Social inclusion

23% of people

with disability aged 15–64 have difficulty getting to places needed (17% without disability)

39% of people

with disability aged 15–64 are not satisfied with their local community (27% without disability)

1 in 6

(17%) people with disability aged 15–64 experience social isolation (8.7% without disability)

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Introduction

Social support enables the inclusion of people with disability to participate in many facets of life. Informal support, often by family, friends and the larger community can assist people with disability to be included in society. This is essential for better health as social isolation and loneliness can be harmful to both mental and physical health (AIHW 2021).

This section covers the social inclusion of people with disability, including participation in society, and isolation and loneliness.

Participation in society

Participation in society consists of engagement and interaction across several life areas. People with disability actively participate in all areas, however their rates of participation may vary compared with those without disability. This section covers being able to leave home, difficulty getting to places needed, membership of associations and voluntary work, and participating in cultural events.

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’.

 Leaving home

More than one-quarter (27% or 1.1 million) of people with disability aged 5 and over, living in households, do not leave home as often as they would like. A further 0.9% (or 38,000) do not leave home at all (ABS 2019).

Variations exist by sex and age group for people with disability:

  • females (29% or 599,000) are more likely than males (25% or 514,000) not to leave home as often as they would like
  • people aged 5–64 (31% or 730,000) are more likely not to leave home as often as they would like than those aged 65 and over (22% or 383,000) (ABS 2019).

The most common main reasons for this are own disability or condition (53% or 588,000), fear or anxiety (10% or 111,000), and cost or inability to afford (8.5% or 94,000). Only 2.1% (or 23,000) say it is mainly because of difficulty obtaining transport and 1.0% (or 11,000) say it is because of difficulty using transport (ABS 2019).

Getting from one place to another

General Social Survey

Data in this section are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2019 General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS collects information on the social characteristics, wellbeing and social experiences of people aged 15 and over living in private dwellings in Australia.

The GSS uses the ABS Short Disability Module to identify disability. While this module provides useful information about the characteristics of people with disability relative to those without, it is not recommended for use in measuring disability prevalence.

In the GSS a person is considered to have disability if they had one or more conditions (including long-term health conditions) which have lasted, or are likely to last, for at least 6 months and restrict everyday activities. Disability is further classified by whether a person has a specific limitation or restriction and then by whether the limitation or restriction applies to core activities or only to schooling or employment.

The level 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 reported for mild, moderate, severe, and profound limitation.

People with disability aged 15 and over are more likely (24%) to sometimes or often have difficulty getting to the places they need to reach than people without disability (16%). This varies by age group:

  • 23% of those aged 15–64 with disability sometimes or often have difficulty, compared with 17% of those without disability
  • 25% of those aged 65 and over with disability sometimes or often have difficulty, compared with 11% of those without disability (ABS 2021).

This also varies by remoteness. One in 8 (13%) people with disability living in Inner regional areas sometimes or often have difficulty getting to the places they need to reach. This is lower than for those living in Major cities (28%) and Outer regional and remote areas (25%) (ABS 2021).

Accessible public transport is essential for some people to get around. However, 1 in 7 (15% or 345,000) people with disability aged 5–64, who leave home, do not have public transport available in their area. A further 1.1% (or 26,000) do not know if public transport is available in their area (ABS 2019).

Around one-quarter (24% or 556,000) of people with disability aged 5–64, who leave home, do not use a concession card for public transport. A further 56% (or 1.3 million) do not use public transport. The remainder use the following forms of concession cards for public transport:

  • 13% use pension or benefit-related transport concession
  • 5.5% use other public transport concession
  • 1.9% use a Senior’s card (ABS 2019).

The use of concession cards for public transport is different among older people who leave home. Only 2.5% (or 44,000) of people aged 65 and over do not use a concession card and 62% (or 1.1 million) do not use public transport. The remainder use the following forms of concession cards for public transport:

  • 20% use a pension or benefit related transport concession
  • 18% use a Seniors card
  • 1.2% use another public transport concession (ABS 2019).

Participation in social activities

Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey

Some of the 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 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).

Self-Completion Questionnaire

In addition to personal face-to-face interviews, survey participants are asked to complete a self-completion questionnaire. The self-completion questionnaire covers sensitive questions some people may not feel entirely comfortable answering in a face-to-face interview.

 

Active membership of club or association

As part of the HILDA self-completion questionnaire, respondents are asked whether they are currently an active member of a sporting, hobby or community based club or association.

Just over one-quarter (28%) of people with disability aged 15–64 were active members of a club or association, compared with 36% of those without disability. People with severe or profound disability (20%) were even less likely to be active members than those with other disability (29%) (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

One-quarter (25%) of people with disability aged 15–64 had completed unpaid voluntary work in the last 12 months through an organisation, compared with nearly one-third (31%) of those without disability (ABS 2021).

More than half (53%) of people with disability aged 15–64 had provided unpaid work or support to non-household members in the previous 4 weeks. This is similar to the proportion of people without disability (52%) (ABS 2021).

Of those with disability aged 15–64 who provided unpaid help to non-household members in the previous 4 weeks, the most common types of unpaid help include:

  • providing emotional support (54%)
  • providing transport or running errands (46%)
  • unpaid child care (25%)
  • teaching, coaching or practical advice (20%)
  • personal care or assistance (18%) (ABS 2021).

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey

Data on social participation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people with disability are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2014–15 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS). The NATSISS collects information from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in private dwellings across Australia on a range of demographic, social, environmental and economic characteristics.

The NATSISS uses the ABS Short Disability Module to identify disability. While this module provides useful information about the characteristics of people with disability relative to those without, it is not recommended for use in measuring disability prevalence.

In the NATSISS, a person is considered to have disability if they have one or more conditions (including long-term health conditions) which have lasted, or are likely to last, for at least 6 months and restrict everyday activities. Disability is further classified by whether a person has a specific limitation or restriction and then by whether the limitation or restriction applies to core activities or only to schooling or employment.

The level 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 reported for mild, moderate, severe, and profound limitation.

For Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 and over who cannot attend or participate in cultural events as often as they want to, reasons include:

  • work commitments – 33% of those with disability who could not attend or participate in cultural events as often as they wanted named work commitments as the reason (46% of those without disability)
  • cannot afford to attend – 26% with disability and 13% without disability
  • transport problems – 23% with disability and 14% without disability (ABS 2016).

Isolation and loneliness 

People with disability may face various barriers to participation in society, including those related to discrimination (see Disability discrimination for more information). This may lead to lower social participation rates, as well as greater risk of isolation and loneliness than experienced by those without disability.

Satisfaction with local community

Satisfaction with local community

Satisfaction with local community refers to feeling part of the local community. This information is regularly collected as part of the HILDA Survey on an ordinal scale from 0 (totally dissatisfied) to 10 (totally satisfied).

Scores of 8, 9 and 10 indicate being totally satisfied. Scores of 6 and 7 indicate being somewhat satisfied. Scores of 0 to 5 indicate not being satisfied.

Four in 10 (39%) people with disability aged 15–64 are not satisfied with their local community, compared with 27% of those without disability. People with disability are more likely not to be satisfied than those without disability across all age groups:

  • 46% of people aged 15–24 with disability, compared with 29% without disability
  • 40% aged 25–44 with disability, compared with 28% without disability
  • 37% aged 45–64 with disability, compared with 24% without disability
  • 25% aged 65 and over with disability, compared with 19% without disability (Figure INCLUSION.1) (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Figure INCLUSION.1: Satisfaction with local community for people aged 15 and over, by disability status and age group, 2017

Stacked column chart showing the proportion of people with and without disability who are totally satisfied or satisfied, somewhat satisfied, and not satisfied with the local community, by age groupings 15–24, 25–44, 45–64 and 65 and over. The chart shows 46% of people with disability aged 15–24 are not satisfied with the local community compared with 25% of those aged 65 and over.

Source data tables: Inclusion (XLSX, 190 kB)

People with severe or profound disability (46%) are even more likely not to be satisfied with their local community than those with other disability status (38%).

Among people with disability aged 15–64, not being satisfied with one’s local community varies according to disability group:

  • 1 in 2 (50%) people with psychosocial disability
  • 1 in 2 (48%) with head injury, stroke or other brain damage
  • 4 in 9 (46%) with intellectual disability
  • 2 in 5 (42%) with sensory disability
  • 2 in 5 (40%) with physical disability (DSS and MIAESR 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.

Social isolation

People with disability aged 15–64 are twice as likely (17%) to experience social isolation as those without disability (8.7%). This is consistent across all age groups, the largest gap being between people aged 15–24 with disability (18%) and those of the same age without disability (6.6%) (Figure INCLUSION.2) (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Index of Social Support (ISS)

As part of the HILDA self-completion questionnaire, respondents are asked how much they agree with the 10 statements about the amount of social support available to them.

The person’s level of agreement with these statements is used to calculate scores on the Index of Social Support, which can range from -30 to +30 (Flood 2005). A high score on the Index of Social Support indicates no lack of social support, while a low score indicates social isolation (Relationships Australia 2018).

For the AIHW analysis of HILDA 2017 data, ISS scores from -30 to -1 indicate that a person experiences social isolation whereas scores between 0 and 30 indicate that a person does not experience social isolation. People who did not complete the self-completion questionnaire for all 10 questions about social support were excluded from this analysis. 

Figure INCLUSION.2: Whether people aged 15 and over experience social isolation, by disability status and age group, 2017

Stacked column chart showing the proportion of people with and without disability who experience or do not experience social isolation, by age groupings 15–24, 25–44, 45–64 and 65 and over. The chart shows 19% of people with disability aged 25–44 experience social isolation compared with 9.9% of those without disability.

Source data tables: Inclusion (XLSX, 190 kB)

People with severe or profound disability aged 15–64 are more likely (24%) to experience social isolation than people with other disability (17%) (Figure INCLUSION.2). Social isolation also varies by disability group, and is experienced among:

  • 31% of people with psychosocial disability
  • 23% with intellectual disability
  • 19% with physical disability
  • 18% with sensory disability (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Loneliness

Loneliness

Loneliness is recorded in the HILDA Survey as ‘whether often feel very lonely’ on an ordinal scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).

For the analysis of HILDA 2017 data in this section, scores between 1 and 4 are categorised as having experienced loneliness whereas scores between 5 and 7 are categorised as not having experienced loneliness.

Nearly 3 in 10 (28%) people with disability aged 15–64 experience loneliness compared with 16% of those without disability. This is even higher among people with severe or profound disability (37%) than those with other disability (27%) (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Among people with disability, younger age groups have higher rates of loneliness than older age groups. Loneliness is experienced among:

  • 31% of those aged 15–24
  • 31% of those aged 25–44
  • 26% of those aged 45–64
  • 21% of those aged 65 and over (Figure INCLUSION.3) (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Variation in loneliness also exists by disability group. People aged 15–64 with psychosocial disability (47%) are most likely to experience loneliness while people with sensory disability (27%) are least likely to experience loneliness (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Figure INCLUSION.3: Whether people aged 15 and over experience loneliness, by disability status and age group, 2017

Stacked column chart showing the proportion of people with and without disability who experience or do not experience loneliness, by age groupings 15–24, 25–44, 45–64 and 65 and over. The chart shows 31% of people with disability aged 15–24 experience loneliness compared with 21% of those aged 65 and over.

Source data tables: Inclusion (XLSX, 190 kB)

Where can I find out more?

Data tables for this report.