People with disability in Australia

Web report

Last updated: 03 Sep 2019

Author: AIHW

Media release

AIHW

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2019. People with disability in Australia. Cat. no. DIS 72. Canberra: AIHW. Viewed 29 May 2020, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia

APA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2019). People with disability in Australia. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia

MLA

People with disability in Australia. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 03 September 2019, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia

Vancouver

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. People with disability in Australia [Internet]. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019 [cited 2020 May. 29]. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia

Harvard

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2019, People with disability in Australia, viewed 29 May 2020, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia

People with disability in Australia brings together information from a range of national data sources to contribute to a greater understanding about disability in Australia. It shows that some people with disability face challenges routinely and actively participating in everyday life areas (such as employment) and are more likely to experience poor health, discrimination and violence.

Highlights from this report are presented in People with disability in Australia: in brief

Cat. no: DIS 72

Findings from this report:

47% of adults with disability have experienced violence after the age of 15, compared with 36% without disability.
48% of working-age (aged 15–64) people with disability are employed, compared with 79% without disability.
24% of adults with disability experience very good or excellent health, compared with 65% of without disability.
32% of adults with disability experience high/very high psychological distress, compared with 8% without disability.

Weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is important for good health. Not maintaining a healthy weight—such as being underweight, overweight or obese—is a risk factor for lower life expectancy and the development of chronic disease, such as:

cardiovascular disease
Type 2 diabetes
some musculoskeletal conditions
some cancers.

What is healthy weight? Expand

Healthy weight can be measured in several ways, including the commonly used body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. These are valuable tools at broader population level, but they have some limitations for measuring healthy weight for certain groups of people, including for some people with disability. For example, these measures do not account for the effects of medications taken by, or the long-term health conditions of, some people with disability that may contribute to weight gain or increased waist circumference.

For more information on healthy weight, see AIHW overweight and obesity.

Body mass index

BMI is an internationally recognised standard for classifying weight in adults (healthy weight range, underweight, overweight or obese). It is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres.

However, because BMI does not distinguish between the proportion of weight due to fat or muscle, it is less accurate for assessing healthy weight in some groups, such as for some people with disability. For example, for people with physical disability, muscle wasting may occur and BMI may be slightly lower. This results in a person without weight issues being erroneously classified as underweight or a person with increased body fat being classified as within the healthy weight range.

In the ABS NHS, BMI is calculated for people aged 2 and over. Different cut-offs for BMI categories are used for adults versus children.

Waist circumference

Waist circumference can be also used to indicate health risk. It measures the amount of fat carried around your middle and can be used along with BMI. In general, a higher waist measurement is associated with an increased risk to health.

However, waist circumference may not be accurate in some situations, including if a person has a medical condition involving enlargement of the abdomen.

In the ABS NHS, waist circumference is measured for men and women and assigned to 3 categories—not at risk, at increased risk, and at substantially increased risk of developing chronic disease. Different cut-offs are used for men versus women. On this page those with increased risk and substantially increased risk are reported on as 1 group and referred to as 'at increased risk’.

Males aged 2 and over with disability (75%) are more likely than females aged 2 and over with disability (69%) to be overweight or obese (Figure 1). As this is consistent with patterns for the overall population, this likely reflects the sex of the person rather than their disability status.

Older people (aged 65 and over) with disability (79%) are more likely than younger people (aged under 65) (68%) to be overweight or obese (Figure 1).

Based on measured waist circumference, adults with disability (76%) are more likely than those without (59%) to have an increased or substantially increased risk of developing chronic disease (Figure 2).

Women with disability (79%) are more likely than men with disability (73%) to be at increased risk based on waist circumference (Figure 2). As this is consistent with patterns for the overall population, this likely reflects the sex of the person rather than their disability status.

Older people (aged 65 and over) with disability (85%) are more likely than younger people (aged under 65) with disability (70%) to be at increased risk based on waist circumference (Figure 2).

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019. Microdata: National Health Survey, 2017–18. ABS cat. no. 4364.0.55.001. Canberra: ABS. Findings based on AIHW analysis of the main unit record file (MURF).

Alternative text for Weight

Figure 1

Stacked column chart showing three categories of body mass index for people with and without disability. The reader can select to display the chart by disability status, by age group, including 2-64 years, 65+ years and all ages, and by sex. The chart shows females with disability are more likely (69%) to be overweight or obese than those without disability (48%). Back to figure 1

Figure 2

Stacked column chart showing three categories of risk of developing chronic disease, based on waist circumference, for adults with and without disability. The reader can select to display the chart by disability status, by age group, including 18-64 years, 65+ years and all adults, and by sex. The chart shows men with disability are more likely (51%) to have substantially increased risk of developing chronic disease than those without disability (32%). Back to figure 2

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