People with disability in Australia

Introduction

Some students with disability may need additional support to help them participate in education. Not all who need support receive it.

Education restrictions

People with disability who have specific restrictions related to school or non-school education can face additional challenges participating in education.

School students (primary and secondary)

Around 4 in 5 (80% or 305,000) school students aged 5–18 with disability have one or more schooling restrictions (Table PARTICIPATION.1).

For students with schooling restrictions, the most common restrictions are to:

• have difficulty at school (77% or 244,000)
• use special assistance from a person at school (55% or 173,000)
• use special arrangements at school or institution (31% or 99,000)
• attend special classes (21% or 67,000)
• attend a special school (14% or 45,000) (ABS 2019).

Boys with disability (83% or 188,000) are more likely than girls (76% or 118,000) to have schooling restrictions. Among those with schooling restrictions, boys are more likely (24% or 47,000) than girls (17% or 21,000) to attend special classes (ABS 2019).

Notes:

1. Data are for people with disability aged 5–18 living in households and currently attending primary or secondary school.
2. ‘Schooling restriction’ includes profound, severe, moderate and mild schooling restrictions.

Source: ABS 2019; see also Table PTPN1, Data tables – Education participation needs and challenges. View data tables

Schooling restrictions also vary by disability group. School students with psychosocial disability (93% or 140,000) and intellectual disability (90% or 210,000) are more likely to have a schooling restriction than those with physical disability (72% or 67,000) and sensory and speech disability (79% or 94,000) (ABS 2019).

Non-school students

Almost half (47% or 88,000) of non-school students aged 15–64 with disability have restrictions related to their education (a non-school educational restriction) (Table PARTICIPATION.2).

For those with restrictions, the most common restrictions are to:

• have difficulty at non-school institution (59% or 52,000)
• need at least one day a week off (52% or 45,000)
• use special arrangements at institution (33% or 29,000)
• have special assistance from a person at institution (22% or 19,000) (ABS 2019).

Just under a half (48% or 55,000) of female students with disability have non-school educational restrictions, and 4 in 10 (41% or 31,000) male students (Table PARTICIPATION.2, ABS 2019).

Non-school students aged 15–64 with intellectual disability (73% or 20,000) and psychosocial disability (70% or 44,000) are more likely to have non-schooling educational restrictions than students with sensory and speech disability (38% or 9,000) and physical disability (41% or 40,000) (ABS 2019).

Notes:

1. Data are for people with disability aged 15–64 living in households and currently studying for a non-school qualification.
2. ‘Non-school educational restriction’ includes severe, moderate and mild non-school educational restriction.
3. Figures are rounded and components may not add to total because of ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source: ABS 2019; see also Table PTPN5, Data tables – Education participation needs and challenges. View data tables.

Non-students

In 2021, one in 5 (20%) people with disability aged 15–64 who were not currently studying would have liked to be enrolled at school or undertake further study. This was similar for males (20%) and females (21%), but differed by age group and disability group:

• the desire to study decreases with age – 41% of those aged 15–24 would like to study, 29% of those aged 25–34, 22% of those aged 35–44 and 45–54, and 10% of those aged 55–64
• 30% of people with psychosocial disability would like to study, compared with 19% with sensory disability (DSS and MIAESR 2022).

Around a quarter (24%) people aged 15–64 with disability who were not studying but would have liked to, were unable to do so due to their condition or disability. This was similar for males (23%) and females (24%). People with severe or profound disability (55%) were more likely to be unable to study due to their condition or disability than those with other disability status (19%) (DSS and MIAESR 2022).

Difficulties experienced

Some people with disability experience difficulties at their school or educational institution, such as learning, fitting in socially and communicating. Experiencing difficulties at school or educational institution is not the same as having a schooling or educational restriction: students who have restrictions do not always experience difficulties at school or their educational institution, and some of the students who have no educational restrictions experience difficulties.

School students (primary and secondary)

Just under two-thirds (64% or 244,000) of school students (aged 5–18) with disability have difficulty at school, and more than one-third (36% or 135,000) do not (ABS 2019).

This varies by disability group and remoteness:

• More than 4 in 5 (81% or 122,000) students with psychosocial disability have difficulty at school compared with 3 in 5 (59% or 54,000) of those with physical disability and 61% (or 72,000) of those with sensory and speech disability.
• More than two-thirds (69% or 59,000) of students living in Inner regional areas have difficulty compared with 3 in 5 (59% or 23,000) of those living in Outer regional and remote areas (ABS 2019).

Of those who have difficulty at school, the most common experienced are:

• learning difficulties (68% or 165,000)
• fitting in socially (56% or 137,000)
• communication difficulties (44% or 107,000)
• intellectual difficulties (22% or 54,000)
• sports participation (17% or 42,000)
• difficulty sitting (15% or 37,000) (ABS 2019).

Non-school students

Most non-school students with disability (74% or 137,000) have no difficulty at their educational institution. Non-school students with disability aged 15–24 are more likely to experience educational difficulties (35% or 25,000) than those aged 25–64 (21% or 25,000) (ABS 2019).

Of those who have difficulty, the most common experienced are:

• learning difficulties (32% or 17,000)
• fitting in socially (25% or 13,000)
• communication difficulties (20% or 11,000) (ABS 2019).

Support needed and provided

Students with disability who experience difficulty in education may need additional supports to help them participate. Not all who need support receive it.

School students (primary and secondary)

Most school students with disability (57% or 217,000) receive additional supports at school. Around 2 in 5 (43% or 163,000) do not. 

Of those who receive additional supports:

• 3 in 5 (58% or 126,000) have special tuition
• 2 in 5 (41% or 88,000) have a counsellor or disability support person
• 3 in 10 (31% or 67,000) have special assessment procedures (Figure PARTICIPATION.1).

About half (53% or 82,000) of girls receive additional supports and 60% (or 136,000) of boys (ABS 2019). Boys who receive additional supports are less likely (35% or 48,000) than girls (49% or 40,000) to have a counsellor or disability support person and are about equally likely to receive other types of support (Figure PARTICIPATION.1).

Figure PARTICIPATION.1: Type of support services or special arrangements provided for school students with disability, by sex, 2018

Notes:

1. Data are for school students with disability aged 5–18 living in households.
2. Multiple special arrangements or supports may be received at one time.

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

School students with psychosocial disability (70% or 106,000) are more likely to receive additional supports than those with physical disability (57% or 52,000) (ABS 2019). Of those receiving supports, students with psychosocial disability are also most likely to have a counsellor or disability support person (53% or 56,000) (ABS 2019).

Some school students with disability need more support than they receive, including:

• 1 in 10 (10% or 40,000) who do not receive support but need it
• 1 in 5 (21% or 80,000) who receive support but need more (Figure PARTICIPATION.2).

Figure PARTICIPATION.2: Whether school students with disability receive enough support, 2018

Note: Data are for school students with disability aged 5–18 living in households.

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

School students with disability attending only regular classes in a mainstream school are the most likely to have no need for support and the least likely to receive it. Among this group, 42% (or 114,000) do not need nor receive support. A further 29% (or 78,000) receive support and do not need more. The remaining 29% (or 77,000) need support but do not receive it or need more support than they receive (ABS 2019).

More than 8 in 10 school students with disability attending special classes in a mainstream school or a special school receive support:

• Among school students with disability attending special classes in a mainstream school, about one-third (33% or 22,000) need more support than they receive, and more than half (53% or 36,000) receive support and do not need more.
• The proportions are similar for school students with disability attending a special school: about one-third (33% or 15,000) of them need more support than they receive, and a half (51% or 23,000) receive support and do not need more (ABS 2019).

Non-school students

Non-school students with disability are generally less likely to need support than school students; however, some non-school students with disability still do not receive all the support they need:

• 68% (or 127,000) of non-school students with disability do not receive support and do not need it
• 18% (or 33,000) receive support and do not need more
• 14% (or 26,000) have unmet need for support (do not receive support but need it, or receive support and need more) (ABS 2019).

Overall, just under one-quarter (24% or 44,000) of non-school students with disability receive additional supports from their educational institution. This is higher for students with intellectual disability (49% or 14,000) and lower for students with physical disability (20% or 19,000) (ABS 2019).

The most common types of additional supports received by non-school students are:

• special assessment procedures – received by 38% (or 17,000) of students who receive support
• a counsellor or disability support person – 31% (or 14,000)
• special equipment or tuition – 23% (or approximately 10,000)
• other supports (including special access/transport arrangements) – 36% (or 16,000) (ABS 2019).

Discrimination

Almost 1 in 5 (17% or 30,000) students aged 15–64 with disability attending school or studying for a non-school qualification have experienced disability discrimination in the previous year. See ‘Disability discrimination’ for more information.

It can be difficult for some people with disability to access buildings and facilities in the community, including schools and other educational institutions. More than 1 in 10 (12% or 29,000) students aged 5–64, who need assistance or have difficulty with communication or mobility, have experienced difficulty accessing locations in the previous year. Of those, nearly half (45% or 13,000) had difficulty accessing a school, university or educational facility (ABS 2019).