Income

41%

of people with disability aged 15–64 have income from wages or salary, compared with 73% without disability

44%

of people with disability aged 15–64 receive a government payment, compared with 12% without disability

Almost half

(45%) of single-parent families where the parent has disability have a low income

On this page:

Introduction

People with disability, and their households and families, are less likely than people without disability to have a high level of income (see Level of personal income for more information on how the level of income is measured).

Most people aged 15–64 with disability (90% or 1.8 million) have an income – and are equally likely to have one as those without disability (90% or 12.5 million) (Figure INCOME.1). However, for people aged 15–64 with disability, this income is more likely (43% or 780,000) than for those without disability (7.9% or 990,000) to come primarily from a government payment rather than from salary or wages (Figure INCOME.2).

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’.

Figure INCOME.1: Whether people have a source of income, by age group, disability status and sex, 2018

Stacked column chart showing whether people have a source of income, for people with and without disability, in 10-year age groups from 15–24 to 65 and over. The reader can select to display the chart by sex. The chart shows females with disability aged 15–24 are less likely (67%) to have a source of income than those without disability (75%).

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

Type of income

In general, people with disability, especially those with severe or profound disability, are more likely than people without disability to receive a government pension, benefit or allowance and less likely to receive income from salary or wages. Of people aged 15 and over who have a source of income:

  • government pension or allowance is the main source of income for 56% (or 2.0 million) with disability, and 76% (or 702,000) with severe or profound disability, compared with 13% (or 1.9 million) without disability
  • salary or wages, including from their own incorporated business, is the main source of income for 24% (or 840,000) with disability, and 9.7% (or 90,000) with severe or profound disability, compared with 71% (or 10.2 million) without disability (Figure INCOME.2).

Figure INCOME.2: Main source of income, by disability status, age group and sex, 2018

Stacked column chart showing main source of income for people with and without disability. The reader can select to display the chart by sex, by age group, and by disability status. The chart shows females with severe or profound disability are more likely (78%) to have government pension or allowance as their main source of income than those with other disability (52%).

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

This varies by sex, age and disability status. Of those aged 15 and over who have a source of income:

  • females with disability (23% or 411,000) are less likely than males with disability (25% or 430,000) to receive wages or salary as their main source of income
  • females with severe or profound disability (78% or 394,000) are more likely than males with severe or profound disability (73% or 306,000) to receive a government pension or allowance as their main source of income
  • people aged 65 and over with disability (3.9% or 66,000) are less likely to receive wages or salary as their main source of income than those aged 15–64 (42% or 774,000)
  • people aged 65 and over with disability (70% or 1.2 million), especially those with severe or profound disability (81% or 404,000), are more likely to receive a government pension or allowance as their main source of income than those without disability (49% or 915,000) (Figure INCOME.2).

Of those aged 15–64 who have a source of income:

  • people aged 15–24 with disability (48% or 95,000) are more likely than those aged 25–64 (42% or 680,000) to receive wages or salary as their main source of income
  • people with severe or profound disability (69% or 295,000) are more likely than those with other disability (35% or 486,000) to receive government pension or allowance as their main source of income
  • people with disability (42% or 774,000) are less likely than those without disability (80% or 10.0 million) to receive wages or salary as their main source of income
  • people with disability living in Major cities (46% or 549,000) are more likely to receive wages or salary as their main source of income than those in Inner regional areas (37% or 165,000), or Outer regional and remote areas (33% or 59,000) (ABS 2019b).

How is remoteness defined?

The remoteness categories used in the ABS SDAC are defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard Remoteness Structure (ABS 2016) which divides Australia into 5 classes of remoteness on the basis of a measure of relative access to services. Very remote areas are out of scope for SDAC.

The main source of income also varies by disability group for those aged 15–64 with disability who have a source of income:

  • 45% (or 168,000) of those with sensory or speech disability receive wages or salary as their main source of income
  • 36% (or 431,000) of those with physical disability
  • 28% (or 75,000) of those with intellectual disability
  • 22% (or 32,000) of those with disability caused by a head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury
  • 20% (or 113,000) of those with psychosocial disability (ABS 2019b).

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 2019a).

Level of personal income

A person’s level of income is associated with independence, feelings of security and financial freedom. Looking at a person’s income level can also provide insight into potential inequality in standard of living.

Measuring income and putting it in context

One way to measure income and inequality is to look at income deciles – dividing the population into 10 equal-sized groups depending on how much income they receive.

The bottom decile is those who have the lowest income in the group (bottom 10%). The top decile is those who have the highest level of income (top 10%).

There are many ways to measure low or high income. This section uses gross (before tax) weekly personal income.

In this section:

  • low income refers to income deciles 1 to 3 ($383 or below per week)
  • middle or mid-income refers to deciles 4 to 7 ($384 to $1,150 per week)
  • high income refers to income deciles 8 to 10 ($1,151 or more per week).

When using personal income, it is difficult to provide context for poverty because poverty is usually defined using median household income (Davidson et al. 2018). The effect of disability on household income is covered in Level of family and household income.

It is also difficult to compare personal income against minimum wage because minimum wage assumes a person is working 38 hours a week (FWO 2021). This assumption cannot be made for the whole population. It cannot therefore be suggested that someone is above or below minimum wage based solely on their personal income decile.

In general, people with disability, especially those with severe or profound disability, are more likely to have a lower level of personal income than people without disability. Of people aged 15–64:

  • 38% (or 670,000) with disability, and 51% (or 219,000) with severe or profound disability, have a low level of personal income, compared with 27% (or 3.0 million) without disability
  • 42% (or 732,000) with disability, and 44% (or 188,000) with severe or profound disability, are in the mid level of income, compared with 36% (or 4.1 million) without disability
  • 20% (or 348,000) with disability, and 5.9% (or 25,000) with severe or profound disability, have a high level of income, compared with 37% (or 4.1 million) without disability (ABS 2019b).

Females aged 15–64 with disability (40% or 365,000) are more likely than their male counterparts (36% or 303,000) to have a low level of personal income. This varies by level of disability. Of those aged 15–64:

  • females with severe or profound disability (4.9% or 11,000) are less likely to have a high level of personal income than females with other disability (19% or 130,000)
  • males with severe or profound disability (7.1% or 15,000) are less likely to have a high level of income than males with other disability (31% or 195,000) (ABS 2019b).

Level of personal income varies by age, sex, remoteness and disability group:

  • One in 5 (20% or 348,000) people aged 15–64 with disability have a high level of personal income, compared with 5.9% (or 86,000) of people aged 65 and over.
  • Males aged 65 and over with disability (9.4% or 66,000) are more likely to have a high level of personal income than females (2.7% or 21,000).
  • Young people (aged 15–24) with disability (68% or 179,000) are more likely to have a low level of personal income than those aged 25–64 (33% or 489,000) and those aged 65 and over (37% or 546,000).
  • Young people (aged 15–24) with severe or profound disability (77% or 75,000) are more likely to have a low level of personal income than those aged 25–64 (44% or 146,000) (Figure INCOME.3).
  • People aged 15–64 with disability living in Major cities (23% or 262,000) are more likely to have a high level of personal income than those in Inner regional areas (15% or 65,000), or Outer regional and remote areas (15% or 24,000).
  • People aged 15–64 with psychosocial disability (46% or 253,000) or intellectual disability (45% or 125,000) are more likely to have a low level of personal income than those with physical disability (39% or 431,000), disability caused by head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury (38% or 48,000), or sensory or speech disability (34% or 120,000) (ABS 2019b).

Figure INCOME.3: Weekly personal income, by disability status, age group and sex, 2018

Stacked column chart showing 3 levels of personal income for people with and without disability. The reader can select to display the chart by sex, by age group, and by disability status. The chart shows females with disability are less likely (9.7%) to earn $1,150 or more per week than those without disability (25%).

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

Level of family and household income

Having a person with disability living in the household is associated with lower levels of household income.

Households and families

In the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC):

  • a household is defined as one or more persons, at least one of whom is at least 15 years of age, and usually living in the same private dwelling
  • a family is defined as 2 or more people, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step or fostering, and are usually resident in the same household. A family is formed with the presence of a couple relationship, lone parent – child relationship or other blood relationship. Some households therefore contain more than one family (ABS 2019a).

Measuring household income

In this section, weekly equivalised income deciles for households are used when comparing household incomes. This is the total gross (before tax) household income adjusted by applying an equivalence scale to compare income levels between households of differing size and composition (ABS 2019a).

The modified Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development equivalence scale is used in this section (see ABS SDAC for more information).

In this section,

  • low income refers to income deciles 1 to 3 ($593 or below per week)
  • middle or mid-income refers to deciles 4 to 7 ($594 to $1,388 per week)
  • high income refers to income deciles 8 to 10 ($1,389 or more per week).

Households with a person with disability are likely to be in the lower range of household weekly income:

  • 38% (or 2.2 million) of households with a person with disability have a low level of household weekly income, compared with 18% (or 2.2 million) of households that do not
  • 29% (or 475,000) with a child with disability have a low level of household weekly income, compared with those without a child with disability (25% or 3.9 million)
  • 21% (or 347,000) with a child with disability have a high level household weekly income, compared with 32% (or 5.1 million) of households that do not (Figure INCOME.4).

Figure INCOME.4: Weekly equivalised household income, by whether the household includes a child with disability or a person with disability or a primary carer, 2018

Pie chart showing 3 levels of weekly equivalised household income for households with and without children and people with disability or primary carers. The reader can select to display the chart by whether the household includes a child with disability, a person with disability or a primary carer. The chart shows households with a person with disability are less likely (19%) to have a high equivalised household income, of $1,389 or more per week, than those without a person with disability (37%).

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

Families with a parent with disability are more likely to be in the lower weekly equivalised family income range:

  • 27% (or 527,000) of families with a parent with disability have a low level of family income, 50% (or 970,000) mid-level and 23% (or 459,000) high level
  • 17% (or 1.4 million) of families without a parent with disability have a low level, 48% (or 4.1 million) mid-level and 35% (3.0 million) high level
  • almost half (45% or 201,000) of one-parent families with a parent with disability have a low level of family income (Figure INCOME.5).

Measuring family income and putting it in context

In this section, weekly equivalised income deciles for families are used when comparing family incomes. While the definition of ‘households’ is more generalised and widely used, making it easier to draw conclusions about the population, there are benefits to comparing families. When doing so, the breakdown of relationships and composition of groups is more clearly understood.

In this section,

  • low income refers to income deciles 1 to 3 ($561 or below per week)
  • middle or mid–income refers to deciles 4 to 7 ($562 to $1,343 per week)
  • high income refers to income deciles 8 to 10 ($1,344 or more per week).

Figure INCOME.5: Weekly equivalised family income, by parent disability status and family type, 2018

Figure showing 3 levels of equivalised income for families with at least one parent with disability and families without a parent with disability. The figure also shows the income range of 2-parent families with one and both parents with disability and one-parent families where the parent has disability. The figure shows families with a single parent with disability are more likely (45%) to have a low equivalised family income, of $561 or less per week, than 2-parent families when both parents have disability (37%).

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

Families with a child with disability are more likely to be in the lower range of weekly equivalised family income than those without a child with disability. Of families with one or more children:

  • 1 in 5 (19% or 221,000) couple families with a child with disability have a low level of family income, compared with 12% (or 906,000) of couple families without a child with disability
  • 8.7% (or 41,000) of single-parent families with a child with disability have a high level of family income, compared with 16% (or 231,000) of single-parent families without a child with disability (Figure INCOME.6).

Figure INCOME.6: Weekly equivalised family income, by family composition and child disability status, 2018

Pie chart showing 3 levels of weekly equivalised income for families with and without a child with disability. The reader can select to display the chart by family composition; 2‑parent families, one-parent families, or all family types. The chart shows one-parent families with a child with disability are more likely (44%) to have a low weekly equivalised family income, of $561 or less per week, than 2-parent families with a child with disability (19%).

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

 Primary carer income

Depending on the needs of the person receiving care, an informal carer may need to reduce their working hours or may not be able to earn income from wages or salary. A primary carer’s main source of income varies with the age of the carer. Primary carers aged 65 and over are more likely (68% or 156,000) than those aged 15–64 (39% or 243,000) to receive a government pension or allowance as their main source of income (Table INCOME.1).

A primary carer’s main source of income also varies by whether the carer lives with the recipient of their care:

  • Two in 5 (40% or 191,000) primary carers aged 15–64 who live with the recipient of their care receive wages or salary as their main source of income, compared with 58% (or 87,000) of those who do not.
  • Almost three-quarters (73% or 145,000) of primary carers aged 65 and over who live with the recipient of their care receive a government pension or allowance as their main source of income, compared with 43% (or 13,000) of those who do not (ABS 2019b).
Table INCOME.1. Main income source of primary carers(a) whose main recipient of care is a person with disability, by age group, 2018 (%)

Main source of income

Primary carers aged 15–64

Primary carers aged 65 and over

Wages or salary(b)

44.7

7.1

Government pension or allowance

38.9

68.4

Other sources(c)

11.5

22.8

No source of income

4.8

**

Total

100.0

100.0

** Estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use.

(a) Aged 15 and over living in households.

(b) Including from own incorporated business.

(c) Includes child support or maintenance, superannuation, an annuity or private pension, workers’ compensation rental property, unincorporated business or share in a partnership, dividends and/or interest and other source of income.

Note: The values reported in this table exclude people for whom main source of income was recorded as not known or not stated.

Source: ABS 2019b; see also Table INCM21.

Informal carer

Informal carers are important to households and families with a person with disability. Primary carers are usually a family member (60% or 516,000) or partner (37% or 315,000), and a small proportion are a friend or neighbour (3.5% or 30,300).

The ABS SDAC defines a carer as a person who provides any informal assistance, in terms of help or supervision, to people with disability or older people (aged 65 and over). Assistance must be ongoing, or likely to be ongoing, for at least 6 months. In cases where there may be multiple persons providing informal assistance to a single recipient of care, the SDAC distinguishes between primary, other and unconfirmed primary carers.

For more information see ABS SDAC.

Primary carer

In the SDAC, a primary carer provides the most informal assistance to a person with disability with one or more core activities of mobility, self-care or communication. Primary carers include only people aged 15 and over.

Primary carers aged 15–64 of people with disability are less likely to have a high level of personal income than people in that age group who are not carers:

  • about one-quarter (27% or 145,000) of primary carers have a low level of personal income, compared with 28% (or 3.6 million) of people who are not primary carers
  • half (49% or 262,000) have a mid-level income compared with 36% (or 4.5 million)
  • almost one-quarter (24% or 128,000) have a high-level income compared with 35% (or 4.4 million) (Figure INCOME.7).

Whether the carer lives with the person with disability they assist has an impact on their personal income. Primary carers aged 15–64 who live with the recipient of their care:

  • are more likely to have a low level of income (29% or 119,000) than those primary carers who do not live with the recipient of their care (21% or 25,100)
  • are less likely to have a high level of income (20% or 83,000) than those who do not (37% or 45,000) (ABS 2019b).

Most (65% or 366,000) primary carers aged 15–64 report their personal income has decreased or expenses increased because of their role (Figure INCOME.7). This is more likely for primary carers who live with the recipient of their care. Seven in 10 (69% or 297,000) have lower income or higher expenses because of their caring role, compared with half (51% or 70,000) who do not live with the recipient of their care (ABS 2019b).

Figure INCOME.7: Weekly personal income, by primary carer status and effect on personal income, 2018

Figure showing 3 levels of weekly personal income for people aged 15–64 who are primary carers of a person with disability and people who are not primary carers. The figure also shows the effect of caring on the personal income of primary carers. The figure shows primary carers aged 15–64 are less likely (24%) to have a high personal income, of $1,151 or more per week, than people who are not primary carers (35%).

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

Primary carers aged 65 and over are more likely to have a low level of income than those aged 15–64:

  • 2 in 5 (40% or 76,000) primary carers aged 65 and over have a low level of income, compared with 27% (or 145,000) of those aged 15–64
  • over half (53% or 101,000) have a mid-level income compared with 49% (or 262,000)
  • 1 in 14 (7.2% or 14,000) have a high-level income compared with 24% (or 128,000) (ABS 2019b).

Primary carers aged 65 and over (46% or 92,400) are less likely to have lower income or higher expenses because of their caring role than those aged 15–64 (65% or 366,000) (ABS 2019b).

Education and income

The level of income a person receives is affected by their level of education (see also Education and skills). However, people with disability who achieve high levels of education are less likely than people without disability to receive their main source of income from wages or salary.

Of people aged 15–64:

  • 60% (or 207,000) with disability who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher have wages or salary as their main source of income, dropping to 34% (or 19,000) if their disability is severe or profound
  • 85% (or 3.6 million) without disability who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher have wages or salary as their main source of income (Figure INCOME.8).

Among people with disability aged 15–64, the proportion of people who have government pension or allowance as their main source of income steadily decreases with increasing educational attainment:

  • 7 in 10 (72% or 144,000) who have an education level below year 10 (including those who never attended school) have government pension or allowance as their main source of income
  • 1 in 2 (50% or 120,000) who completed year 12
  • 1 in 5 (21% or 74,000) who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher (Figure INCOME.8).

Figure INCOME.8: Main source of income, by disability status and highest level of educational attainment, 2018

Stacked column chart showing 3 main sources of income for people aged 15–64 with and without disability with one of 6 levels of educational attainment. The chart shows people aged 15–64 with a bachelor’s degree or higher and disability are less likely (60%) to have wages or salary as their main income source than those without disability (85%).

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

This difference between people aged 15–64 with or without disability is also seen in weekly personal income level:

  • 40% (or 127,000) of people with disability who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher have high personal income, dropping to 18% (or 9,000) if their disability is severe or profound
  • 55% (or 2.0 million) of people without disability who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher have high personal income (Figure INCOME.9).

Among people with disability aged 15–64, the proportion of people who have a low level of personal income generally decreases with increasing educational attainment:

  • 3 in 5 (59% or 128,000) who have an education level below year 10 (including those who never attended school) have a low level of personal income
  • less than half (47% or 111,000) who completed year 12
  • 1 in 4 (26% or 83,000) who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher (Figure INCOME.9).

Figure INCOME.9: Weekly personal income, by disability status and highest level of educational attainment, 2018

Stacked column chart showing 3 levels of personal income for people aged 15–64 with and without disability with one of 6 levels of educational attainment. The chart shows people who have a level of education below year 10 and have disability are less likely (59%) to have a low personal income, of $383 or less per week, than those without disability (67%).

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

Government payments

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 and 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).

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).

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.

Government payments

Government payments are public transfers in the form of pensions, allowances and benefits. Payments available in 2017, at the time of the HILDA Survey 17th wave, included:

  • Income support payments

    • ABSTUDY, Age Pension, Austudy, Bereavement Allowance, Carer Payment, Disability Support Pension, Newstart Allowance, Parenting Payment Partnered, Parenting Payment Single, Partner Allowance, Sickness Allowance, Special Benefit, Widow Allowance, Wife Pension, Youth Allowance

    • Department of Veterans’ Affairs Disability Pension, Service Pension, War Widow/er’s Pension

  • Non-income support payments (Mobility Allowance, Carer Allowance, Telephone Allowance, Double Orphan Pension and Australian Government bonus payments)

  • Other government payments (Paid Parental Leave, including Dad and Partner Pay) (Summerfield et al. 2019).

Analysis of government payment data in this section is based on self-reported government payments receipt and disability status. Analysis excludes Family Tax Benefit payments.

People with disability aged 15–64 are more likely (39%) to report receiving government payments than those without disability (9.5%). This is especially true for those with severe or profound disability, of whom 65% receive government payments. Older people are more likely to receive government payments. Four in 5 (80%) people with disability aged 65 and over receive government payments compared with about 3 in 5 (63%) of those without disability. Of people with disability aged 15–64:

  • males (38%) and females (40%) are about as likely to report receiving government payments
  • those living in Major cities are less likely (36%) than those living in Inner regional (44%), or Outer regional, remote and very remote areas (52%)
  • those with intellectual disability are most likely to report receiving government payments (67%)
  • those with psychosocial disability are more likely (58%) than those with sensory (43%) or physical disability (42%) (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Almost one-third (31%) of people with disability aged 15–64 who report receiving government payments receive $400 or more per week, compared with 15% of those without disability. Of people with disability aged 15–64 who report receiving government payments:

  • females are more likely (24%) to receive lower payments (of less than $200 per week) than males (15%)
  • those in Major cities are less likely (27%) to receive higher payments (of $400 or more per week) than those in Inner regional areas (36%) (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

The Disability Support Pension (DSP) is the most common payment type reported by people with disability aged 15–64 who receive government payments (45%) (Figure INCOME.10). This differs by age group and disability level:

  • those aged 25–44 are less likely (36%) to receive the DSP than those aged 45–64 (55%)
  • those with severe or profound disability are more likely (72%) to receive DSP than those with other disability status (39%)
  • 71% of those with intellectual disability, 60% of those with sensory disability, 50% of those with psychosocial disability and 49% or those with physical disability receive DSP (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Other common payment types reported by people with disability aged 15–64 differ by sex:

  • males were more likely (32%) to receive Newstart Allowance in 2017 than females (17%)
  • females are more likely to receive Carer Allowance (15%) or Carer Payment (13%) than males (5.5% and 5.2% respectively) (Figure INCOME.10).

Of people with disability aged 65 and over who report receiving government payments, 89% receive Age Pension, 5.5% receive Carer Allowance, 3.6% receive Carer Payment, 2.3% receive DSP and 1.9% receive Disability Pension paid by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Figure INCOME.10: Government payment types for people aged 15–64 who report currently receiving government payments, by sex and disability status, 2017

Column chart showing government payment types that recipients aged 15–64 with and without disability receive. The reader can select to display the chart by sex. The chart shows male government payment recipients with disability are more likely (32%) to receive the Newstart Allowance than females with disability (17%).

Visualisation not available for printing

Source data tables: Income (XLSX, 316kB)

Where can I find out more?

Data tables for this report.

ABS Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2018

This report: Employment and Education and skills of people with disability.

People with disability who need help with living costs may access government payments (see Income support). This includes disability-specific payments (such as the Disability Support Pension) and other mainstream payments (such as JobSeeker Payment).

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