

• around 9 in 10 said they were treated with respect when accessing the services (AIHW 2025a)
• people with severe or profound disability, those who are younger, and people with intellectual or psychosocial disability had less positive service experiences (AIHW 2025a).

Safety, rights and justice

Each year, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) receives more complaints about disability discrimination than about any other form of discrimination. In 2024–25, 47% of AHRC complaints were about disability discrimination (AHRC 2025).

In 2022, of people aged 15–64 with disability living in households:

• 15% had experienced disability discrimination in the past year
• 45% had avoided situations because of their disability in the past year (ABS 2024a).

Barriers to accessing buildings and facilities can represent a form of discrimination. In 2022, among people aged 5–64 with disability living in households and who went to places away from their place of residence:

• 1 in 3 (34%) had difficulty using at least some forms of public transport, or were unable to use public transport at all 
• 1 in 4 (23%) of those who had challenges with mobility or communication had difficulty accessing buildings or facilities (AIHW 2024c).

Experiences of violence

Men are much more likely to experience physical violence than women. The proportions of men who reported in 2021–22 that they have experienced physical violence in the last 2 years were similar for men with disability (9.8%) and men without disability (9.0%) (ABS 2023a).

Women with disability (aged 18 and over) are more likely to have recent experiences of violence than women without disability. In 2021–22:

• 5.8% of women with disability have experienced physical violence in the last 2 years, compared with 4.2% without disability (ABS 2023a)
• 4.0% experienced sexual violence in the last 2 years, compared with 2.5% (ABS 2023b)
• 7.0% experienced emotional abuse by a cohabiting partner in the last 2 years, compared with 4.6% (ABS 2023c)
• 4.6% experienced economic abuse by a cohabiting partner in the last 2 years, compared with 2.4% (ABS 2023c)
• 14% experienced sexual harassment in the last 12 months, compared with 12% (ABS 2023d).

Some groups of women with disability are more likely to have experienced violence. Women with psychosocial disability (such as disability arising from emotional, nervous, or mental health condition, memory problems, or social or behavioural difficulties) are more likely to have recent experiences of violence, abuse and harassment than other women with or without disability (ABS 2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023d).

Housing

Housing plays a key role in the health and wellbeing of people with disability, by providing shelter, safety and security. The availability of affordable, sustainable and appropriate housing helps people with disability participate in social, economic and community aspects of life.

Most people with disability live in the community, in private dwellings like houses or apartments or self-care retirement villages. In 2022:

• 97% of people with disability lived in the community and 3.3% lived in cared accommodation such as hospitals, nursing homes, or group homes
• among people with severe or profound disability, 85% lived in the community
• almost all people with disability aged under 65 lived in the community, while 2.6% of people with disability aged 65–79 and 17% of those aged 80 and over lived in cared accommodation 
• 22% of people with disability living in the community were living alone, compared with 8.0% of people without disability 
• 11% of people with disability living in the community were living in a dwelling that was modified to their needs (ABS 2024a). 

Most people with disability live in a home that is owned by themselves or their families (for dependent children) (57% in 2022), either with or without a mortgage (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024c). If renting, people with disability are more likely to be living in social housing than people without disability; in 2022, this was the case for 20% of renters with disability and 4.2% for those without disability (AIHW analysis of ABS 2024c).

At June 2024, 1 in 5 (21%) individuals and families receiving Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) received Disability Support Pension (DSP) as their primary income support payment. About 3 in 10 (30%) individuals and families receiving CRA and DSP were in rental stress (after CRA); this was lower than for all CRA recipients (42%) (AIHW 2025b).

At June 2024, almost 4 in 10 (38%) households living in social housing had at least one person with disability (AIHW 2025b). 

• A quarter (24%) of social housing households with disability lived in overcrowded conditions (at June 2024), compared with 52% of households with no reported disability (AIHW 2025b). 
• In 2023, 71% of social housing households that had at least one person with disability had their needs for safety and security of home met; 63% were satisfied with thermal comfort of their home (AIHW 2024a).

Among Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) clients in 2024–25, 3.1% (or 9,100) had severe or profound disability (AIHW 2025c). SHS clients with disability tend to have higher housing-related support needs:

• 63% of clients with severe or profound disability had a need for accommodation provision (compared with 59% of all clients), 33% needed assistance to sustain housing tenure (30% of all clients), and 12% needed mental health assistance (8.4% of all clients). 
• clients with severe or profound disability had on average 2.1 support periods in 2024–25 (compared with 1.7 for all clients) (AIHW 2025c).

Education and skills

In 2022, 86% children and young people with disability aged 5–20 were attending a school or other educational institution (ABS 2025).

Some children with disability cannot attend school due to their disability. Those who do attend school can attend a mainstream school or a specialist school. Some students in mainstream schools also attend special classes at their school.

In 2022, among children and young people aged 5–20 with disability (and who were either attending school or could not attend due to disability):

• 18% attended special classes in a mainstream school
• 10% went to a specialist school
• 5.5% could not attend school because of disability (ABS 2025).

In 2022, about 6 in 10 (59%) children and young people aged 5–20 with disability (and who attended school or other educational institution) received study-related supports (ABS 2025). The remaining 41% did not receive supports. Many students with disability had unmet need for educational supports:

• of those who were receiving supports, 40% needed more 
• of those who did not receive supports, 26% needed them (ABS 2025).

People with disability generally have lower educational attainment and post-school engagement than people without disability. In 2022:

• 55% of people with disability aged 15–64 had completed year 12 or equivalent in school, compared with 73% of those without disability (ABS 2024a)
• 22% of people with disability aged 15–64 had completed a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 37% of those without disability (ABS 2024a)
• 53% of young people with disability (aged 15–24) were engaged in full-time or part-time studies, compared with 65% of those without disability (ABS 2025).

Employment

Employment is linked not only to income and economic security, but also to other aspects of a person’s wellbeing. Barriers to finding or keeping employment can affect a person’s standard of living and mental health as well as have broader impacts on their family and the community.

People with disability are less likely to participate in the labour force than people without disability. In 2022, for people aged 15–64:

• 61% of people with disability were in the labour force (working or looking for work), compared with 85% of those without disability. Among people with severe or profound disability, 37% were in the labour force.
• The labour force participation rate was similar for males and females with disability (60% and 61%, respectively).
• Of people with disability who were not in the labour force, 46% were permanently unable to work (ABS 2024a).

People with disability are less likely to be employed, and if employed, are more likely to work part time, compared with those without disability. In 2022, for people aged 15–64: 

• 56% of people with disability were employed (82% without disability).
• 33% of people with disability were working full time (58% without disability), and 23% were working part time (24% without disability).
  • Among people who were employed, 41% of those with disability were working part time, compared with 30% of those without disability.
• Just under 1 in 20 (4.4%) people with disability and 4.2% of people without disability were underemployed (worked part time and wanted to work more hours).
• The unemployment rate was twice as high for people with disability (7.5%) as for those without disability (3.1%) (ABS 2024a).

Most employed people with disability aged 15–64 do not require additional supports from their employer to work (88% in 2022) and do not need additional time off from work due to their disability (83% in 2022) (ABS 2024a).

From the employers’ perspective, challenges in employing people with disability ranged from difficulty in finding qualified people (76% in 2024) to managers’ attitudes (55%). Just over 1 in 4 (27%) employers said their workplaces were more prepared to hire someone with disability now than they were 12 months ago (11% were less prepared, and 62% were unchanged from last year) (AIHW 2025a).

Income and finance

The type and level of income can provide insights into people’s standard of living and economic security. Stable income can provide economic security to support a standard of living and cover essential needs, both now and in the future. Economic security can enhance a person’s overall wellbeing and enable full participation in social, economic, political and cultural life.

People with disability are less likely to receive income from wages or salary, and more likely to receive income from government payments than those without disability. In 2022, for people aged 15–64:

• 49% of people with disability received income mainly from wages or salary (76% without disability)
• 28% of people with disability received income mainly from government payments (5.0% without disability) (ABS 2024a).

People with disability are more likely to live in a low-income household than people without disability. In 2022:

• 19% of people with disability aged 15–64 lived in a household with low weekly equivalised household income (bottom 20% of the distribution), compared with 9.2% of people without disability
• in the 65 and over age group, 33% of people with disability and 26% without disability had household income in the bottom 20% (ABS 2024a).

The median income of people with disability aged 15–64 was $575 per week, compared with $1,055 for those without disability – an income gap of $480 per week. For people with severe and profound disability, median income was $450 per week, meaning an income gap of $605 per week compared with people without disability (AIHW 2024b).

For employed people aged 15–64 with disability, the median weekly income in 2022 was $1,100. While this figure is closer to the income of employed people without disability ($1,247), a gap of $147 per week still remains (AIHW 2024b).

People with disability are more likely to experience financial insecurity. In 2021:

• 25% of people with disability aged 15–64 said they would not be able to raise $3,000 in a week for an emergency (9.4% without disability)
• 8.8% of people with disability aged 15–64 went without meals due to a shortage of money (2.3% without disability)
• 16% of people with disability could not pay utility bills on time (9.1% without disability) (AIHW analysis of DSS & MIAESR 2022).

Disability Support Pension (DSP) is one of Australia’s most prevalent income support payments for people of working age. Around 1 in 4 (27%) income support payment recipients aged 16–64 were in receipt of DSP in March 2026 (DSS 2026).

Key data gaps

People with disability in Australia report uses information from many data sources, including surveys and administrative (government) data. While these help us better understand experiences of people with disability, there are still some things we do not know.

For example, there is a lack of information on:

• what services (both mainstream and specialist) people with disability use
• unmet need for services (within and outside the NDIS)
• the use of restrictive practices (such as seclusion and physical or chemical restraints)
• people with disability in closed and segregated settings (such as specialist schools or group homes)
• supported decision-making for people with disability, such as whether people with disability feel supported to make their own choices and remain in control of their lives
• transition pathways of people with disability at key life points, such as from school to further education or employment
• how much contact people with disability have with the justice and child protection systems, as victims and as offenders
• the quality and sustainability of the disability workforce
• causes of death of people with disability – such as potentially avoidable deaths. 

These gaps are mainly due to issues with existing data. These include different definitions of disability, barriers to data sharing, or services not collecting information about disability. 

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability noted these data gaps and gave recommendations on what needs to be fixed. The Commission’s recommendations touched on upholding the rights of people with disability, supporting them make their own choices, making it easier to use services, and making sure everyone can take part in education, have a job, and live in suitable housing.

Opportunities to enhance the evidence base about people with disability include:

• improving the quality and comparability of data across sources by adopting more consistent definitions, or adding a disability ‘flag’ to mainstream data collections
• maximising the use of existing data sources by bringing together information from multiple sources, such as in this report
• adding to data sources, including by developing new data collections and through data linkage.

An example of a recent data linkage initiative is the National Disability Data Asset. The asset was developed by the Australian and state and territory governments in partnership with people with disability and the wider disability community. It brings together de‑identified data from different government agencies. The purpose of the asset is to better understand and meet the needs of people with disability. The first step towards achieving that purpose was the development of disability flags (Measuring disability factsheet | NDDA).

Another example of a new data source is the Australia’s Disability Strategy Survey (ADS Survey). The ADS Survey was set up by the Australian Government as part of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031. The first round of data was collected in 2022. The aim of the survey is to collect data about disability awareness and attitudes in key service sectors (such as education and health care) and in the broad community. The survey also asks people with disability about their experiences when interacting with the services and being in the community. Reports on the survey can be found at Australia’s Disability Strategy Hub – Data and Research. 

The data gaps and opportunities discussed here are just a starting point. The AIHW continues to work with other statistical agencies and data custodians to make the data about people with disability more complete and easier to collect, share, and use.