People with disability in Australia

Introduction

People with disability may need assistance to participate in social and economic life. Knowing what activities people need help with can help with planning services and building inclusive communities.

Activities of daily living

Three in 5 (60% or 2.5 million) people with disability living in households need help with at least one of 10 activities of daily living (99% or 1.2 million of those with severe or profound disability, and 43% or 1.3 million of those with other disability status) (ABS 2019a, 2019b). Help is most commonly needed with health care, property maintenance, and cognitive or emotional tasks (Table ACTIVITIES.1).

Source: ABS 2019a; 2019b.

Whether people with disability living in households need help with at least one activity of daily living varies by sex and age group:

• those aged under 25 are more likely (71% or 459,000) to need help than those aged 25–64 (53% or 932,000) or 65 and over (63% or 1.1 million)
• males aged under 25 are more likely (74% or 277,000) to need help than females under 25 (67% or 182,000)
• females aged 25–64 (56% or 505,000) or 65 and over (71% or 653,000) are more likely to need help than males in those age groups (50% or 429,000 and 54% or 456,000 respectively) (ABS 2019b).

The need for assistance can also vary between disability groups. The proportion of people aged under 65 with disability living in households who need help with at least one activity of daily living is:

• 82% (or 631,000) of those with psychosocial disability
• 81% (or 430,000) of those with intellectual disability
• 70% (or 120,000) of those with head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury
• 61% (or 845,000) of those with physical disability
• 57% (or 319,000) of those with sensory disability (ABS 2019b).

People with disability living in cared accommodation (such as in residential aged care or hospital) usually have a higher need for assistance than those living in households. Since the cared accommodation facilities are expected to provide certain home-care services to their residents, the SDAC does not collect information about the need for assistance with household chores, private transport, property maintenance, or meal preparation from people with disability living in cared accommodation. Almost all (99%, or 187,000) people with disability living in cared accommodation need some assistance with a least one of the remaining 6 activities of daily living (100% or 183,000 of those with severe or profound disability and 75% or 4,000 of those with other disability status). This is compared with 99% (or 1.2 million) of people with severe or profound disability living in households, and 43% (or 1.3 million) of those with other disability status living in households who need assistance with at least one of 10 activities (ABS 2019b).

The types of support people with disability need vary according to their age, sex, severity of disability and living arrangements (figures ACTIVITIES.1 and ACTIVITIES.2). For each specific activity of daily living, assistance needs are higher for people with severe or profound disability (compared with those with other disability status), and for people living in cared accommodation (compared with those living in households).

Figure ACTIVITIES.1: Assistance needs by people with disability who need help with at least one activity, by activity, age group, sex, disability severity and living arrangements, 2018

Notes:

1. People who need assistance with self-care, mobility, or oral communication are classified as people with severe or profound disability. Therefore, people with other disability status have no need for assistance with those activities.
2. Data on need for assistance with health care was collected for people with disability aged 5 and over; data on need for assistance with reading and writing was collected for people with disability aged 15 and over.

Source data tables: Data tables – Activities people need help with. View data tables

Figure ACTIVITIES.2: Assistance needs with home-care activities by people with disability living in households who need help with at least one activity, by activity, age group, sex and disability severity, 2018

Notes:

1. Data on need for assistance with household chores, private transport, property maintenance and meal preparation were collected for people living in households only.
2. Data on need for assistance with household chores, property maintenance and meal preparation were collected for people with disability aged 15 and over; data on need for assistance with private transport were collected for people with disability aged 16 and over who leave their place of residence.

Source data tables: Data tables – Activities people need help with. View data tables

For people with disability who need help with at least one activity, those aged 25–64 are generally less likely to need assistance with the three core activities (self-care, mobility, and oral communication) than those aged under 25 and those aged 65 and over (Figure ACTIVITIES.1). Females (54%) are more likely to need assistance with mobility than males (46%), while males are more likely to need assistance with oral communication (22%, compared with 15% for females) (Figure ACTIVITIES.1).

For cognitive and emotional tasks, the need for assistance decreases with age (80% of those aged under 25 among people with disability who need assistance with at least one activity, compared with 34% of those aged 65 and over), and is higher for males (54%) than for females (48%) (Figure ACTIVITIES.1). On the other hand, the need for assistance with health care or reading and writing increases with age (Figure ACTIVITIES.1). Females are more likely to need assistance with health care than males, while the need for assistance with reading and writing is similar between the sexes.

For activities of daily living related to home care (household chores, private transport, property maintenance, and meal preparation), the need for assistance for each activity increases with age (Figure ACTIVITIES.2). Females are more likely to need assistance with these activities than males – with the exception of meal preparation, where the need for assistance is similar for males and females.

Mobility and transport

Mobility limitations and difficulties using public or private transport can make it difficult for people with disability to get to places they need to go to. Accessible transport options, mobility aids and assistance are important to ensure people with disability can participate in society equally and independently.

Mobility limitations

Most (98% or 4.2 million) people with disability aged 5 and over are able to leave their place of residence (home or cared accommodation). People with disability aged 65 and over are more likely (2.5% or 48,000) to not leave their place of residence than those aged 5–64 (0.9% or 22,000) (ABS 2019b).

Around one-quarter (26% or 1.1 million) of people with disability (aged 5 and over who leave their place of residence) cannot walk 200 metres (18% of those aged 5–64 and 35% of those aged 65 and over). Another 1 in 7 (15% or 650,000) can walk 200 metres but take longer to do so than other people of the same age (ABS 2019b).

More than 2 in 5 (42% or 1.8 million) people with disability (aged 5 and over who move about their residence) cannot walk up and down stairs without a handrail (31% of those aged 5–64 and 57% of those aged 65 and over). Another 1 in 9 (12% or 505,000) can walk up and down stairs without a handrail, but have difficulty doing so (ABS 2019b).

One in 8 (13% or 556,000) people with disability (aged 5 and over who leave their place of residence) always need assistance with mobility away from their place of residence (9.4% of those aged 5–64 and 17% of those aged 65 and over). Another 1 in 9 (11% or 467,000) sometimes need assistance with mobility and 4.5% (or 195,000) do not need assistance but have difficulty with mobility (ABS 2019b).

Use of mobility aids

More than 1 in 7 (16% or 679,000) people with disability use mobility aids (7.7% of those aged 0–64 and 25% of those aged 65 and over). Those with severe or profound disability are almost 7 times as likely (37%) to use mobility aids as those with other disability status (5.4%) (ABS 2019b).

More than 2 in 5 (42% or 78,000) of those aged 0–64 who use mobility aids use a walking stick, 25% use a walking frame, 22% use a manual wheelchair, 17% use crutches and 13% use canes. Almost 3 in 5 (58% or 284,000) of those aged 65 and over who use mobility aids use a walking frame, 40% (or 195,000) use a walking stick, 24% (or 119,000) use a manual wheelchair and 10% (or 52,000) use canes (ABS 2019b).

Around 1 in 25 (3.7% or 89,000) people with disability aged 0–64 use mobility aids for moving around their residence and other places (14% or 273,000 of those aged 65 and over). Another 3.6% (or 88,000) of those aged 0–64 use mobility aids only for moving around places other than their residence (8.6% or 166,000 of those aged 65 and over) (ABS 2019b).

Public transport

One in 7 (14% or 590,000) people with disability (aged 5 and over, living in households and who leave their place of residence) cannot use any form of public transport (12% of those aged 5–64 and 17% of those aged 65 and over). Another 1 in 9 (11% or 458,000) need help or supervision to use public transport and a further 1 in 14 (6.9% or 282,000) are able to use public transport without help or supervision but have difficulty (ABS 2019b).

People with disability may experience indirect discrimination in terms of environmental or structural elements that limit their access to, and ability to use public transport. See ‘Disability discrimination’ for more information on difficulties people with disability experience when using public transport.

Private transport

Around one-quarter (24% or 884,000) of people with disability (aged 16 and over living in households who leave their place of residence) need assistance with private transport to get to places away from home (19% of those aged 16–64 and 29% of those aged 65 and over) (ABS 2019b). Females (26% or 509,000) are more likely to need assistance with private transport than males (21% or 372,000):

• 20% (or 206,000) of females aged 16–64 need assistance compared with 17% (or 169,000) of males
• 33% (or 303,000) of females aged 65 and over need assistance compared with 24% (or 205,000) of males (ABS 2019b).

Two in 3 (66% or 2.5 million) people with disability (aged 16 and over living in households who leave their place of residence) do not have difficulty travelling by private transport without assistance (70% of those aged 16–64 and 61% of those aged 65 and over). A further:

• 15% (or 575,000) always need to be driven
• 8.2% (or 309,000) sometimes need to be driven
• 3.4% (or 126,000) do not need to be driven but have difficulty travelling without assistance
• 6.9% (or 258,000) need to be driven or have other difficulty (ABS 2019b).

More than 4 in 5 (82% or 2.9 million) people with disability (aged 17 and over living in households who leave their place of residence and know how to drive) have a driver's license (85% of those aged 17–64 and 78% of those aged 65 and over) (ABS 2019b).

Schooling and employment restrictions

People with disability may also have restrictions that specifically make it difficult to participate in schooling or employment. For example, of people with disability living in households, an estimated:

• 1 in 2 (48% or 2.0 million) aged 5 and over have a schooling or employment restriction (65% or 768,000 of those with severe or profound disability and 41% or 1.2 million of those with other disability status)
• 4 in 5 (80% or 305,000) aged 5–18 who attend school have specific restrictions related to their schooling (92% or 190,000 of those with severe or profound disability and 66% or 115,000 of those with other disability status)
• 1 in 2 (47% or 88,000) aged 15–64 studying for a non-school qualification have specific restrictions related to education (73% or 25,000 of those with severe or profound disability and 41% or 61,000 of those with other disability status)
• 2 in 3 (68% or 1.4 million) aged 15–64 have specific restrictions related to employment (91% or 457,000 of those with severe or profound disability and 60% or 936,000 of those with other disability status) (ABS 2019b).

Almost 9 in 10 (87% or 659,000) people aged 5–64 with psychosocial disability living in households have a schooling or employment restriction compared with:

• 85% (or 439,000) of those with intellectual disability
• 82% (or 140,000) of those with head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury
• 75% (or 1.0 million) of those with physical disability
• 67% (or 345,000) of those with sensory disability (ABS 2019b).