People with disability in Australia

Introduction

Some people with disability, especially those with employment restrictions, can find engaging in the labour force challenging.

Workplace arrangements

Some people with disability need specific arrangements to work, such as working part time, specific leave arrangements or other supports such as being allocated different duties. The majority do not. Most employed (88% or 684,000) and unemployed (82% or 92,000) people aged 15–64 with disability do not require specific arrangements from their employer to work.

Employed people

Most (88% or 684,000) employed (salary or wage earning) people aged 15–64 with disability do not require specific arrangements from their employer to work. Of those who do:

• 50% (or 48,000) need special equipment or modified buildings/fittings, or to be provided special/free transport or parking
• 25% (or 24,000) need a special support person to assist or train them on the job or to be provided help from someone at work, or to be provided training/retraining
• 26% (or 25,000) need to be allocated different duties (Table CHALLENGES.1).

Notes:

1. Restricted to people aged 15–64 with disability living in households who are employed wage or salary earners and who need specific work arrangements because of their disability.
2. More than one arrangement may be reported.
3. Figures are rounded and underwent ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source: ABS 2019; see also Table CHALL2, Data tables – Employment participation needs and challenges. View data tables

One in 5 (18% or 136,000) employed (salary or wage earning) people aged 15–64 with disability need at least one day a week off work because of their disability. Of those who use specific leave arrangements at least one day a week, the most common arrangement is to work:

• casual or part-time hours (53% or 73,000)
• flexible hours (25% or 34,000) (Table CHALLENGES.2).

Employed people aged 15–64 with severe or profound disability are more likely (33% or 32,000) to use specific leave arrangements at least one day a week because of their disability than those with other disability (15% or 104,000) (ABS 2019).

Of people aged 15–64 with disability who are employed wage or salary earners, the most likely to use specific leave arrangements at least one day a week are those with psychosocial disability (38% or 48,000). The least likely to use specific leave arrangements are those with:

• sensory and speech disability (11% or 19,000)
• intellectual disability (15% or 14,000) (ABS 2019).

Notes:

1. Restricted to people aged 15–64 with disability living in households who are employed wage or salary earners and who need specific leave arrangements at least one day a week because of their disability.
2. More than one arrangement may be reported.
3. ‘Other arrangements’ include recreation/annual leave, WorkCover/worker's compensation, and other.
4. Figures are rounded and underwent ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source: ABS 2019; see also Table CHALL6, Data tables – Employment participation needs and challenges. View data tables

Difficulty finding work

Most (93% or 105,000) people aged 15–64 with disability who are unemployed report at least one difficulty finding work, compared with 83% (or 453,000) without disability. Own ill health or disability is the most common reason for those with disability (45% or 47,000), followed by:

• lack of necessary skills or education (34% or 35,000)
• considered too old by employers (27% or 29,000)
• too many applicants for available jobs (27% or 28,000)
• insufficient work experience (25% or 26,000) (Table CHALLENGES.3).

Notes:

1. Restricted to unemployed people aged 15–64 living in households who have difficulties finding employment.
2. ‘Other’ includes too far to travel/transport problems, unsuitable hours, considered too young by employers, difficulties because of ethnic background or language, and other difficulties.
3. More than one difficulty may be reported.
4. Figures are rounded and underwent ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source: ABS 2019; see also Table CHALL8, Data tables – Employment participation needs and challenges. View data tables

Among unemployed First Nations (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander) people with disability aged 15–64 who report at least one difficulty in finding employment, the top 3 difficulties in finding work are:

• no jobs in local area or line of work (46%)
• transport problems or distance (36%)
• no driver's licence (33%) (ABS 2016).

Discrimination

Employed people aged 15–64 with disability (11% or 89,000) are less likely than those who are unemployed (24% or 23,000) to have experienced disability discrimination in the previous year (ABS 2019).

For more than 2 in 5 (45% or 40,000) employed people aged 15–64 with disability, the source of that discrimination was an employer. For about 2 in 5 (42% or 37,000), it was a work colleague (Table CHALLENGES.4).;

For more information on discrimination, see ‘Disability discrimination’.

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

1. Restricted to people aged 15–64 with disability living in households who had a personal interview.
2. Experience of discrimination refers to discrimination because of their disability in the last 12 months. More than one source of discrimination may be reported.
3. ‘All in the labour force’ includes employed and unemployed people.
4. ‘Other source’ includes family or friends, teacher or lecturer, health staff (GP, nurse, hospital staff), bus drivers/rail staff/taxi drivers, restaurant/hospitality staff, sales assistants, strangers in the street, and other.
5. The category ‘Source of discrimination: Colleague’ for unemployed people with disability has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use.
6. Figures are rounded and underwent ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source: ABS 2019; see also Table CHALL10, Data tables – Employment participation needs and challenges. View data tables

Unemployed people aged 15–64 with disability (52% or 50,000) are more likely than those who are employed (35% or 299,000) to have avoided situations because of their disability in the previous year. Of those who avoided situations, 39% (or 116,000) of those employed and 28% (or 14,000) of those unemployed avoided work (Table CHALLENGES.5).

Notes:

1. Restricted to people aged 15–64 with disability living in households who had a personal interview, are in the labour force and who have avoided situations in the last 12 months because of their disability.
2. More than one situation may be reported.
3. ‘Situations other than work’ include visiting family or friends, school, university or educational facility, medical facilities (GP, dentist, hospital), shops, banks, restaurants, cafés or bars, public transport, public park or recreation venue, other social situations, other public places, and other.
4. Figures are rounded and underwent ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source: ABS 2019; see also Table CHALL12, Data tables – Employment participation needs and challenges. View data tables

Employment restrictions

People with disability who have specific restrictions related to employment can face additional challenges finding or keeping employment.

Not all people with disability have employment restrictions. Almost one-third (32% or 664,000) of people aged 15–64 with disability have no employment restrictions (Table CHALLENGES.6). More than 7 in 10 (72% or 476,000) of this group are in the labour force (ABS 2019).

More than one-third (35% or 725,000) of people aged 15–64 with disability have mild or moderate employment restriction (Table CHALLENGES.6). This group, and the group with no employment restriction, are the most likely to be employed (68%, compared with 6.7% with severe or profound restriction).

One-third (32% or 668,000) of people aged 15–64 with disability have severe or profound employment restriction. This group is the most likely to not be in the labour force (89%, compared with 28% with no employment restriction and 25% with mild or moderate restriction) (Table CHALLENGES.6).

Notes:

1. Restricted to people with disability aged 15–64 living in households.
2. Figures are rounded and underwent ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source: ABS 2019; see also Table CHALL26, Data tables – Employment participation needs and challenges. View data tables

A person's level of employment restriction may differ from their level of limitation in other life areas. For example, of people aged 15–64 with severe or profound disability:

• almost two-thirds (64% or 323,000) have severe or profound employment restriction
• more than one-quarter (27% or 135,000) have mild or moderate employment restriction
• 1 in 10 (10% or 49,000) have no employment restriction (ABS 2019).

For people aged 15–64 with disability who have one or more employment restrictions, the most common types of restrictions are:

• restricted in type of job (51% or 710,000)
• difficulty changing jobs or getting a preferred job (42% or 587,000)
• permanently unable to work because of condition(s) (37% or 515,000)
• restricted in number of hours (35% or 482,000)
• need for time off work (23% or 327,000) (Figure CHALLENGES.1, ABS 2019).

Figure CHALLENGES.1: Type of employment restrictions for people with one or more employment restriction, by labour force status, 2018

Notes:

1. Restricted to people with disability aged 15–64 living in households.
2. The category ‘Need for support person at work’ was collected for wage and salary earners with disability only.
3. The category ‘Receiving assistance from a disability job placement’ was collected for unemployed people with disability only.
4. Figures are rounded and underwent ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source data tables: Data tables – Employment participation needs and challenges. View data tables

The types of restrictions reported by people aged 15–64 with disability differ by labour force status (Figure CHALLENGES.1). Those who are not in the labour force are the most likely to have at least one employment restriction (80% or 771,000 of people with disability aged 15–64 not in the labour force). For this group, the most common restriction is being permanently unable to work (67% or 512,000 of people with disability aged 15–64 who are not in the labour force and who have at least one employment restriction) (ABS 2019).

People with disability aged 15–64 who are in the labour force and are unemployed are more likely to have at least one employment restriction (74% or 83,000) than those who are employed (54% or 536,000) (ABS 2019). Of people with employment restriction, those who are unemployed are also more likely to:

• be restricted in the type of job they can do – 86% (or 71,000) of people with disability aged 15–64 who have at least one employment restriction and are unemployed, compared with 76% (or 406,000) of those who are employed
• be restricted in the number of hours – 61% (or 51,000) compared with 48% (or 259,000)
• need time of work – 58% (or 48,000) compared with 25% (or 136,000)
• need ongoing supervision or assistance – 21% (or 17,000) compared with 7.4% (or 40,000) (Figure CHALLENGES.1, ABS 2019).

Satisfaction with employment opportunities

People aged 15–64 with disability, who were not retired or permanently unable to work and who indicated their level of satisfaction with employment opportunities, were more than twice as likely (27%) to be not satisfied with their employment opportunities as those without disability (12%) in 2021. For people with disability, this varied by disability severity and disability group:

• those with severe or profound disability were twice as likely (52%) to be not satisfied with their employment opportunities than those with other disability status (25%)
• those with intellectual disability were more likely (48%) to be not satisfied than those with sensory or physical disability (25% and 31% respectively) (DSS and MIAESR 2022).

Overall, the percentage of people who were not satisfied with their employment opportunities has decreased from 36% in 2017 to 27% in 2021 for those with disability and from 18% to 12% for those without disability in the same period (DSS and MIAESR 2019; DSS and MIAESR 2022).