Disability support services
Services provided under the National Disability Agreement
2010–11

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Suggested citation
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2012. Disability support services: services provided under the National Disability Agreement 2010–11. Disability series. Cat. no. DIS 60. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Board Chair
Dr Andrew Refshauge
Director
David Kalisch
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Published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

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Please check the online version at <www.aihw.gov.au> for any amendments.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Summary
1	Introduction
1.1	National Disability Agreement
1.2	The DS NMDS collection
2	What are disability support services?
2.1	Who provides disability support services?
2.2	How many people used disability support services?
2.3	How many people who need disability support services receive them?
2.4	How much was spent on disability support services?
3	Who uses disability support services?
3.1	Age and sex
3.2	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status
3.3	Country of birth
3.4	Living arrangements
3.5	Remoteness
3.6	Income source
3.7	Employment
3.8	New users and user exits
4	What were the functional needs of service users?
4.1	What types of disability did people have?
4.2	In what life areas was assistance needed?
5	Informal care
5.1	How many service users had an informal carer?
5.2	Who provided informal care?
6	How were services used?
6.1	Multiple service users
6.2	Combinations of services accessed
6.3	Measures of service quantity
Appendix A: About the DS NMDS
A.1	Brief history
A.2	Scope of the collection
A.3	Counts and definitions
A.4	Statistical linkage key
A.5	Data quality
A.7	Calculation of potential population
A.8	Further information
Appendix B: Additional tables
Glossary
References
List of tables
List of figures

Acknowledgments
This report was prepared by Brendan Brady, Felicity Murdoch and Paul Quach of the Functioning and Disability Unit of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The contributions of Brent Diverty (Continuing and Specialised Care Group Head) and Liz Clout (Functioning and Disability Unit Head) are gratefully acknowledged.
The successful completion of the Disability Services National Minimum Data Set collection in 2010–11 owes much to the service users and service providers who contributed information, and to staff of the Australian and state and territory government agencies who undertook the collection and commented constructively on the report.
Special thanks are due to the following people, who were the main contacts for the 2010–11 data collection:
Department of Human Services (New South Wales)	Qingsheng Zhou	
Department of Human Services (Victoria)	Joy Easton	
Disability and Community Care Services (Queensland)	Aaron Key	
Disability Services Commission (Western Australia)	Guy Dyson	
Department for Families and Communities (South Australia)	Leoni Fear	
Department of Health and Human Services (Tasmania)	Stephen Rickerby	
Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services (Australian Capital Territory)	Vijaya Goundar	
Department of Health and Community Services 
(Northern Territory)	Judy Brooks	
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (Australian Government)	Graham Harman	
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (Australian Government)	Marcia Kingston	

Abbreviations
ABS	Australian Bureau of Statistics	
ADD	attention deficit disorder	
ADL	activities of daily living	
AIHW	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare	
AIL	activities of independent living	
Aus Gov	Australian Government 	
AWEC	activities of work, education and community living	
COAG	Council of Australian Governments	
CSDA	Commonwealth/State Disability Agreement	
CSTDA	Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement	
DS NMDS	Disability Services National Minimum Data Set	
FTE	full-time equivalent	
NDA	National Disability Agreement	
NDIS	National Disability Insurance Scheme	
no.	number	
SCRGSP	Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision	
SDAC	ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers	
Symbols
—	nil or rounded to zero	
<	less than	
>	more than	
. .	not applicable	
n.a.	not available	
n.p.	not publishable because of small numbers, confidentiality or other concerns about the quality of the data	

Summary
Disability affects many people in the community at all stages of life. It impacts people in different ways and to varying extents, with some people with disability needing support. In response, Australian governments fund a range of services under the National Disability Agreement. These are termed ‘disability support services’ and are aimed at improving the lives of both people with disability and their carers, and ensuring that they have the opportunity to participate in the community. Data on this are collected in the Disability Services National Minimum Data Set.
Service users have a range of support needs
There are five broad groups of services for which data are collected: accommodation support (received by 14% of service users), community support (45%), community access (19%), respite (12%), and employment (41%). Just over 1 in 5 service users (22%) accessed services across multiple service groups.
Commonly reported primary disabilities were intellectual (30%), psychiatric (20%) and physical (17%). Most service users needed some assistance in the activities of daily living (52%); the activities of independent living (60%); and in the activities of work, education and community living (57%).
Increasing use of services and more informal carers
In 2010–11, 314,252 people used disability support services, an increase of 7% from 2009–10 and of 45% from 2005–06. The rate of service use has also increased, from an estimated 1 in 94 people in the general Australian population in 2005–06 to 1 in 71 in 2010–11.
The use of employment services, in particular, has increased—by 75% since 2005–06 in terms of the number of people using employment services; and from being received by 34% of service users in 2005–06 to 41% in 2010–11.
The number of service users with an informal carer has increased by 31% since 2005–06. In 2010–11, 44% of service users had an informal carer. In most cases (80%), that carer was a primary carer who provided help with one or more of the activities of daily living such as self-care, mobility or communication.
Increasing expenditure on most service groups, but average expenditure per service user decreasing
In 2010–11, expenditure on disability support services was $6.2 billion, of which $5.8 billion was allocated for service delivery. Real expenditure on disability support services has increased in recent years—by 2% between 2009–10 and 2010–11 and by 36% since 2005–06. Community support showed the largest increase in expenditure (10% between 2009–10 and 2010–11, and 80% since 2005–06), followed by employment services (3% and 47%, respectively).
Average expenditure per service user has decreased for some service groups in recent years. In particular, average expenditure per service user on employment services has decreased by 16% since 2005–06 and by 5% between 2009–10 and 2010–11. Between 2009–10 and 2010–11, average expenditure per service user also fell by 4–6% for the other service groups, except for community support, which increased by just under 1%. Some possible explanations for the decreases in average expenditure include that service use is increasing faster than expenditure, or that there have been efficiency improvements in the delivery of services.
1	Introduction
This report presents data collected in the Disability Services National Minimum Data Set (DS NMDS) on disability support services that were provided under the National Disability Agreement (NDA). It is produced on behalf of the Disability Policy and Research Working Group under an agreement between the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
Eight (8) years of data have been collected under the NDA and its predecessor, the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) (see Appendix A).
1.1	National Disability Agreement
The NDA provides the framework for delivering government services to people with disability. It commits all jurisdictions to work towards the following objective: ‘People with disability and their carers have an enhanced quality of life and participate as valued members of the community’ (COAG 2008b). It also highlights the importance of coordinated effort across the whole of government.
In addition, the NDA sets out the development of person-centred services as a key policy direction. Person-centred service is an approach to service delivery that emphasises the individual’s identification of need and choice in the services or support best suited to meet those needs. It is characterised by flexibility of funding arrangements, including individualised funding. Other key policy directions of the NDA can be found at Appendix A.
Under the NDA, two levels of government are responsible for disability support services. The Australian Government is responsible for the planning, policy setting and management of employment services and income support for people with disability. State and territory governments are responsible for providing accommodation support, community access, community support and respite services. Some major state and territory differences exist within this overall arrangement. For instance, certain services—such as early intervention services for children with disability—fall within the disability support system in some states, but are administered under the education portfolio in others. Responsibility for advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication is shared between the two levels of government.
1.2	The DS NMDS collection
The DS NMDS collects information on services and service users (see ‘Glossary’) where funding has been provided, during the specified period, by a government organisation operating under the NDA. An agency (see ‘Glossary’) may receive funding from multiple sources. Where an agency is unable to differentiate service users and/or staff according to funding source (that is, NDA or other), it is asked to provide details of all service users and staff (for each service type). It is also important to note that the DS NMDS provides for information on only one informal carer per service user (see ‘Glossary’ for a definition of carer).
The report presents data from the DS NMDS only and, as such, describes just one part of a broader service system. Many people with disability receive support through other government programs, such as Home and Community Care, in addition to mainstream services including those for health, education and transport.
For detailed information on the data collection, including the definitions and collection method used, see Appendix A. For more information on terms used in this report, see ‘Glossary’, Appendix A and the NMDS data guide (AIHW 2011a).
DS NMDS redevelopment
The introduction of the NDA signalled the need to redevelop the DS NMDS to better align with the objectives under the NDA. The AIHW is leading this redevelopment work on behalf of the Disability Policy and Research Working Group.
One of the primary aims of the DS NMDS redevelopment is to shift the emphasis in the collection from service provision to the person receiving services. This change mirrors disability service provision and policy developments including person-centred services and individualised funding. It also positions the DS NMDS to better inform the development of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in future.
2	What are disability support services?
Overview of disability support services
In 2010–11:
•	314,252 people (or an estimated 1 in 71 people in the general Australian population) used disability support services
•	community support and employment services were the most common service groups used
•	expenditure on disability support services was $6.2 billion, of which $5.8 billion was allocated for service delivery
•	there were 2,283 agencies in Australia managing 13,883 service type outlets
•	most agencies were funded by state/territory governments (72%); the remaining 28% were funded by the Australian Government
•	the majority (82%) of service providers were in the non-government sector and the majority of these were income tax exempt charities (86%).
2.1	Who provides disability support services?
Disability support services under the NDA are typically provided by agencies operating through service type outlets (see ‘Glossary’). Data are collected, usually by agencies, for each service type outlet they operate.
Table 2.1: Disability support service agencies, by state and territory, 2005–06 to 2010–11
	NSW	Vic 	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
2005–06	475	632	353	159	173	120	51	43	2,006	
2006–07	649	656	401	181	198	126	67	52	2,330	
2007–08	612	659	395	174	195	123	69	56	2,283	
2008–09	640	629	392	179	192	119	66	58	2,275	
2009–10	641	640	408	170	183	115	64	35	2,256	
2010–11	628	649	414	169	193	116	71	43	2,283	
Change 2005–06 to 2010–11 (number)	153	17	61	10	20	–4	20	—	277	
Change 2005–06 to 2010–11 (per cent)	32.2	2.7	17.3	6.3	11.6	–3.3	39.2	—	13.8	

In 2010–11, there were 2,283 agencies in Australia managing 13,883 service type outlets (tables 2.1 and 2.2). (Not all service type outlets provide service user information. See Table 2.4.) 
Most agencies were funded by state/territory governments (72%); the remaining 28% were funded by the Australian Government (Table 2.2).
Table 2.2: Disability support service agencies, funding source, by state and territory, 2010–11
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
State/territory-funded agencies	434	483	310	110	133	94	57	31	1,652	
Australian Government-funded agencies	194	166	104	59	60	22	14	12	631	
Total (number)	628	649	414	169	193	116	71	43	2,283	
Total (per cent)	27.5	28.4	18.1	7.4	8.5	5.1	3.1	1.9	100.0	
The majority (82%) of service type outlets were in the non-government sector and the majority of these were income tax exempt charities (86% of non-government service type outlets and 70% of all service type outlets) (Table 2.3).
The number of agencies and service type outlets providing disability support services has increased over recent years: the number of agencies has increased by 1% from 2009–10 and by 14% since 2005–06, and the number of outlets by 10% from 2009–10 and by 55% since 2005–06 (tables 2.1 and 2.4). (Excludes service type outlets that do not provide service user information. See Table 2.4.)
Table 2.3: Disability support service type outlets, service group, by agency sector, 2010–11
Service group	Government		Non-government	Total	
	Australian/ state/ territory	Local	Sub-total		Income
tax
exempt (charity)	Non-
income
tax exempt	Sub-
total		
Accommodation support	1,478	31	1,509		3,378	613	3,991	5,500	
Community support	634	24	658		966	121	1,087	1,745	
Community access	56	50	106		2,574	265	2,839	2,945	
Respite(a)	127	50	177		1,096	180	1,276	1,453	
Employment(b)	n.p.	n.p.	8		1,221	187	1,408	1,416	
Advocacy, information, alternative forms of communication	n.p.	n.p.	14		356	89	445	459	
Other support	12	59	71		148	146	294	365	
Total	2,324	219	2,543		9,739	1,601	11,340	13,883	
(a)	Information on Australian Government-funded respite services is not included in the table.
(b)	Includes only Australian Government-funded employment services.
What types of services are provided?
A range of services are available to people with disability under the NDA, including accommodation support, community support, community access, respite, and employment services. A full description of services provided by service type outlets is at Appendix A, and the number of people using each type of service is presented in Section 2.2.
In 2010–11, the most common service type outlets were accommodation support (40% of outlets), and community access services (21%) (Table 2.3).
2.2	How many people used disability support 	services?
In 2010–11, 314,252 people used disability support services (Table 2.4). This equated to an estimated 1 in 71 people in the general Australian population using services (or 14 per 1,000) (Figure 2.1).
The number of service users and the rate of service use have both increased in recent years—the number of service users by 7% from 2009–10 and by 45% since 2005–06 (tables 2.4 and 2.6), and the rate of service use from an estimated 1 in 94 to 1 in 71 people in the general Australian population (or 11 per 1,000 to 14 per 1,000) since 2005–06 (Figure 2.1).
Between 2005–06 and 2010–11, the overall average number of service users per service type outlet remained relatively steady—at between 24 and 26 service users per outlet (Table 2.4).
Figure 2.1: Service users per 1,000 population, 2005–06 to 2010–11
A bar graph showing service users per 1,000 population on the y-axis and year on the x-axis.
Sources: Table 2.4 and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2012.

Table 2.4: Users of disability support services, service type outlets and average service users per service type outlet, by service group, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Service group	2005–06		2006–07		2007–08		2008–09		2009–10		2010–11	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
	Number of service users	
Accommodation support	35,556	16.4	37,473	16.1	37,704	15.3	39,169	14.0	39,854	13.5	42,579	13.5	
Community support	96,664	44.5	98,598	42.5	104,165	42.3	120,629	43.2	127,909	43.4	140,156	44.6	
Community access	47,738	22.0	53,236	22.9	54,416	22.1	58,274	20.9	58,632	19.9	60,509	19.3	
Respite	27,319	12.6	30,058	12.9	31,604	12.8	34,331	12.3	35,978	12.2	36,266	11.5	
Employment	73,157	33.7	80,008	34.4	89,935	36.5	109,033	39.0	118,801	40.3	128,321	40.8	
Total	217,143	. .	232,253	. .	246,281	. .	279,301	. .	295,024	. .	314,252	. .	
	Number of service type outlets	
Accommodation support	3,926	46.6	4,203	42.6	4,267	42.0	4,639	41.9	4,701	39.6	5,500	42.1	
Community support	1,341	15.9	1,486	15.1	1,508	14.9	1,533	13.9	1,585	13.3	1,745	13.4	
Community access	1,646	19.6	2,097	21.3	2,241	22.1	2,584	23.4	2,795	23.5	2,945	22.6	
Respite	776	9.2	1,010	10.2	1,058	10.4	1,215	11.0	1,376	11.6	1,453	11.1	
Employment	729	8.7	1,072	10.9	1,075	10.6	1,090	9.9	1,419	11.9	1,416	10.8	
Total(a)	8,418	100.0	9,868	100.0	10,149	100.0	11,061	100.0	11,876	100.0	13,059	100.0	
	Average service users per service type outlets	
Accommodation support	9.1	. .	8.9	. .	8.8	. .	8.4	. .	8.5	. .	7.7	. .	
Community support	72.1	. .	66.4	. .	69.1	. .	78.7	. .	80.7	. .	80.3	. .	
Community access	29.0	. .	25.4	. .	24.3	. .	22.6	. .	21.0	. .	20.5	. .	
Respite	35.2	. .	29.8	. .	29.9	. .	28.3	. .	26.1	. .	25.0	. .	
Employment	100.4	. .	74.6	. .	83.7	. .	100.0	. .	83.7	. .	90.6	. .	
Total	25.8	. .	23.5	. .	24.3	. .	25.3	. .	24.8	. .	24.1	. .	
(a)	Excludes advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication, and other support service type outlets. Information on service users are not collected for these agencies.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
2.	Total service users may not be the sum of service group components because individuals may have accessed more than one service group over the 12-month period.
3.	Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those for previous years. For further information, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
What types of services did people use?
There are five broad service groups (categories of service type) for which service user data are collected in the DS NMDS. They are accommodation support, community support, community access, respite, and employment. Service user data are not collected for the service groups of ‘advocacy, information, alternative forms of communication’ and ’other support’. Appendix A provides definitions of each of the service groups in the DS NMDS collection and provides detailed definitions of each specific service type category.
Community support and employment services were the most common types of support accessed by service users (tables 2.4 and 2.5).
In percentage terms, the types of services used have remained relatively steady over time except for employment services. The use of employment services has increased in recent years—the proportion of service users receiving employment services has increased from 34% of service users in 2005–06 to 41% in 2010–11; and the number of service users receiving employment services has increased by 75% since 2005–06 (tables 2.4 and 2.6).
Table 2.5: Users of disability support services, service group, by state and territory, 2010–11
Service group	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
Accommodation support 	9,487	15,486	6,899	3,308	5,468	1,280	454	211	42,579	
Community support	35,479	48,219	16,653	13,385	16,727	4,527	3,733	1,956	140,156	
Community access 	14,490	23,052	9,334	4,630	6,719	1,579	486	255	60,509	
Respite 	9,499	15,676	5,191	3,315	1,735	461	341	97	36,266	
Total state/territory services	50,993	77,657	25,012	16,577	21,822	6,356	4,213	2,378	204,226	
Employment 	42,266	32,213	26,175	10,631	11,914	3,139	1,578	596	128,321	
Total (number)	88,822	105,309	48,478	24,344	31,052	9,100	5,523	2,908	314,252	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
2.	Totals for Australia may not be the sum of service components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one state or territory during the 12-month period.
3.	Total service users may not be the sum of service group components because individuals may have accessed more than one service group over the 12-month period.
How many service type outlets did people access?
In 2010–11, service users accessed an average of 2 service type outlets each (Table 2.6). This has remained relatively steady over recent years.
Table 2.6: Users of disability support services, service types outlets accessed and average service type outlets accessed per service user, by service group, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Service group	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11		Change 
2005–06 
to 2010–11	
	Number of service users		Per cent	
Accommodation support	35,566	37,473	37,704	39,169	39,854	42,579		19.7	
Community support	96,664	98,598	104,165	120,629	127,909	140,156		45.0	
Community access	47,738	53,236	54,416	58,274	58,632	60,509		26.8	
Respite	27,319	30,058	31,604	34,331	35,978	36,266		32.8	
Employment	73,157	80,008	89,935	109,003	118,801	128,321		75.4	
Total	217,143	232,253	246,281	279,301	295,024	314,252		44.7	
	Number of service type outlets accessed(a)			
Accommodation support	39,003	42,398	42,484	43,364	43,694	48,385		24.1	
Community support	132,946	136,106	159,534	181,086	198,237	227,408		71.1	
Community access	54,709	64,351	65,637	68,490	67,849	71,282		30.3	
Respite	35,150	39,520	42,447	46,081	48,205	50,509		43.7	
Employment	76,736	82,767	95,592	110,552	122,133	130,556		70.1	
Total	338,544	365,142	405,694	449,573	480,118	528,140		56.0	
	Average service type outlets accessed per user(a)			
Accommodation support	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.1		—	
Community support	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.6		—	
Community access	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2		—	
Respite	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.4		7.7	
Employment	1.1	1.0	1.1	1.0	1.0	1.0		—	
Total	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.7		6.2	
(a)	Service type outlets accessed refers to the number of unique outlets accessed at least once by a service user. Service users may access the same service type outlet more than once; however, this is counted as only one access.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Total service users may not be the sum of service group components because individuals may have accessed more than one service group over the 12-month period.
3.	Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those for previous years. For further information, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).

2.3	How many people who need disability support 	services receive them?
The number of people who need disability support services is measured using the ‘potential population’. The method for calculating this is currently under review and may differ in future reports.
The potential population is an estimate of the number of people who might have needed disability support services at a given point in time (in this case, 2010–11). The potential population is calculated here by applying national age- and sex-specific rates of severe or profound core activity limitation from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (ABS 2010a to the estimated resident population in the reference year. This is then used to calculate the rate of service use per 1,000 potential population.
The data show that in recent years there has been an increase in the number of people receiving services (service users) for most service groups when compared with those who may have needed those services (potential population). In particular, there has been an increase in the rate of people receiving community support, employment, and accommodation support services, while the rates of people receiving respite services and community access services have decreased slightly (Table 2.7 and Figure 2.2).
Table 2.7: Users of disability support services aged under 65 per 1,000 potential population, by service group, 2009–10 to 2010–11
Service group	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11		Percentage change	
					2008–09 to 2010–11	2009–10 to 2010–11	
Accommodation support(a)	53.1	52.6	54.6	2.7	3.7	
Community support(a)	161.7	170.5	183.7	12.9	7.7	
Community access(a)	75.7	76.0	75.5	–0.2	–0.6	
Respite(a)	89.9	92.0	91.5	1.7	–0.5	
Employment(b)	275.1	293.8	309.0	11.5	5.2	
(a)	Aged 0–64.
(b)	Aged 15–64.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
2.	Data for 2008–09 and 2009–10 differ from that published in previous reports because of a change in the service user age range used to calculate the rates.
Figure 2.2: Users of disability support services aged under 65 per 1,000 potential population, by service group, 2008–09 to 2010–11
A stacked line chart showing for service groups, service users per 1,000 potential population on the y-axis and years on the x-axis.
Note: Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those in previous years. For further information, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
Source: Table 2.7.

2.4	How much was spent on disability support 	services?
In 2010–11, expenditure on disability support services was $6.2 billion (Table 2.8, including administration and capital grants). Of this, around $5.8 billion was allocated for service delivery. This equated to an average of around $18,000 per service user.
Accommodation support was the largest expenditure group, followed by community support, employment services, and community access.
Table 2.8: Expenditure on disability support services by Australian, state and territory governments, by service group, 2010–11 ($ million)
Service group	NSW	Vic(a)	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov(b)	Total 	Per cent	
Accommodation support	1,029.9 	597.5 	490.2 	296.6 	230.7 	85.1 	46.8 	33.9 	—	2,810.7 	45.1	
Community support	186.5 	427.3 	137.9 	72.3 	54.6 	16.8 	8.8 	10.8 	51.0 	966.0 	15.5	
Community access	256.4 	155.2 	127.3 	63.0 	32.5 	24.9 	6.8 	4.0 	2.8 	672.9 	10.8	
Respite	121.4 	84.7 	68.5 	48.1 	19.2 	12.1 	7.2 	3.1 	8.7 	373.0 	6.0	
Employment	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	682.8 	682.8 	11.0	
Advocacy, information, alternative forms of communication	9.7 	8.7 	12.7 	5.1 	1.3 	2.6 	1.1 	0.2 	18.1 	59.6 	1.0	
Other support 	33.1 	43.5 	24.1 	20.1 	30.5 	0.5 	1.9 	3.1 	28.8 	185.5 	3.0	
Subtotal	1,637.0 	1,317.0 	860.7 	505.2 	368.7 	142.0 	72.6 	55.1 	792.2 	5,750.4 	92.3	
Administration	150.6 	135.5 	75.1 	23.6 	18.9 	6.8 	6.7 	2.1 	51.4 	470.9 	7.6	
Capital grants to non-government service providers	—	1.7 	—	10.3 	—	—	—	—	—	12.0 	0.2	
Total	1,787.6 	1,454.2 	935.8 	539.1 	387.6 	148.8 	79.2 	57.2 	843.6 	6,233.3 	100.0	
(a)	Victorian data exclude Psychiatric Disability Rehabilitation and Support Services (PDRSS) expenditure.
(b)	Some Australian Government-funded community access and respite services were provided under the NDA from the Services for People with Disability (SFPD) appropriation.
Note: 	Figures may vary from those published in Table 2.9 and in the Report on government services 2012 (SCRGSP 2012) because funding for 	specialist psychiatric disability services is included here but not in the Report on government services 2012 or in Table 2.9.
Sources: Data provided to AIHW by each jurisdiction; SCRGSP 2012: tables 14A.4 and 14A.8 (for Australian Government data expenditure).
Real expenditure (adjusted for inflation or deflation over time) on disability support services has increased by 2% between 2009–10 and 2010–11 and by 36% since 2005–06 (Table 2.9). Community support showed the largest increase in expenditure (10% between 2009–10 and 2010–11, and 80% since 2005–06), followed by employment services (3% and 47%, respectively). Some service groups, such as ‘other support’ and community access showed a decrease in expenditure between 2009–10 and 2010–11.
Between 2005–06 and 2010–11, average expenditure per service user increased for community support (by 25%), for accommodation support (by 8%), and for respite services (by 5%), while average expenditure per service user on employment services, and on community access decreased (by 16% and 5%, respectively). Between 2009–10 and 2010–11, average expenditure per service user fell by 4–6% in all service groups except for community support, which increased by just under 1%.
Some possible explanations for the decreases in average expenditure include that service use is increasing faster than expenditure or that there have been efficiency improvements in the delivery of services.
Table 2.9: Expenditure in constant dollars on disability support services by Australian, state and territory governments, by service group, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Service group	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11		Percentage change	
	$ million (2010–11 dollars)		2005–06 to 2010–11	2009–10 to 2010–11	
Accommodation support	2,189.6	2,373.8	2,484.4	2,522.6	2,715.0	2,789.7		27.4	2.8	
Community support	535.5	602.9	619.9	819.6	875.1	966.0		80.4	10.4	
Community access	533.1	598.7	629.3	633.6	682.1	664.0		24.6	–2.7	
Respite	259.8	289.1	312.7	357.1	386.2	372.9		43.5	–3.4	
Employment	464.8	501.3	578.5	575.2	666.4	682.8		46.9	2.5	
Advocacy, information, alternative forms of communication	53.0	60.2	61.1	51.6	57.5	58.0		9.5	0.9	
Other support	116.4	144.3	142.2	183.6	243.1	184.8		58.7	–24.0	
Subtotal	4,152.2	4,570.3	4,828.0	5,143.2	5,625.3	5,718.2		37.7	1.7	
Capital grants to non-government providers	6.8	64.4	0.9	23.8	45.6	12.0		75.8	–73.6	
Administration	388.7	425.9	429.8	415.7	437.2	470.9		21.1	7.7	
Total	4,547.7	5,060.5	5,258.7	5,582.7	6,108.1	6,201.0		36.4	1.5	
	Expenditure per service user (2010–11 dollars)(a)				
Accommodation support	73,997	76,506	81,231	79,921	83,197	80,147		8.3	–3.7	
Community support	5,551	6,125	5,974	6,818	6,870	6,916		24.6	0.7	
Community access	13,561	13,353	13,840	13,039	13,724	12,937		–4.6	–5.7	
Respite	10,446	10,368	10,598	11,107	11,517	10,982		5.1	–4.6	
Employment	6,353	6,266	6,433	5,277	5,609	5,321		–16.3	–5.1	
(a)	Totals for expenditure per service user have been excluded because some funded service events, such as advocacy information and alternative forms of communication and other support services, are not captured for all categories.
Notes
1.	Excludes expenditure on, and service users of, specialist psychiatric disability services.
2.	Expenditure data includes actual payroll tax for New South Wales (for 2007–08), Victoria (in part, for 2005–06 to 2007–08), South Australia (2006–07 in part to 2008–09), Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
3.	Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those in previous years. For further information, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
Sources: SCRGSP 2011: tables 14A.4 and 14A.8.

3	Who uses disability support services?
Users of disability support services come from diverse sections of the community and all stages of life.
Overview of service user characteristics
In 2010–11:
•	the median age of service users was 33
•	the majority of service users were male (59%)
•	6% of service users aged under 65 identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
•	most service users were born in Australia (82%)
•	around half of service users lived with family; 1 in 5 lived alone; and 1 in 4 lived with ‘others’
•	63% of service users lived in Major cities and 23% lived in Inner regional areas
•	the most common source of income among service users was the Disability Support Pension
•	around 1 in 3 service users aged 15–64 was unemployed (36%)
•	over one-quarter (26%) of service users were new users—that is, people who received a disability support service for the first time in 2010–11.
3.1	Age and sex
In 2010–11, the median age of service users was 33, younger than median age of the general Australian population (37) (ABS 2010b; Appendix B: Table B12). The age of service users has remained relatively steady over time (Table 3.1).
The majority of service users were male (59%) (Appendix B: Table B14). Males generally had a younger age profile than female service users—with a median age of 30 compared with 38 for females (Figure 3.1 and AIHW unpublished data).

Figure 3.1: Users of disability support services, by age group and sex, 2010–11
A vertical bar chart showing, for male and female, number on y-axis and age group years on x-axis.
Source: DS NMDS 2010–11.

Table 3.1: Users of disability support services, by age group, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Collection year	Age group (years)	Total	
	0–14 	15–24 	25–44 	45–64 	65+		
	Number	
2005–06(a)	44,916	41,422	68,788	47,977	13,873	217,143	
2006–07(a)	49,192	43,083	72,680	54,845	12,365	232,253	
2007–08(a)	50,226	44,423	76,946	62,634	11,854	246,281	
2008–09	53,869	48,459	85,419	72,518	19,036	279,301	
2009–10	57,676	52,015	89,005	78,322	18,006	295,024	
2010–11	61,849	56,084	91,481	85,416	19,422	314,252	
	Per cent	
2005–06	20.7	19.1	31.7	22.1	6.4	100.0	
2006–07	21.2	18.6	31.3	23.6	5.3	100.0	
2007–08	20.4	18.0	31.2	25.4	4.8	100.0	
2008–09	19.3	17.4	30.6	26.0	6.8	100.0	
2009–10	19.5	17.6	30.2	26.5	6.1	100.0	
2010–11	19.7	17.8	29.1	27.2	6.2	100.0	
(a)	Components will not add to total because of age being missing. See Note 1 below.
Notes
1.	Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those for previous years. For further information see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
2.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
3.	Totals are for all service users from that 12-month reporting period, including service users whose age was not stated.

3.2	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status
In 2010–11, approximately 6% of service users aged under 65 identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, compared with around 3% of people in the general Australian population (Table 3.2).
Table 3.2: Users of disability support services aged 0–64, Indigenous status and proportion of Indigenous Australians aged 0–64 in the population, by state and territory, 2010–11
State/territory	Indigenous		Non-Indigenous		Not stated/ 
not collected		Total		Indigenous people in population	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Per cent	
NSW	5,362	6.2	78,871	91.2	2,291	2.6	86,524	100.0	2.6	
Vic	2,329	2.5	82,623	87.5	9,486	10.0	94,438	100.0	0.7	
Qld	3,009	6.3	43,597	91.7	930	2.0	47,536	100.0	4.0	
WA	2,128	9.0	21,015	88.6	568	2.4	23,711	100.0	3.7	
SA	1,177	4.3	25,546	93.6	581	2.1	27,304	100.0	2.1	
Tas	375	4.2	8,294	93.7	182	2.1	8,851	100.0	4.5	
ACT	190	3.5	5,124	93.7	156	2.9	5,470	100.0	1.4	
NT	1,414	62.3	741	32.6	116	5.1	2,271	100.0	30.7	
Australia	15,846	5.4	264,677	89.8	14,307	4.9	294,830	100.0	2.8	
Percentage of valid responses	. .	5.6	. .	94.4	. .	. .	. . 	100.0	. .	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Totals for Australia may not be the sum of components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one state/territory during the 12-month period. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3).
4.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom Indigenous data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Appendix B: Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.
5.	Indigenous population figures are based on ABS Series B projections of the Indigenous population by state/territory for June 2010 
(ABS 2009).

3.3	Country of birth
In 2010–11, the majority of service users were born in Australia (82%), higher than the 71% of people in the general Australian population (Table 3.3). After Australia, the most common countries of birth were England, New Zealand and Vietnam.
Table 3.3: Users of disability support services, by 10 most common countries of birth, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Country of birth	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11		2010–11	Australian population(a)	
	Number		Per cent	
Australia	171,144	193,444	203,775	228,034	242,702	257,741		82.0	70.9	
Outside Australia	17,937	23,989	27,783	33,173	36,187	39,394		12.5	22.2	
England	2,492	4,439	5,138	5,933	6,192	6,365		2.0	4.3	
New Zealand	2,033	2,316	2,708	3,166	3,455	3,666		1.2	2.0	
Vietnam	868	1,332	1,883	2,368	2,760	3,010		1.0	0.8	
Italy	982	1,094	1,203	811	818	1,501		0.5	1.0	
Greece	583	670	781	970	899	893		0.3	0.6	
Lebanon	324	523	771	1,047	1,284	1,406		0.4	0.4	
China(b)	325	530	684	862	1,163	1,373		0.4	1.0	
Philippines	433	561	658	821	885	977		0.3	0.6	
Germany	500	598	645	729	745	789		0.3	0.5	
Not stated	28,062	14,820	14,723	18,094	16,135	17,117		5.4	6.0	
Total	217,143	232,253	246,281	279,301	295,024	314,252		100.0	100.0	
(a)	Total Australian population numbers are taken from the 2006 Census.
(b)	Excludes Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan province.
Note:	Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those for previous years. For further information 	see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).

3.4	Living arrangements
Around half of service users lived with family, 1 in 5 lived alone and 1 in 4 lived with ‘others’ (Table 3.4). As expected, there is a relationship between living arrangements and service group use. Users of service groups such as respite services and community support services were more likely to live with family than users of other service groups. 
Table 3.4: Users of disability support services, living arrangements, by service group, 2010–11
Service group	Lives alone		Lives with family		Lives with others		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
Accommodation support	7,992	18.8	9,428	22.1	22,813	53.6	2,346	5.5	42,579	100.0	
Community support	11,938	8.5	97,169	69.3	21,234	15.2	9,815	7.0	140,156	100.0	
Community access	7,855	13.0	27,011	44.6	18,714	30.9	6,929	11.5	60,509	100.0	
Respite	1,752	4.8	28,431	78.4	3,564	9.8	2,519	6.9	36,266	100.0	
Employment	41,393	32.3	35,890	28.0	37,460	29.2	13,578	10.6	128,321	100.0	
Total	59,223	18.8	150,754	48.0	70,777	22.5	33,498	10.7	314,252	100.0	
Percentage of valid responses	. .	21.1	. .	53.7	. .	25.2	. .	. .	. .	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Column totals may not be the sum of components because individuals may have accessed more than one service type during the 12-month period. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
4.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom living arrangement data were not collected, and other service users with no response. 
Table 3.5: Users of accommodation support services provided under the NDA, accommodation support category, by state and territory, 2010–11
Accommodation support category	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
	Number	
Institutional accommodation	1,561	422	781	341	647	229	—	—	3,981	
Group homes	4,713	5,026	1,880	1,554	1,100	505	220	138	15,130	
Other community settings	3,561	10,169	5,059	1,552	3,844	572	250	74	25,075	
Total accommodation support	9,487	15,486	6,899	3,308	5,468	1,280	454	211	42,110	
	Per cent	
Institutional accommodation	16.5	2.7	11.3	10.3	11.8	17.9	—	—	9.5	
Group homes	49.7	32.5	27.3	47.0	20.1	39.5	48.5	65.4	35.9	
Other community settings	37.5	65.7	73.3	46.9	70.3	44.7	55.1	35.1	59.5	
Total accommodation support	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Totals for Australia may not be the sum of the components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one state or territory during the 12-month period. 
3.	Total for accommodation support (numbers and percentages) may not be the sum of components because service users may have accessed services from more than one of the accommodation support categories listed. 
4.	Institutional accommodation refers to service users accessing service types 1.01–1.03 (residential services/institutions or hostels). ‘Group homes’ refers to service users accessing service type 1.04.
3.5	Remoteness
About 63% of service users lived in Major cities and 23% lived in Inner regional areas. The rate of service use was highest in Inner regional areas (19 people per 1,000 population), and lowest in Very remote areas (10 people per 1,000 population) (Table 3.6 and Figure 3.2)
Data by remoteness is indicative only (as postcodes are used). The remoteness areas are structured according to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification developed by the ABS.
Figure 3.2: Users of disability support services per 1,000 population aged 0–64, by remoteness area, 2010–11
A vertical bar chart showing service users on the y-axis and remoteness areas on the x-axis.
Source: Table 3.6.

Table 3.6: Users of disability support services aged 0–64(a), remoteness area, by state and territory, 
2010–11
Remoteness area 	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	
Australians	
Major cities	4,600,404	3,635,552	2,369,720	1,436,746	1,014,080	—	320,791	—	13,377,293	
Inner regional	1,210,547	934,721	845,090	263,554	168,501	278,475	585	—	3,701,473	
Outer regional	371,694	212,123	607,310	179,014	153,355	141,454	—	120,612	1,785,562	
Remote	28,132	3,619	78,446	90,788	39,234	6,501	—	45,856	292,576	
Very remote	3,882	—	45,903	46,685	12,454	2,145	—	50,559	161,628	
All Australians	6,214,659	4,786,015	3,946,469	2,016,787	1,387,624	428,575	321,376	217,027	19,318,532	
Service users	
Major cities	57,344	61,301	26,831	16,336	19,148	23	5,318	18	185,630	
Inner regional	22,370	22,617	11,647	2,996	3,290	6,291	59	8	68,932	
Outer regional	6,228	5,338	7,312	2,011	3,053	2,336	4	632	26,778	
Remote	427	61	639	847	689	63	—	481	3,177	
Very remote	80	n.p.	386	488	234	12	—	453	1,602	
All areas(b)	86,524	94,438	47,536	23,711	27,304	8,851	5,470	2,271	294,830	
Service users per 1,000 population	
Major cities	12.5	16.9	11.3	11.4	18.9	—	16.6	—	13.9	
Inner regional	18.5	24.2	13.8	11.4	19.5	22.6	100.9	—	18.6	
Outer regional	16.8	25.2	12.0	11.2	19.9	16.5	—	5.2	15.0	
Remote	15.2	16.9	8.1	9.3	17.6	9.7	—	10.5	10.9	
Very remote	20.6	—	8.4	10.5	18.8	5.6	—	9.0	9.9	
All areas(b)	13.9	19.7	12.0	11.8	19.7	20.7	17.0	10.5	15.3	
(a)	Rates of service use by people aged 65 and over are relatively low (6.5 per 1,000 people in the general Australian population aged 65 and over). This may be partly because of people with disability aged 65 and over receiving non-NDA services, such as in aged care.
(b)	Includes 8,372 service users whose remoteness area is unknown (service user postcodes provided by all services attended were not stated or not collected). 
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	The number of service users in each remoteness area was estimated based on service users’ residential postcodes. Some postcode areas were split between two or more remoteness areas. Where this was the case, the data were weighted according to the proportion of the population of the postcode area in each remoteness area.
4.	Service users may appear in remoteness areas for which there is no population within that state or territory. In such cases, the user’s residential postcode is located within another jurisdiction. This may be due to service users living in one jurisdiction and accessing one or more services in another jurisdiction, or service users moving between jurisdictions within the reporting period, or postcode boundaries crossing jurisdictions.
5.	Population data are based on AIHW analysis of ABS statistical local population area estimates as at 30 June 2009. Population data excludes that for Australian external territories.
3.6	Income source
The most common source of income of service users aged 16–64, regardless of their labour force status, was the Disability Support Pension (56%), followed by ‘other pension or benefit’ (17%) (Table 3.7).
Of those who received the Disability Support Pension, 32% were employed, 30% were unemployed and 38% were not in the labour force. When examined in another way, over half (55%) of employed service users were receiving the Disability Support Pension.
Table 3.7: Users of disability support services aged 16–64(a), labour force status, by main source of income, 2010–11
Main source of income	Employed		Unemployed		Not in the
 labour force		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
Disability Support Pension	40,718	31.9	37,761	29.6	48,103	37.7	1,162	0.9	127,744	100.0	
Other pension or benefit	9,772	24.8	27,331	69.4	2,114	5.4	157	0.4	39,374	100.0	
Paid employment	8,996	98.7	35	0.4	61	0.7	27	0.3	9,119	100.0	
Compensation payments	163	20.5	281	35.4	345	43.5	5	0.6	794	100.0	
Other income	904	35.6	916	36.1	694	27.3	26	1.0	2,540	100.0	
Nil income	73	3.0	329	13.5	1,933	79.5	96	3.9	2,431	100.0	
Not known/stated/ collected	13,276	28.0	7,980	16.8	5,575	11.7	20,622	43.5	47,453	100.0	
Total	73,902	32.2	74,633	32.5	58,825	25.6	22,095	9.6	229,455	100.0	
Percentage of valid responses	. .	35.6	. .	36.0	. .	28.4	. .	. .	. .	100.0	
(a)	Only service users aged 16 and over were asked for their main source of income.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom primary disability and income data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Appendix B: Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.

3.7	Employment
More than one-third (36%) of service users aged 15–64 were unemployed, far higher than in the general Australian population (5%); a third (35%) were employed; and 29% were not in the labour force (Table 3.8, excluding ‘Not stated/not collected’; ABS 2010b). 
The proportion of service users who were unemployed fluctuated but generally increased between 2005–06 and 2009–10, before decreasing slightly in 2010–11 (Appendix B: Table B17).
Table 3.8: Users of disability support services aged 15–64, labour force status, by service group, 2010–11
Service group	Employed		Unemployed		Not in the 
labour force		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Accommodation support	7,751	20.8		6,202	16.7		20,264	54.4		3,004	8.1		37,221 	100.0	
Community support	12,559	17.6		9,643	13.5		36,057	50.5		13,131	18.4		71,391 	100.0	
Community access	7,784	15.7		8,438	17.0		26,602	53.5		6,902	13.9		49,726 	100.0	
Respite	3,956	15.6		3,068	12.1		14,196	56.1		4,078	16.1		25,299 	100.0	
Employment	66,291	52.1		60,958	47.9		—	—		—	—		127,249 	100.0	
Total	74,111	31.8		75,027	32.2		60,211	25.8		23,631	10.1		232,981	100.0	
Percentage of valid responses	. .	35.4		. .	35.8		. .	28.8		. .	. .		. .	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
2.	Total for all service groups may not be the sum of components because individuals may have accessed services from more than one service group over the 12-month period.
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
4.	See AIHW 2011a for full definitions of ‘employed’, ‘unemployed’ and ‘not in the labour force’.
5.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom primary disability and labour force status data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3) and other service users with no response. See Appendix B: Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.
Users of employment services
In 2010–11, around 130,000 service users aged 15 and over used employment services 
(Table 3.9). There are two types of employment services that assist people with disability under the NDA:
•	open employment services, which help people with disability to get and/or retain paid employment in the open labour market—107,900 service users received open employment services; the median age was 38; most were male (60%); and many had a psychiatric (38%) or physical (26%) primary disability
•	supported employment services, which provide employment opportunities and help to people with disability to work in specialised and supported work environments—21,572 service users received supported employment services; the median age was 40; most were male (65%); and the most common type of primary disability was intellectual (69%) (tables 3.9 and 3.10).
A higher proportion of open employment service users were born overseas—21% compared with 8% of supported employment service users (Table 3.9).
Table 3.9: Characteristics of users of open and supported employment services aged 15 and over, 2010–11

Service user characteristic	Open employment		Supported employment	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Age group (years)						
15–24	25,858	24.0		3,419	15.8	
25–44	42,616	39.5		10,124	46.9	
45–64 	38,820	36.0		7,603	35.2	
65+	606	0.6		426	2.0	
Median age	38.0	. .		40.0	. .	
Sex						
Male	64,942	60.2		13,921	64.5	
Female	42,958	39.8		7,651	35.5	
Indigenous status						
Indigenous	4,708	4.4		756	3.5	
Non-Indigenous	103,192	95.6		20,371	94.4	
Not stated/not collected	—	—		445	2.1	
Country of birth						
Australia	84,627	78.4		19,756	91.6	
Overseas born—English Proficiency Group 1(a)	6,748	6.3		515	2.4	
Overseas born—English Proficiency Groups 2–4(a)	15,903	14.7		1,097	5.1	
Not stated/not collected	622	0.6		204	0.9	
Total	107,900	100.0		21,572	100.0	
(a)	See ‘Glossary’ for definition of English proficiency grouping.
Table 3.10: Users of open and supported employment services, by disability group, 2010–11 (per cent)
Disability group	Open employment		Supported employment	
	Primary disability(a)	Any significant disability		Primary disability	Any significant disability	
Intellectual	12.0	12.9		69.4	77.1	
Specific learning	8.6	14.3		1.4	9.9	
Autism	0.7	2.0		3.3	8.0	
Physical	26.3	41.8		6.4	18.2	
Acquired brain injury	2.4	3.9		2.9	4.9	
Neurological	4.5	10.7		1.9	11.3	
Deaf–blind	0.2	0.4		0.3	1.2	
Vision	2.5	4.9		1.3	6.9	
Hearing	2.8	5.2		1.0	5.1	
Speech	0.3	1.4		0.1	9.0	
Psychiatric	37.7	52.2		11.9	20.3	
Total	100.0	. .		100.0	. .	
(a)	Includes 2,100 service users in open employment for whom primary disability was not stated/not collected.
The main source of income for both open and supported employment service users was the Disability Support Pension (42% and 92%, respectively). However, users of open employment services had a wider range of income sources (Table 3.11). 
Table 3.11: Users of disability support employment services aged 16 and over, main source of income, by service type, 2010–11
Main source of income	Open employment		Supported employment	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Disability Support Pension	45,134	42.0		19,784	91.7	
Other pension or benefit	35,758	33.3		437	2.0	
Paid employment	5,905	5.5		1,017	4.7	
Compensation payments	324	0.3		7	—	
Other income	1,594	1.5		4	—	
Nil income	72	0.1		8	—	
Not known/ not stated	18,581	17.3		311	1.4	
Total	107,368	100.0		21,568	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Only service users aged 16 and over were asked about their main source of income. 
Open employment service users were more likely to be unemployed (57%) than employed (43%) (Table 3.12). Open employment service users with a physical or psychiatric primary disability were the least likely to be employed (34% and 38%, respectively).
Table 3.12: Users of open employment services aged 15–64, labour force status, by primary disability, 2010–11
Disability group	Employed		Unemployed		Total	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Intellectual	8,069	62.5		4,832	37.5		12,901	100.0	
Specific learning	5,035	54.1		4,275	45.9		9,310	100.0	
Autism	412	53.6		357	46.4		769	100.0	
Physical	9,538	34.0		18,512	66.0		28,050	100.0	
Acquired brain injury	1,288	49.4		1,318	50.6		2,606	100.0	
Neurological	2,244	46.3		2,605	53.7		4,849	100.0	
Deaf–blind	96	46.4		111	53.6		207	100.0	
Vision	1,276	48.1		1,377	51.9		2,653	100.0	
Hearing	1,563	52.9		1,390	47.1		2,953	100.0	
Speech	205	55.6		164	44.4		369	100.0	
Psychiatric	15,498	38.2		25,039	61.8		40,537	100.0	
Total	46,336	43.2		60,958	56.8		107,294	100.0	
3.8	New users and user exits
In 2010–11, more than one-quarter (26%) of service users were new users—that is, people who received a disability support service for the first time in 2010–11 (Table 3.13).
New users were less likely than continuing service users to always need support in activities of daily living (ADL) (10% compared with 25%) and less likely to have an informal carer (29% compared with 45%) (Table 3.13).
In 2010–11, 85,420 service users exited (Table 3.14). Most exits were from community support (38,999), followed by employment services (37,463). Service users most commonly reported ‘other’ and ‘No longer needs assistance—other reason’ as their main reason for exiting.
Table 3.13: New and continuing service users of disability support services, by selected demographics, 2010–11
Demographics	New service users		Continuing service users		All service users	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Median age (years)	33.3	. .		33.9	. .		33.8	. .	
Male	46,702	57.6		139,700	59.9		186,402	59.3	
Indigenous 	5,353	6.6		11,224	4.8		16,577	5.3	
Always needs support in ADL 	8,374	10.3		58,225	25.0		66,599	21.2	
Has an informal carer 	23,734	29.3		104,043	44.6		127,777	40.7	
Living in Major Cities	48,276	59.5		149,604	64.2		197,881	63.0	
Total	81,096	100.0		233,156	100.0		314,252	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period 
2.	The number of new service users in 2010–11 is the count of unique statistical linkage keys that appeared for the first time in the 2010–11 collection.
3.	The calculation of continuing service users takes into account users who exit a service but then return in a later collection period. Table 3.14: Service users with an exit date, main reason for cessation of services, by service group, 2010–11
Main reason for cessation of services	Accommodation support		Community support		Community access		Respite		Employment		All service groups	
	No.	Per 
cent	No.	Per cent	No.	Per cent	No.	Per cent	No.	Per cent	No.	Per cent	
No longer needs assistance—moved to mainstream services	231	5.1	3,476	8.9	373	5.9	189	5.6	4,137	11.0	8,241	9.6	
No longer needs assistance—other reason	888	19.8	15,997	41.0	1,000	16.0	559	16.5	9,385	25.1	26,801	31.4	
Moved to residential, institutional or supported accommodation setting	290	6.5	386	1.0	51	0.8	181	5.3	—	—	738	0.9	
Needs have increased—other service type required	162	3.6	166	0.4	150	2.4	60	1.8	2,090	5.6	2,562	3.0	
Services terminated due to budget/staffing constraints	48	1.1	37	0.1	26	0.4	113	3.3	5	—	210	0.2	
Services terminated due to occupational health and safety reasons	39	0.9	14	—	18	0.3	9	0.3	—	—	70	0.1	
Service user moved out 
of area	398	8.9	956	2.5	229	3.7	121	3.6	4	—	1,478	1.7	
Service user died	448	10.0	844	2.2	339	5.4	117	3.5	124	0.3	1,449	1.7	
Service user terminated service	318	7.1	941	2.4	398	6.3	100	3.0	3,695	9.9	5,293	6.2	
Other reason	749	16.7	11,696	30.0	1,193	19.0	1,016	30.0	18,023	48.1	31,718	37.1	
Reason not stated	919	20.5	4,486	11.5	2,492	39.8	924	27.3	—	—	6,860	8.0	
Total number of service users with an exit date	4,490	100.0	38,999	100.0	6,269	100.0	3,389	100.0	37,463	100.0	85,420	100.0	
Percentage of service users within service group	. .	10.5.	. .	27.8	. .	10.4	. .	9.3	. .	29.2	. .	27.2	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Row totals may not be the sum of components because individuals may have accessed more than one service type during the 12-month period. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
4.	Total number includes all service users who reported an exit date. Although service users of 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) were not required to report an exit date or exit reason, some did so and are included in this table.
5.	In cases where an individual service user exited more than one service within the same service group, the most recent exit reason was included in this table.

4	What were the functional needs of 	service users?
It is important when assessing service need for people with disability to consider both the health-related disability diagnosis, and the impact on functioning at home and in society (WHO 2001).
Overview of the functional needs of service users
In 2010–11:
•	the most common primary disabilities of service users were intellectual (30%), psychiatric (20%) and physical disabilities (17%)
•	38% of service users identified at least one other significant disability, with an average of around 2 disability groups per service user being reported
•	a majority of service users needed some assistance in the activities of daily living (ADL) (52%); the activities of independent living (AIL) (60%); and the activities of work, education and community living (AWEC) (57%).
4.1	What types of disability did people have?
Primary disability
The most common primary disabilities of service users were:
•	intellectual (30%)—of whom over three-quarters (76%) were aged under 45
•	psychiatric (20%)—of whom nearly half (48%) were aged 25–44 and over one-third (37%) were aged 45–64
•	physical disabilities (17%)—of whom nearly half (48%) were aged 45–64.
The remaining disability types were each reported in 6% of cases or less (Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1, excluding ‘not stated/not collected’).
The age of service users varied by the primary type of disability. For example, service users whose primary disability was autism were mostly aged under 25, those with a physical disability were commonly aged 45–64, and those who had a vision disability were most often older (Figure 4.1).
There were also some gender differences in primary disability type (Table 4.1). For example, while a majority of service users overall were male, females were slightly more likely than males to report a vision, psychiatric or neurological disability and males were more likely than females to report autism.
The prevalence of some primary disabilities has shifted over time (Figure 4.2). In particular, the proportion of service users with an intellectual disability has decreased, and the proportion with psychiatric disability has generally increased.
Table 4.1: Users of disability support services, sex and primary disability group, by age group, 
2010–11
Primary disability group	Age group (years)		Total	Percentage of valid responses	
	0–4	5–14	15–24	25–44	45–64	65+		Number	Per cent		
	Males		
Intellectual	540	8,103	13,771	16,926	10,503	1,242		51,085	27.4	29.7	
Specific learning/ADD	101	1,188	4,970	1,791	372	8		8,430	4.5	4.9	
Autism	2,143	7,395	3,465	1,206	226	16		14,451	7.8	8.4	
Physical	1,112	2,520	2,839	7,319	12,723	1,179		27,692	14.9	16.1	
Acquired brain injury 	61	269	689	2,988	3,614	666		8,287	4.4	4.8	
Neurological	236	751	1,207	2,258	2,815	772		8,039	4.3	4.7	
Deaf–blind	28	46	80	142	174	64		534	0.3	0.3	
Vision	303	561	594	1,133	1,711	2,932		7,234	3.9	4.2	
Hearing 	256	230	557	897	1,098	556		3,594	1.9	2.1	
Speech	1,222	1,179	186	96	69	18		2,770	1.5	1.6	
Psychiatric	14	81	4,335	17,171	10,783	683		33,067	17.7	19.2	
Developmental delay	5,350	1,725	—	—	—	—		7,075	3.8	4.1	
Not stated/not collected	3,339	3,625	2,973	1,974	1,587	646		14,144	7.6	. .	
Total males	14,705	27,673	35,666	53,901	45,675	8,782		186,402	100.0	100.0	
Percentage of total males	7.9	14.8	19.1	28.9	24.5	4.7		100.0	. .	. .	
	Females		
Intellectual	409	4,208	9,101	12,503	8,202	1,092		35,515	27.8	29.9	
Specific learning/ADD	30	424	1,863	846	198	4		3,365	2.6	2.8	
Autism	516	1,604	763	387	89	9		3,368	2.6	2.8	
Physical	814	1,849	2,017	4,878	10,373	895		20,826	16.3	17.5	
Acquired brain injury 	44	157	297	1,138	1,678	287		3,601	2.8	3.0	
Neurological	181	592	909	2,429	3,723	955		8,789	6.9	7.4	
Deaf–blind	9	28	48	131	153	107		476	0.4	0.4	
Vision	201	414	448	1,104	1,464	5,113		8,744	6.8	7.3	
Hearing 	205	155	437	925	1,032	691		3,445	2.7	2.9	
Speech	456	460	66	28	31	11		1,052	0.8	0.9	
Psychiatric	17	39	3,123	11,488	10,982	610		26,259	20.6	22.1	
Developmental delay	2,788	746	—	—	—	—		3,534	2.8	3.0	
Not stated/not collected	1,467	1,624	1,320	1,669	1,761	857		8,698	6.8	. .	
Total females	7,137	12,300	20,392	37,526	39,686	10,631		127,672	100.0	100.0	
Percentage of total females	5.6	9.6	16.0	29.4	31.1	8.3		100.0	. .	. .	
	All service users		
Intellectual	950	12,314	22,877	29,431	18,708	2,334		86,614	27.6	29.7	
Specific learning/ADD	131	1,612	6,833	2,637	570	12		11,795	3.8	4.0	
Autism	2,659	9,000	4,228	1,593	315	25		17,820	5.7	6.1	
Physical	1,926	4,372	4,856	12,197	23,099	2,074		48,524	15.4	16.7	
Acquired brain injury 	105	426	986	4,126	5,293	953		11,889	3.8	4.1	
Neurological	418	1,343	2,116	4,687	6,540	1,727		16,831	5.4	5.8	
Deaf–blind	37	74	128	273	327	171		1,010	0.3	0.3	
Vision	505	975	1,042	2,237	3,176	8,047		15,982	5.1	5.5	
Hearing 	461	385	994	1,823	2,131	1,248		7,042	2.2	2.4	
Speech	1,680	1,639	252	124	100	29		3,824	1.2	1.3	
Psychiatric	33	120	7,467	28,698	21,800	1,296		59,414	18.9	20.4	
Developmental delay	8,143	2,472	—	—	—	—		10,615	3.4	3.6	
Not stated/not collected	4,810	5,259	4,305	3,655	3,357	1,506		22,892	7.3	. .	
Total service users	21,858	39,991	56,084	91,481	85,416	19,422		314,252	100.0	100.0	
Percentage of total users	7.0	12.7	17.8	29.1	27.2	6.2		100.0	. .	. .	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than 
one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3).
3.	All service users includes 178 service users whose sex was not stated.
4.	Service users with missing age who reported ‘Child aged under 5 years (not applicable)’ to the communication method data item were included in the 0–4 years age group.
5.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom primary disability data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Appendix B: Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.
Figure 4.1: Users of disability support services, primary disability by age group, 2010–11
A vertical bar graph showing, by age, per cent on y-axis and primary disability on x-axis.
Note: Developmental delay is a valid response only for children aged 0–5.
Source: Table 4.1, excluding ‘not stated/not collected’.
Figure 4.2: Users of disability support services, primary disability, 2005–06 to 2010–11
A vertical bar graph showing, by year, per cent on y-axis and primary disability on x-axis.
Source: DS NMDS, excluding ‘not stated/not collected’.
Other disability
Service users were asked about not only their primary disability but also any other types of disability that caused them difficulty (referred to as ‘other significant’ disability groups). Information on multiple disabilities allows for a broader understanding of the diverse needs and circumstances of service users.
Thirty-eight per cent (38%) of service users identified at least one other significant disability, with an average of around 2 disability groups per service user being reported (Table 4.2). Service users who reported their primary disability as being either deaf–blind, acquired brain injury or intellectual were the most likely to report other significant disabilities. Service users from these groups were also the most likely to have the greatest number of other significant disabilities. This was especially the case for deaf–blind service users who, on average, reported more than 4 disability groups. 
Table 4.2: Users of disability support services, primary disability group with or without other significant disability group, 2010–11
Primary disability group	With other significant disability groups		Without other significant disability groups		Total		Average number of disability groups recorded	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent			
Intellectual	45,602	52.6		41,012	47.4		86,614	27.6		2.0	
Specific learning	3,861	32.7		7,934	67.3		11,795	3.8		1.4	
Autism	7,695	43.2		10,125	56.8		17,820	5.7		1.8	
Physical	21,108	43.5		27,416	56.5		48,524	15.4		1.7	
Acquired brain injury	6,863	57.7		5,026	42.3		11,889	3.8		2.1	
Neurological	7,810	46.4		9,021	53.6		16,831	5.4		1.8	
Deaf–blind	665	65.8		345	34.2		1,010	0.3		4.2	
Vision	4,043	25.3		11,939	74.7		15,982	5.1		1.4	
Hearing	1,884	26.8		5,158	73.2		7,042	2.2		1.4	
Speech	778	20.3		3,046	79.7		3,824	1.2		1.3	
Psychiatric	16,574	27.9		42,840	72.1		59,414	18.9		1.3	
Developmental delay	2,382	22.4		8,233	77.6		10,615	3.4		1.3	
Total(a)	119,265	38.0		172,095	54.8		314,252	100.0		1.7	
(a)	Includes 22,892 service users whose primary disability was not stated.

4.2	In what life areas was assistance needed?
People with disability may require support to perform activities associated with daily living; living independently; and participating in work, education and community life. The level of that support can vary substantially, from none to always.
The DS NMDS includes 9 data items to indicate at least some of the functional needs of service users. These items conform to a framework that is consistent with national and international classification standards, including the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (AIHW 2003, Chapter 8). They also relate to the concepts used in population-based data collections about disability, such as the ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) (ABS 2010a).
The items can be grouped into three broad areas of activity:
•	activities of daily living (ADL) include the life areas of self-care, mobility and communication. These correspond to the three core activity areas reported in the SDAC and in the 2006 Census of Population and Housing (ABS 2006, 2010b). Service users recorded as always or sometimes requiring assistance with ADL in the DS NMDS are conceptually similar to people reported as having a severe or profound core-activity limitation in the SDAC 
•	activities of independent living (AIL) include the life areas of interpersonal interactions and relationships, learning, applying knowledge and general tasks and demands, and domestic life 
•	activities of work, education and community living (AWEC) include the life areas of education, community (civic) and economic life and work. This category is collected and analysed for service users aged 5 and over.
A response of ‘not applicable due to age’ for all three of these life areas could be reported for service users aged under 5.
Support needs data should be interpreted with caution because of high rates of ‘not stated/collected/applicable’ responses, particularly in 2010–11. Data for all three life areas were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11. As a result, ‘not stated’ rates for each of the areas was between 25% and 30% and approximately 10 percentage points higher than they were in 2009–10 (see Table 4.3, and Table 4.3 in AIHW 2011c).
A majority of service users needed some assistance in one or more of the three life areas. Service users were slightly more likely to need assistance with AIL and AWEC than with ADL (Figure 4.3).
Figure 4.3: Users of disability support services who always or sometimes need assistance, by life area, 2010–11
A vertical bar graph showing per cent on y-axis and life are on the y-axis.
Source: Table 4.3.
Users of respite services were the most likely to always need assistance or be completely unable to perform activities in all three broad life areas. Users of employment services were the least likely to always need assistance across the three areas. This is consistent with data from previous years (Table 4.4).

Table 4.3: Users of disability support services, by life area and need for support in life areas, 2010–11
Frequency of support needed	Always or 
unable to do		Sometimes		None, but 
uses aids		None		Not applicable		Not stated(a)(b)/ 
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number 	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number 	Per cent	Number 	Per cent	
ADL	
Self-care	53,214	16.9	63,679	20.3	5,502	1.8	101,112	32.2	—	—	90,745	28.9	314,252	100.0	
Mobility	38,646	12.3	57,243	18.2	10,352	3.3	119,401	38.0	—	—	88,610	28.2	314,252	100.0	
Communication	46,362	14.8	90,997	29.0	4836.0	1.5	83,702	26.6	—	—	88,355	28.1	314,252	100.0	
Any ADL	66,599	21.2	96,539	30.7	6,195	2.0	58,286	18.6	—	—	86,633	27.6	314,252	100.0	
AIL	
Interpersonal interactions/ relationships	55,119	17.5	96,500	30.7	3,462	1.1	68,706	21.9	—	—	90,465	28.8	314,252	100.0	
Learning, applying knowledge, general tasks and demands	62,191	19.8	98,111	31.2	4,378	1.4	49,851	15.9	17,788	5.7	81,933	26.1	314,252	100.0	
Domestic life	48,679	15.5	64,973	20.7	3,127	1.0	71,393	22.7	50,500	16.1	75,580	24.1	314,252	100.0	
Any AIL	88,346	28.1	99,772	31.8	2,981	1.0	34,815	11.1	10,522	3.3	77,816	24.8	314,252	100.0	
AWEC	
Education	60,962	19.4	80,301	25.6	4,788	1.5	61,872	19.7	18,765	6.0	87,564	27.9	314,252	100.0	
Community (civic) and economic life	70,670	22.5	88,255	28.1	4,535	1.4	44,544	14.2	19,308	6.1	86,940	27.7	314,252	100.0	
Working	72,429	23.0	60,960	19.4	2,896	0.9	47,509	15.1	54,482	17.3	75,976	24.2	314,252	100.0	
Any AWEC	103,096	32.8	75,162	23.9	3,273	1.0	33,039	10.5	19,415	6.2	80,267	25.5	314,252	100.0	
(a)	Includes service users for which support needs information was required but not collected due to the service users’ age at the time of their last service date.
(b)	Data for frequency of support needed in areas of ADL, AIL and AWEC were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types.
3.	The frequency of support needed for a service user for each of the three broad groups (ADL, AIL and AWEC) is based on the highest support need category of the service user for that group. For example, if a service user reports ‘always or unable to do’ for the life area of self-care (one of the ADL areas), that service user will be placed into the ‘always or unable to do’ category for ADL, regardless of their support needs for mobility or communication (the other two ADL areas). So the totals for each of the broad groups (ADL, AIL and AWEC) cannot be calculated by adding totals from the three component life areas. 
4.	‘Not stated/collected/applicable’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom primary disability data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Appendix B: Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.
Table 4.4: Users of disability support services, service group, by need for support in life areas, 2010–11
Frequency of support need	Accommodation support		Community support		Community access		Respite		Employment		All service groups	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
ADL	
Always or unable to do	15,719	36.9	48,116	34.3	18,794	31.1	15,829	43.6	7,394	5.8	66,599	21.2	
Sometimes	16,287	38.3	42,319	30.2	21,048	34.8	12,785	35.3	40,288	31.4	96,539	30.7	
None, but uses aids	1,313	3.1	3,728	2.7	2,141	3.5	446	1.2	715	0.6	6,195	2.0	
None	5,259	12.4	9,224	6.6	7,384	12.2	2,397	6.6	43,038	33.5	58,286	18.5	
Not stated/not collected(a)	4,001	9.4	36,769	26.2	11,142	18.4	4,809	13.3	36,886	28.7	86,633	27.6	
Total	42,579	100.0	140,156	100.0	60,509	100.0	36,266	100.0	128,321	100.0	314,252	100.0	
AIL	
Always or unable to do	18,854	44.3	53,900	38.5	23,354	38.6	18,479	51.0	21,363	16.6	88,346	28.1	
Sometimes	17,175	40.3	41,311	29.5	21,003	34.7	11,730	32.3	43,094	33.6	99,772	31.7	
None, but uses aids	796	1.9	1,587	1.1	1,311	2.2	251	0.7	362	0.3	2,981	0.9	
None	1,686	4.0	5,025	3.6	3,621	6.0	904	2.5	26,562	20.7	34,815	11.1	
Not stated/collected/applicable(a)	4,068	9.6	38,333	27.4	11,220	18.5	4,902	13.5	36,940	28.8	88,338	28.1	
Total	42,579	100.0	140,156	100.0	60,509	100.0	36,266	100.0	128,321	100.0	314,252	100.0	
AWEC (5 years and over)	
Always or unable to do	24,507	57.8	55,407	46.7	30,849	51.1	21,599	60.5	28,690	22.4	100,921	34.5	
Sometimes	10,941	25.8	25,977	21.9	13,839	22.9	7,749	21.7	37,054	28.9	74,184	25.4	
None, but uses aids	879	2.1	1,877	1.6	1,267	2.1	231	0.6	246	0.2	3,244	1.1	
None	1,894	4.5	4,482	3.8	3,104	5.1	867	2.4	25,425	19.8	32,979	11.3	
Not stated/collected/applicable(a)	4,207	9.9	30,779	26.0	11,299	18.7	5,236	14.7	36,906	28.8	81,068	27.7	
Total	42,428	100.0	118,522	100.0	60,358	100.0	35,682	100.0	128,321	100.0	292,396	100.0	
(a)	Data for ADL, AIL and AWEC were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Row totals may not be the sum of components because individuals may have accessed more than one service type during the 12-month period. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types.
4.	‘Not stated/collected/applicable’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom primary disability data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Appendix B: Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.

Communication needs
Effective communication aids people in being able to fully participate in the community. Around 1 in 9 (11%) service users aged 5 and over had little or no effective communication, and so may face considerable barriers to social participation (Table 4.5).
The level of effective communication varied by disability group, with some groups, such as those with the primary disabilities of autism, developmental delay, intellectual and speech, more likely to have little or no effective communication (Figure 4.4).
Figure 4.4: Users of disability support services with little or no effective communication, by primary disability group, 2010–11
A vertical bar graph showing per cent on y-axis and primary disability on x-axis.
Source: Table 4.5, excluding ‘Child aged under 5’.
Interpreter services, for spoken language other than English or non-spoken communication, were not needed for the majority of service users (Table 4.6). Service users who reported a primary disability of deaf–blind, hearing and vision were the most likely to report a need for an interpreter for non-spoken communication. Deaf–blind service users were also the most likely to need an interpreter for a spoken language other than English, followed by those with a physical primary disability.
Table 4.5: Users of disability support services, primary disability group, by most effective method of communication, 2010–11 (per cent)
Primary 
disability group	Spoken language (effective)	Sign language (effective)	Other effective non-spoken communication	Little, or no effective communication	Child aged under 5	Not
 stated/not collected(a)	Total per cent	Total number	
Intellectual	63.3	2.1	3.4	24.1	1.1	6.1	100.0	86,614	
Specific learning/Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)	63.2	0.2	0.2	2.5	1.1	32.8	100.0	11,795	
Autism	47.6	1.5	3.0	22.7	14.9	10.2	100.0	17,820	
Physical	62.2	0.8	1.5	6.3	4.0	25.3	100.0	48,524	
Acquired brain injury	75.3	1.3	2.8	10.2	0.9	9.5	100.0	11,889	
Neurological	62.9	7.6	2.3	8.1	2.5	16.6	100.0	16,831	
Deaf–blind	34.6	33.5	2.0	10.8	3.7	15.5	100.0	1,010	
Vision	41.3	0.3	0.3	0.8	3.2	54.2	100.0	15,982	
Hearing	43.3	13.9	0.5	1.6	6.5	34.2	100.0	7,042	
Speech	27.5	0.8	0.6	12.1	43.9	15.1	100.0	3,824	
Psychiatric	70.0	0.3	0.1	0.4	0.1	29.1	100.0	59,414	
Developmental delay	2.9	0.1	0.2	5.9	76.7	14.1	100.0	10,615	
Not stated/not collected	17.0	3.4	0.5	1.8	21.0	56.3	100.0	22,892	
Total per cent	56.4	2.0	1.7	10.5	7.0	22.5	100.0	. .	
Total number	177,279	6,285	5,224	32,935	21,857	70,672	. .	314,252	
Percentage of responses excluding ‘child aged under 5’	60.6	2.1	1.8	11.3	. .	24.2	100.0	. .	
(a)	Data for method of communication were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom primary disability data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Appendix B: Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.

Table 4.6: Users of disability support services, need for interpreter services, by primary disability, 2010–11
Primary disability type	Needs an interpreter for spoken language other than English		Needs an interpreter for non-spoken communication		Does not need an interpreter		Not stated/ 
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
Intellectual 	1,614	1.9	3,425	4.0	78,700	90.9	2,875	3.3	86,614	100.0	
Specific learning/ADD	114	1.0	16	0.1	11,521	97.7	144	1.2	11,795	100.0	
Autism	286	1.6	561	3.1	15,553	87.3	1,420	8.0	17,820	100.0	
Physical	4,499	9.3	753	1.6	42,147	86.9	1,125	2.3	48,524	100.0	
Acquired brain injury	332	2.8	214	1.8	11,031	92.8	312	2.6	11,889	100.0	
Neurological	437	2.6	291	1.7	15,345	91.2	758	4.5	16,831	100.0	
Deaf–blind	127	12.6	235	23.3	584	57.8	64	6.3	1,010	100.0	
Vision	344	2.2	979	6.1	7,273	45.5	7,386	46.2	15,982	100.0	
Hearing	540	7.7	1,037	14.7	4,084	58.0	1,381	19.6	7,042	100.0	
Speech	93	2.4	31	0.8	3,468	90.7	232	6.1	3,824	100.0	
Psychiatric	1,920	3.2	78	0.1	54,455	91.7	2,961	5.0	59,414	100.0	
Developmental delay	198	1.9	72	0.7	9,017	84.9	1,328	12.5	10,615	100.0	
Not stated/not collected	407	1.8	247	1.1	12,158	53.1	10,080	44.0	22,892	100.0	
Total	10,911	3.5	7,939	2.5	265,336	84.4	30,066	9.6	314,252	100.0	
Percentage of valid responses	. .	3.8	. .	2.8	. .	93.4	. .	. .	. .	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom primary disability and need for interpreter data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Appendix B: Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories. 

5	Informal care
Informal carers play an important role in the lives of many people with disability. They provide essential support either in place of, or in addition to, NDA-provided services.
Overview of informal care
In 2010–11:
•	44% of all service users reported having an informal carer
•	most service users reported their informal carer was a primary carer (80%)
•	the majority of service users reported having a female carer (75%), most often their mother (64%)
•	in most cases, the informal carer was a co-resident of the service user (70%)
•	most service users had an informal carer aged under 65 (63%).
An informal carer is a person such as a family member, friend or neighbour who provides regular and sustained care and assistance to the person requiring support (AIHW 2011b). This includes people who may receive a pension or benefit associated with their caring role, but does not include people, either paid or voluntary, whose services are arranged by a formal service organisation (see AIHW 2011d for a more detailed definition of informal care and the ways in which definitions are used in various data collections).
5.1	How many service users had an informal carer?
In 2010–11, 44% of all service users reported having an informal carer, a similar level to that in 2009–10 (43%) (Table 5.1, excluding ‘not stated/not collected’, and Table 5.2).
Service users who used respite services were more likely than other service users to report having an informal carer, followed by users of community support services (Figure 5.1). Employment service users were the least likely to report having an informal carer, reflecting the nature of the service and the age of service users (see Appendix A and Table 3.7).
Figure 5.1: Users of disability support services, existence of informal carer, by service group, 
2010–11
A stacked vertical bar graph showing, for existence of informal carer, per cent on y-axis and service group on the x-axis.
Source: Table 5.2, excluding ‘not stated/not collected’.
Table 5.1: Users of services provided under the NDA, existence of an informal carer, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Year	Has an informal carer		Does not have an informal carer		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
2005–06	97,410	44.9		77,268	35.6		42,465	19.6		217,143	100.0	
2006–07	104,401	45.0		107,768	46.4		20,084	8.6		232,253	100.0	
2007–08(a)	108,091	43.9		116,062	47.1		22,128	9.0		246,281	100.0	
2008–09	110,082	39.4		146,970	52.6		22,249	8.0		279,301	100.0	
2009–10	117,754	39.9		155,743	52.8		21,527	7.3		295,024	100.0	
2010–11	127,777	40.7		160,769	51.2		25,706	8.2		314,252	100.0	
(a)	Data relating to carers for service users in New South Wales in 2007–08 have been revised since the publication of Disability support services 2007–08 (AIHW 2009). Data on carers in New South Wales were not published separately in the 2007–08 report, but did contribute to national totals. The revision of carer data for New South Wales contributes to the changed totals for carers in 2007–08. For details of other factors affecting these totals, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom informal carer data were not collected, and other service users with no response. 
4.	Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those for previous years. For further information, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).

Table 5.2: Users of disability support services, existence of an informal carer, by service group, 2010–11
Service group	Has an informal carer		Does not have an informal carer		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	No.	Per cent		No.	Per cent		No.	Per cent		No.	Per cent	
Accommodation support	17,559	41.2		22,586	53.0		2,434	5.7		42,579	100.0	
Institutional accommodation	1,597	40.1		2,166	54.4		218	5.5		3,981	100.0	
Group homes	5,893	38.9		8,241	54.5		996	6.6		15,130	100.0	
Other accommodation types	10,744	42.8		13,071	52.1		1,260	5.0		25,075	100.0	
Community support	86,189	61.5		35,283	25.2		18,684	13.3		140,156	100.0	
Community access	31,457	52.0		24,586	40.6		4,466	7.4		60,509	100.0	
Respite	32,278	89.0		2,459	6.8		1,529	4.2		36,266	100.0	
Employment	22,082	17.2		106,239	82.8		—	—		128,321	100.0	
Total	127,777	40.7		160,769	51.2		25,706	8.2		314,252	100.0	
Percentage of valid responses	. .	44.3		. .	55.7		. .	. .		. .	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Column totals may not be the sum of components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one service group over the 12-month period. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
4.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom informal carer data were not collected, and other service users with no response. 
5.	Institutional accommodation refers to service users accessing service types 1.01–1.03. Group homes refer to service users accessing service type 1.04.
5.2	Who provided informal care?
In 2010–11, most service users reported their informal carer was a primary carer (80%)—that is, an informal carer who helps with one or more of the ADL: self-care, mobility or communication (Table 5.7).
The majority of service users reported having a female carer (75%), most often their mother (64%) (Tables 5.3 and 5.4).
In most cases, the informal carer was a co-resident of the service user (70%) (Table 5.7). As expected, there is a relationship between living arrangements and service group use. Users of service groups such as respite services and community support were more likely to have a co-resident carer than users of other service groups (Table 5.3).
About 8% of service users reported that their carer was their spouse; however, as service user age increased, the likelihood of a spouse being identified as a carer also increased (Table 5.4). Being cared for by a spouse was the most common informal care arrangement for service users aged 65 and over (39%).
Only 2% of service users with an informal carer reported being cared for by their child; however, this increased as the age of the service user increased (Table 5.4). About 1 in 5 (22%) service users aged 65 and over was being cared for by their child.
Older carers
Most service users had an informal carer who was aged under 65 (63%) (Table 5.3). However, around 1 in 10 services users reported having an informal carer aged 65 and over (10% or 12,304) (Table 5.5). Many of these (70%) were the parent of the service user, most often the mother (59%) (Table 5.6).
Most servicer users with an older carer were aged under 65 (Table 5.6). However, there were still 20% who were aged 65 and over. Most of these older service users reported that their spouse was their informal carer.
Users of accommodation support services reported the highest proportion of carers aged 65 and over (Table 5.3).
Young carers
Two per cent (2%) of service users with an informal carer (or 2,293) were being cared for by a person aged under 25 (Table 5.5).

Table 5.3: Users of disability support services with an informal carer, access to selected support services, 2010–11
Carer’s characteristics	Accommodation support		Community support		Community 
access		Respite		Employment		Total	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Sex																		
Female	9,622	54.8		67,629	78.5		22,179	70.5		24,398	75.6		17,786	80.5		96,119	75.2	
Male	2,489	14.2		8,852	10.3		3,456	11.0		2,964	9.2		3,298	14.9		14,207	11.1	
Not stated/not collected	5,448	31.0		9,708	11.3		5,822	18.5		4,916	15.2		998	4.5		17,451	13.7	
Total	17,559	100.0		86,189	100.0		31,457	100.0		32,278	100.0		22,082	100.0		127,777	100.0	
Age group (years)																		
Under 45	2,651	15.1		40,799	47.3		5,604	17.8		10,429	32.3		1,787	8.1		46,859	36.7	
45–64	5,617	32.0		22,474	26.1		13,229	42.1		11,547	35.8		5,073	23.0		33,749	26.4	
65+	2,822	16.1		8,240	9.6		4,824	15.3		3,895	12.1		1,440	6.5		12,304	9.6	
Not stated/not collected	6,469	36.8		14,676	17.0		7,800	24.8		6,407	19.8		13,782	62.4		34,865	27.3	
Total	17,559	100.0		86,189	100.0		31,457	100.0		32,278	100.0		22,082	100.0		127,777	100.0	
Residency status																		
Co-resident	6,066	34.5		65,817	76.4		18,850	59.9		24,483	75.9		12,689	57.5		89,475	70.0	
Non-resident	6,483	36.9		9,379	10.9		6,667	21.2		2,872	8.9		4,045	18.3		16,509	12.9	
Not stated/not collected	5,010	28.5		10,993	12.8		5,940	18.9		4,923	15.3		5,348	24.2		21,793	17.1	
Total	17,559	100.0		86,189	100.0		31,457	100.0		32,278	100.0		22,082	100.0		127,777	100.0	
Notes 
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom informal carer data were not collected, and other service users with no response. Service users who accessed employment services only (service types 5.01, 5.02) and did not submit a response are also included in the ‘not stated/not collected’ categories. These service users were not required to complete this data item.

Table 5.4: Users of disability support services with an informal carer, carer relationship to service user, by age of service user, 2010–11
Relationship of carer to service user	Age group of service user (years)	
	0–14 	15–24	25–44	45–64	65+	Total	
	Number	
Spouse	—	189	2,451	5,244	2,349	10,234	
Mother	37,471	21,847	17,288	4,908	97	81,611	
Father	1,809	1,971	2,030	746	15	6,571	
Child	—	15	305	1,040	1,340	2,700	
Other family	1,036	1,246	1,525	2,353	500	6,660	
Friend/neighbour	192	507	707	891	253	2,550	
Not stated	4,804	2,411	4,339	4,466	1,431	17,451	
Total	45,313	28,186	28,645	19,648	5,985	127,777	
	Per cent	
Spouse	—	0.7	8.6	26.7	39.2	8.0	
Mother	82.7	77.5	60.4	25.0	1.6	63.9	
Father	4.0	7.0	7.1	3.8	0.3	5.1	
Child	—	0.1	1.1	5.3	22.4	2.1	
Other family	2.3	4.4	5.3	12.0	8.4	5.2	
Friend/neighbour	0.4	1.8	2.5	4.5	4.2	2.0	
Not stated	10.6	8.6	15.2	22.7	23.9	13.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Note: Informal carer relationship categories are as follows: spouse includes wife/female partner and husband/male partner; child includes daughter and son; other family includes daughter-in-law, son-in-law, other female relative and other male relative; friend /neighbour includes friend/neighbour—female and friend/neighbour—male.
Table 5.5: Users of disability support services with an informal carer, age of service user, by age of carer, 2010–11
Age group of service user (years)	Age group of carer (years)	
	0–14	15–24	25–44	45–64	65+	Not stated/
not collected	Total	
	Number	
0–14	—	1,495	31,998	4,424	620	6,776	45,313	
15–24	30	124	8,389	11,025	673	7,945	28,186	
25–44	94	143	2,472	11,657	3,681	10,598	28,645	
45–64	112	256	1,373	5,349	4,860	7,698	19,648	
65+	16	23	334	1,294	2,470	1,848	5,985	
Total	252	2,041	44,566	33,749	12,304	34,865	127,777	
	Per cent	
0–14	—	3.3	70.6	9.8	1.4	15.0	100.0	
15–24	0.1	0.4	29.8	39.1	2.4	28.2	100.0	
25–44	0.3	0.5	8.6	40.7	12.9	37.0	100.0	
45–64	0.6	1.3	7.0	27.2	24.7	39.2	100.0	
65+	0.3	0.4	5.6	21.6	41.3	30.9	100.0	
Total	0.2	1.6	34.9	26.4	9.6	27.3	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom informal carer data were not collected, and other service users with no response. Service users who accessed employment services only (service types 5.01, 5.02) and did not submit a response are also included in the ‘not stated/not collected’ category for age group of carer. These service users were not required to complete this data item.
Table 5.6: Users of disability support services who received informal care from a carer aged 65 and over, relationship of carer to service user, by age group of service user, 2010–11
Relationship of carer to service user	Age group of service user (years)	Percentage of valid responses	
	0–14	15–24	25–44	45–64	65+	Total		
Spouse	—	7	44	347	1,441	1,839	15.8	
Mother	286	222	2,850	3,444	50	6,852	58.8	
Father	138	112	510	519	11	1,290	11.1	
Child	—	—	—	—	391	391	3.4	
Other family	134	272	177	271	166	1,020	8.8	
Friend/neighbour	4	21	37	97	96	255	2.2	
Not stated	58	39	63	182	315	657	. .	
Total	620	673	3,681	4,860	2,470	12,304	100.0	
Total per cent	5.0	5.5	29.9	39.5	20.1	100.0	. .	
Table 5.7: Users of disability support services with an informal carer, residency status, by primary carer status, 2010–11
Residency status of carer	Primary carer		Not a primary carer		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
Co-resident 	82,836	81.1	5,218	54.0	1,421	8.9	89,475	70.0	
Non-resident 	11,916	11.7	4,170	43.1	423	2.6	16,509	12.9	
Not stated/not collected	7,344	7.2	283	2.9	14,166	88.5	21,793	17.1	
Total	102,096	100.0	9,671	100.0	16,010	100.0	127,777	100.0	
Total (row per cent)	. .	79.9	. .	7.6	. .	12.5	. .	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services (recreation/holiday programs) for whom informal carer data were not collected, and other service users with no response. Service users who accessed employment services only (service types 5.01, 5.02) and did not submit a response are also included in the ‘not stated/not collected’ category for primary status of carer and residency status of carer. These service users were not required to complete this data item.

6	How were services used?
People with disability have varying needs for assistance. By definition, service type outlets in the DS NMDS may provide only one service type. As a result, in order to have their needs met, service users may be required to access more than one service type outlet. They may access the same type of service from different service type outlets, or two or more different types of service from different service type outlets.
Overview of patterns of service use
In 2010–11:
•	around one-third (32%) of service users accessed more than one service type outlet, either of the same or of a different service type (termed multiple service users)
•	over one-quarter (27%) of service users (or 85% of multiple service users) used more than one service type—that is, used different types of services
•	22% of service users (or 68% of multiple service users) used services across multiple service groups, with most of these using two or three different service groups
•	the most commonly combined service groups were community support with community access, accommodation support with community access, community support with respite, and accommodation support with community support
•	service users received an average of 13 hours of support in the reference week.
6.1	Multiple service users
Almost one-third (32%) of service users accessed more than one service type outlet 
(Table 6.1). They are termed multiple service users.
Eighty-five per cent (85%) of multiple service users (or 27% of all service users) accessed more than one type of service, with the remainder accessing the same service type from different service type outlets.
Overall, just over 1 in 5 service users (22%) accessed services across multiple service groups (or 68% of the multiple service users) (Table 6.1). Most multiple service users (65%) used two or three different service groups.
As might be expected, users with the highest level of need for support in ADL were much more likely to access multiple outlets and use services across more than one service group than service users with less frequent or no need for help with ADL. Service users who always need help with ADL used, on average, 2.5 service type outlets compared with 1.7 for all service users (Table 6.2). Similarly, the use of multiple outlets and service groups was least common among those who used employment services and most common among those who used respite, accommodation and community access (Appendix B: tables B37 and B38; see also Table 4.4).
Table 6.1: Users of disability support services, multiple service use, 2010–11
	Service users		Multiple service users	
	Number	Per cent		Per cent	
Using one service type outlet	215,053	68.4	. .	
Using multiple service type outlets (multiple service users)	99,199	31.6	. .	
Total service users	314,252	100.0	. .	
	Multiple service users	
Use of service types				
Using one service type only	15,152	4.8	15.3	
Using multiple service types	84,047	26.7	84.7	
Total	99,199	31.6	100.0	
Use of multiple outlets within the same service type/group				
Using multiple outlets of the same service type(a)	30,001	9.5	30.2	
Using multiple outlets of the same service group	65,834	20.9	66.4	
Use of service groups				
Using one service group	31,606	10.1	31.9	
Using multiple service groups	67,593	21.5	68.1	
Two	45,299	14.4	45.7	
Three	18,838	6.0	19.0	
Four	3,220	1.0	3.2	
Five	236	0.1	0.2	
Total	99,199	31.6	100.0	
(a)	Includes service users who accessed one service type from more than one outlet, and who also accessed additional service types.
Notes
1.	Service user numbers reflect use of any of five service groups: accommodation support, community support, community access, respite, and employment.
2.	Categories for multiple service users are not mutually exclusive.
3.	See ‘Glossary’ for definitions of ‘service types’, ‘service groups’ and ‘service type outlets’.
Table 6.2: Users of disability support services, mean service use, by selected demographics, 2010–11
	Mean outlets used	Mean service groups used	
Primary disability group			
Intellectual	2.3	1.6	
Specific learning/ADD	1.1	1.0	
Autism	1.9	1.3	
Physical	1.5	1.2	
Acquired brain injury	1.6	1.3	
Neurological	1.6	1.2	
Deaf–blind	2.0	1.4	
Vision	2.1	1.5	
Hearing	1.1	1.1	
Speech	1.2	1.0	
Psychiatric	1.2	1.1	
Developmental delay	1.7	1.0	
Age group (years)			
0–4	1.6	1.0	
5–14	1.9	1.2	
15–24	1.9	1.4	
25–44	1.6	1.4	
45–64	1.5	1.3	
65+	1.8	1.4	
Sex			
Male	1.7	1.3	
Female	1.7	1.3	
Indigenous status			
Indigenous	1.8	1.3	
Non-Indigenous	1.7	1.3	
Remoteness area			
Major cities	1.7	1.3	
Inner regional 	1.7	1.3	
Outer regional	1.6	1.3	
Remote	1.6	1.2	
Very remote	1.4	1.2	
ADL support needs			
Always needs help or unable to do	2.5	1.6	
Sometimes needs help	1.7	1.4	
None	1.3	1.2	
All service users	1.7	1.3	
Notes
1.	The method used to calculate mean service type outlets has changed. This table should not be compared with Table 6.2 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
2.	Means exclude ‘not stated categories’ for all items. 
6.2	Combinations of services accessed
The most commonly combined service groups were community support and community access, with 25,107 people using this combination of services (Table 6.3). This represents 18% of community support users, and 42% of community access users. Other common combinations were accommodation support with community access, community support with respite, and accommodation support with community support.
Table 6.3: Users of disability support services, service use patterns across groups, 2010–11
	Accommodation support		Community support		Community access		Respite		Employment	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
Accommodation support	11,938	28.0	18,256	13.0	19,513	32.2	4,223	11.6	6,441	5.0	
Community support	18,256	42.9	90,570	64.6	25,107	41.5	18,883	52.1	10,799	8.4	
Community access	19,513	45.8	25,107	17.9	21,357	35.3	9,770	26.9	7,066	5.5	
Respite	4,223	9.9	18,883	13.5	9,770	16.1	12,768	35.2	3,435	2.7	
Employment	6,441	15.1	10,799	7.7	7,066	11.7	3,435	9.5	110,026	85.7	
Total	42,579	100.0	140,156	100.0	60,509	100.0	36,266	100.0	128,321	100.0	
Notes
1.	Sum of components may exceed totals because individuals may have accessed more than one service group combination within the 
12-month period.
2.	Users along the diagonal from top left to bottom right represent people who accessed only that service group. For example, 90,570 users accessed community support services only (65% of all community support users).
3.	Service users accessing three, four or five service groups are included under all relevant combinations. 
6.3	Measures of service quantity
Data relating to service quantity are collected in two ways:
•	hours of service received
•	hours of service provided (that is, staff hours).
Each of these data items was collected using two measures—hours in the reference week (generally the last week of the collection period), and hours in a typical, or average, week. Due to the incompleteness of typical week data (for example, not reported by Victoria) and general concerns about the quality of the data that were collected, the following discussion focuses on hours of service received in the reference week and staff hours provided.
Not all service types were required to collect data on hours received during the reference period. See Appendix B: Table B39.
Hours received
Mean hours of support received by all service users per outlet varied between service types. Accommodation support provided the highest average number of hours of support per outlet (322 hours per outlet during the reference week) (Appendix B: Table B39).
On average during the reference week, service users received 13 hours of support (Table 6.4). In the reference week, users of non-residential accommodation services received the most hours of support (23 hours on average per user), followed by users of community access services (13 hours) and respite services (9 hours). Case management, local coordination and development services delivered substantially fewer hours on average than other types (1 hour), indicating the substantially lower direct contact hours involved with this service type.
The mean hours received have generally increased across reported service types since 
2005–06.
Table 6.4: Users of disability support services, mean hours received per service user(a), by selected service type category, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Mean hours per service user—reference week	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	
Non-residential accommodation support(b)	17.1	20.3	24.5	28.7	27.1	22.6	
Case management, local coordination and development	0.6	1.3	1.7	1.5	1.3	1.4	
Community access(c)	7.3	12.6	15.6	18.3	14.7	13.0	
Respite	6.7	9.3	10.3	13.3	8.4	9.3	
Total(d)	8.0	11.9	14.3	16.6	12.7	12.7	
(a)	Includes service users who received zero (0) hours of support from the service type category during the reference week, but excludes service users where the number of hours of support received from the service type category during the reference week was missing.
(b)	Includes attendant care/personal care, in-home accommodation support and alternative family placement.
(c)	Excludes recreation/holiday programs.
(d)	Total of selected service type categories.
Notes
1.	Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those in previous years. For further information, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
2.	The method used to calculate mean hours per service user has changed. This table should not be compared with Table 6.4 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
Staff hours provided
Service type outlets reported the total number of hours both paid and unpaid staff worked within a 1-week reference period, including hours spent on client contact, administration, training and other duties. The data are presented here as full-time equivalent (FTE) staff (calculated as total hours worked per outlet divided by 38).
Overall, FTE estimates have remained relatively stable since 2005–06, averaging around 5 FTE staff per outlet (Figure 6.1). This was the case for all service groups except for employment support services, which showed a general decrease from over 9 FTE staff in 2005–2006 to less than 6 FTE staff in 2010–11.
 Figure 6.1: Disability support service type outlets, mean FTE staff per outlet in the reference week, 2005–06 to 2010–11
A line graph showing the mean of full-time equivalent staff for disability support service type outlets on the y-axis and years on the x-axis.
Sources: AIHW 2009, 2011b; Appendix B: Table B41.
Appendix A: About the DS NMDS
A.1	Brief history
Since 1991, disability support services in Australia have been funded and provided under four national disability agreements. The first Commonwealth/State Disability Agreement (CSDA) of 1991 aimed to reduce the amount of duplication and administrative complexity involved in disability services, and to minimise gaps in service provision (AIHW 1993). The second agreement was signed in 1998, and the third in 2002 (as the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA)). Under these first three agreements, the Australian Government was responsible for the planning, policy setting and management of employment services for people with disability, and the states and territories were responsible for all other disability support services (including accommodation support, community access, community support and respite services). Responsibility for advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication services was shared between the two levels of government. Key changes in the disability services field over this period included changes in the nature of services, including a trend towards more flexible service delivery models; increased need for accountability and performance reporting; increased use of technology in the disability services field; a focus on strengthening the support for families and carers; and improvements in cross-government linkages and access to generic services (AIHW 2003; CSTDA 2003). For more information about the development and history of the CSTDA NMDS, see AIHW 2008 (Section 1.2) and AIHW 2003.
The NDA replaced the CSTDA on 1 January 2009. Similar to previous agreements, the NDA outlines state/territory and Australian Government roles and responsibilities, and provides agreed objectives, outcomes and national priorities for disability service delivery in Australia (COAG 2008a). Key reforms outlined in the NDA aim to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of disability services, with a focus on person-centred approaches, improved access, and lifelong planning (COAG 2008b). The agreement establishes 10 areas for reform in the disability service system:
a)	better measurement of need
b)	population benchmarking for disability services
c)	making older carers a priority
d)	quality improvement systems based on disability standards
e)	service planning and strategies to simplify access
f)	early intervention and prevention, lifelong planning, and increasing independence and social participation strategies
g)	increased workforce capacity
h)	increased access for Indigenous Australians
i)	access to aids and equipment
j)	improved access to disability care.
A.2	Scope of the collection
The DS NMDS includes services that were received, or were bought with, funding under the NDA. The scope of services varied in terms of programs that received NDA funding across jurisdictions. For example, in Victoria and Queensland, specialist psychiatric disability services were provided under the NDA. However, in all other jurisdictions, specific mental health services were funded and provided under health, rather than disability, portfolios.
Table A1 highlights the main areas where the services provided under the NDA and the services provided under other programs differed across jurisdictions.
Table A1: Scope of services included in the DS NMDS collection, by state and territory, 2010–11
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	
Specialist psychiatric disability services	X	ü	ü	X	X	X	X	X	
Early childhood intervention	ü	ü	ü	ü	ü	X	ü	ü(a)	
(a)	Selected services only.
A.3	Counts and definitions
The main counts of the DS NMDS collection are service users and service type outlets. A service type outlet is a statistical counting unit of an agency that provides a particular NDA service type at, or from, a discrete location. Data are collected, usually by agencies, for each service type outlet. See ‘Glossary’ for more information.
Most service type outlets collected data electronically. The DS NMDS collection forms used by those that did not are available from the following web site: <http://www.aihw.gov.au/disability-services-nmds-collection/#ser>.
Data on service users are collected against the service types (service type outlets) over the collection period. Note that service user data are not collected in relation to two of the seven service groups—‘advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication’ and ‘other support’. Further, the level of information required to be collected varies according to the particular service type. For more information on what information is collected against each service type, see Box A1.
Service type classification
A range of services are available to people with disability under the NDA, including accommodation support, community support, community access, respite, and employment services. A full description of services provided is outlined below (for more information, see the DS NMDS data guide (AIHW 2011a).
Accommodation support
Services that provide accommodation to people with disability and services that provide support needed to enable people with disability to remain in their existing accommodation or to move to more suitable or appropriate accommodation.
1.01	Large residential facilities/institutions (more than 20 places)
Large residential facilities/institutions are usually located on large parcels of land, and provide 24-hour residential support in a congregate setting of more than 20 beds. 
1.02	Small residential facilities/institutions (7–20 places)
Small residential facilities/institutions are usually located on large parcels of land and provide 24-hour residential support in a congregate or cluster setting of 7 to 20 beds. 
1.03	Hostels
Hostels provide residential support in a congregate setting of usually less than 20 beds, and may or may not provide 24-hour residential support. Many are situated in an institutional setting, and also have respite beds on the premises. In contrast to residential facilities/institutions (1.01 and 1.02), hostels usually do not provide segregated specialist disability support services. 
1.04	Group homes (less than 7 places)
Group homes generally provide combined accommodation and community-based residential support to people in a residential setting. Usually no more than six service users are located in any one house, although this can vary. Group homes are generally staffed 24 hours a day. 
1.05	Attendant care/personal care
An attendant care program provides for an attendant/s to help people with daily activities that they are unable to complete for themselves because of physical, intellectual or any other disability. The service is provided to people to help them live in the community, and live on their own.
1.06	In-home accommodation support
Support involves individual in-home living support and/or developmental programming services for people with disability, supplied independently of accommodation. 
1.07	Alternative family placement
An alternative family placement is the placement of a person with disability with an alternative family who will provide care and support. Includes shared-care arrangements and host family placements.
1.08	Other accommodation support
Accommodation support services that provide short-term, one-off instances of accommodation such as:
•	accommodation provided so that individuals or families can access specialist services or further education
•	emergency or crisis accommodation support (for example, following the death of a parent or carer)
•	houses or flats for holiday accommodation.
Community support
Services that provide the support needed for a person with disability to live in a non-institutional setting. Support with the basic needs of living, such as meal preparation, dressing and transferring are included under accommodation support.
2.01	Therapy support for individuals
This includes specialised, therapeutic care services including occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech therapy. These services are intended to improve, maintain or slow the deterioration of a person’s functional performance, and/or help assess and recommend equipment to enable people to perform as independently as possible in their environment.
2.02	Early childhood intervention
Support services to help children aged up to (but not including) 6 years with a developmental delay to integrate with peers into preschools and the wider community. This includes the full range of services that the child receives.
2.03	Behaviour/specialist intervention
These include the range of services relating to the management of challenging behaviours, including dangerous antisocial behaviour. Services include intensive intervention support, training and education in behaviour management, and consultancy services for other professionals. Behaviour/specialist intervention is often provided as a by-product of other services. 
2.04	Counselling (individual/family/group)
These are services that provide counselling to individuals, families or groups.
2.05	Regional resource and support teams
Regional resource and support teams are generally interdisciplinary teams that provide a combination of services in service types 2.01, 2.02 and 2.03 that cannot be broken down into the component parts. Regional resource and support teams may also help service users to access mainstream services and/or support mainstream-funded agencies. Except for early childhood intervention teams, these teams usually have an individual, rather than a family, focus.
2.06	Case management, local coordination and development
This is a broad service type category, including elements of individual or family-focused case management and brokerage, as well as coordination and development activity within a specified geographical area. Services help people with disability to maximise their independence and participation in the community by working with the individual, family and/or carers in care planning and/or enabling access to appropriate services. 
Case management services focus on individuals who require assistance for a period of time to access necessary supports, including help with service coordination and with assisting services to respond to their service needs.
Other forms of local coordination and development generally involve working with the individual, family and/or carers, and at the community level, to enable positive changes that assist people with disability to live and participate in the community and assist families in their continued provision of care.
2.07	Other community support
These are community support services other than 2.01–2.06.
Community access
Services designed to provide opportunities for people with disability to gain and use their abilities to enjoy their full potential for social independence. People who do not attend school, or who are not employed full time, mainly use these services.
The key features are that the services:
•	are flexible and responsive to personal needs and interests
•	range from educational to leisure and recreational pursuits
•	range from facility to home-based activities
•	include supervision and physical care, and models that link people into activities offered to the whole community
•	range from long-term day support to time-limited and goal-oriented education that maximises personal independent functioning, and may complement other community services.
3.01	Learning and life skills development
These programs provide ongoing day-to-day support for service users to gain greater access and participate in community-based activities. Programs may focus on continuing education to develop skills and independence in a variety of life areas (for example, self-help, social skills and literacy and numeracy) or enjoyment, leisure and social interaction. 
3.02	Recreation/holiday programs
Recreation services and holiday programs aim to help people with disability integrate and participate in recreation and leisure activities available in the general community. These services may also improve the capacity and responsiveness of mainstream sport and recreation agencies and community organisations to provide for people with disability. 
3.03	Other community access
These are community access services other than 3.01–3.02. They include, for example, services offering activities designed to improve service users’ physical, cognitive and perceptual abilities; encourage self-esteem growth; and provide opportunities to socialise.
Respite
Respite services provide a short-term and time-limited break for families and other voluntary caregivers of people with disability, to help support and maintain the primary caregiving relationship, while providing a positive experience for the person with disability.
4.01	Own home respite
This provides respite care in the individual’s own home location.
4.02	Centre-based respite/respite homes
This provides respite care in a community setting similar to a group home structure, and in other centre-based settings. This service type includes respite care provided in any of the accommodation settings in 1.01–1.04. 
4.03	Host family respite/peer support respite
Host family respite provides a network of host families matched to the age, interests and background of the individual and their carer. Peer support is generally focused on children or young adults aged up to 25, and matches the individual with a peer of similar age and interests, usually for group activities. This service is usually provided on a voluntary basis.
4.04	Flexible respite
These are respite services that offer any combination of own home and host family/peer support respite (service types 4.01 and 4.03). They include respite where day outings and camping trips are taken. (This service type is distinguished from service type 3.02 ‘Recreation/holiday programs’ because the primary purpose is respite.)
4.05	Other respite
These are respite services other than 4.01–4.04, including:
•	crisis respite
•	holidays for the person with disability where the primary intention of the service is to provide respite support (rather than primarily a holiday experience), and the service user is generally separated from their usual support arrangements (for example, family). 
Employment
5.01	Open employment
These are services that provide employment assistance to people with disability in getting and/or retaining paid employment in the open labour market.
5.02	Supported employment
These are services that provide employment opportunities and assistance to people with disability to work in specialised and supported work environments.
Advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication
6.01	Advocacy
These are services designed to enable people with disability to increase the control they have over their lives through the representation of their interests and views in the community. Examples include:
•	self-advocacy/individual advocacy
•	citizen advocacy
•	group advocacy
•	system/systematic advocacy.
6.02	Information/referral
Information services provide accessible information to people with disability, carers, families and related professionals. This service type provides specific information about disability-specific and generic services and equipment, and promotes the development of community awareness. Information includes contact by phone, print or email that recommends a person to another service.
6.03	Combined information/advocacy
These are services that offer both information and advocacy services to individuals where these two components cannot reasonably be separated.
6.04	Mutual support/self-help groups
These are focus or special interest groups that provide support and assistance for people with disability, their families and carers. These groups promote self-advocacy by providing information, support and assistance. 
6.05	Alternative forms of communication
This includes alternative forms of communication for people who, by reason of their disability, are unable to access information provided in the standard format. It may include interpreter services, radio and alternative formats of print medium (for example, teletypewriter and braille).
Other support
7.01	Research and evaluation
This is research and evaluation on the provision of services provided under the NDA for people with disability. It includes investigating the need for new services or improving existing services, and measuring outcomes for people with disability using these services. Responsibility for this service type is shared between the Australian Government and state/territory governments.
7.02	Training and development
Training and development services may be funded, for example, to train disability-funded agencies to deliver higher quality or more appropriate services to people with disability, or to develop materials or methods that promote service system improvements.
7.03	Peak bodies
Peak bodies are generally funded to support non-government disability-funded agencies in achieving positive outcomes for people with disability.
7.04	Other support services
These are services that are completely outside service types 1.01–1.08, 2.01–2.07, 3.01–3.03, 4.01–4.05, 5.01–5.02, 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.03. This service type also includes providing for one-off funding for a defined event (for example, for promotional activities) or for buying aids and equipment for a community facility (not for an individual).
Box A1: Information requested according to DS NMDS service type	
Service type classification	Service type outlet—
details required	Service user—
details required	Services accessed by each service user in the reporting period—details required	
Accommodation support		
1.01 Large residential facility/institution (>20 people)—24-hour care	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
1.02	Small residential facility/institution (7–20 people)— 24-hour care	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
1.03	Hostels—generally not 24-hour care	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
1.04	Group homes (<7 people)	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
1.05	Attendant care/personal care	All 	All	All	
1.06	In-home accommodation support	All 	All	All	
1.07	Alternative family placement	All 	All	All	
1.08	Other accommodation support	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
Community support		
2.01	Therapy support for individuals	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
2.02	Early childhood intervention	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
2.03	Behaviour/specialist intervention	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
2.04	Counselling (individual/family/group)	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
2.05	Regional resource and support teams 	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
2.06 Case management, local coordination and development	All	All (except for community development activity within this service type)	All (except for community development activity within this service type)	
2.07	Other community support	All 	All	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
Community access		
3.01	Learning and life skills development 	All 	All	All	
3.02	Recreation/holiday programs(a)	All 	Linkage key elements only (items 2a–2e)	Items 17a–17b (service start date and date service last received) 	
3.03	Other community access 	All 	All	All	
Respite		
4.01	Own home respite	All 	All	All	
4.02	Centre-based respite/
respite homes	All 	All	All	
4.03	Host family respite/
peer support respite	All 	All	All	
4.04	Flexible respite	All 	All	All	
4.05	Other respite	All 	All	All	
			(continued)	

Box A1 (continued): Information requested according to DS NMDS service type	
Service type classification	Service type outlet—details required	Service user—
details required	Services accessed by each service user in the reporting period—details required	
Employment		
5.01	Open employment	All 	All (except for carer—primary status, residency status, age group— items 12b, 12c, 12e)	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
5.02	Supported employment	All 	All (except for carer—primary status, residency status, age group—items 12b, 12c, 12e)	All (except for data items on hours received—items 17e–17f)	
Advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication		
6.01	Advocacy	All	None 	None	
6.02	Information/referral	All	None 	None	
6.03	Combined information/advocacy	All	None 	None	
6.04	Mutual support/self-help groups	All	None 	None	
6.05	Alternative forms of communication	All	None 	None	
Other support		
7.01	Research and evaluation	All (except number of service users—item 7)	None	None	
7.02	Training and development	All (except number of service users—item 7)	None	None	
7.03	Peak bodies	All (except number of service users—item 7)	None	None	
7.04	Other support services	All (except number of service users—item 7)	None	None	
A.4	Statistical linkage key
The statistical linkage key enables the number of service users to be estimated from data collected from service type outlets and agencies. During any given financial year, a service user can receive services from:
•	more than one service type outlet 
•	more than one agency
•	multiple jurisdictions—across state/territory borders, and/or a combination of Australian Government and state/territory services.
In each of these cases, unique service user counts can be estimated by using the statistical linkage key. The focus of this report is on these counts—that is, person-based estimates. 
To link records within the DS NMDS, the statistical linkage key components of each record for a service received are compared electronically with the statistical linkage key components of all other records. Records that have matching statistical linkage keys are assumed to belong to the same individual service user and are linked. Some degree of false linking is expected. Because the statistical linkage key is not a unique identifier, there is a small probability that some of the linked records do not belong to the same individual, and, conversely, that some records that did not link do belong to the same individual.
Table A2: Validity and completeness of the statistical linkage key, 2010–11
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
	Validity of statistical linkage keys	
Number of service user records (unlinked)	71,328	101,712	35,849	33,847	28,560	8,428	5,330	2,509	130,556	418,119	
Number with invalid linkage keys	—	2,594	—	1	3	—	—	—	19	2,617	
Percentage of invalid linkage keys(a)	—	2.6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.6	
	Completeness of statistical linkage keys (unlinked)	
Number of keys with date of birth estimates(a)	2,753	4,608	827	85	450	131	122	27	84	9,087	
Number of keys with missing sex(a)	19	149	4	6	—	—	—	—	—	178	
Percentage of valid linkage keys with missing sex and/or a date of birth estimate	3.9	4.7	2.3	0.3	1.6	1.6	2.3	1.1	0.1	2.2	
	Completeness of statistical linkage keys (linked)	
Number of keys with date of birth estimates(a)	3,202	5,385	1,011	105	554	131	133	29	69	10,619	
Number of keys with missing sex(a)	22	162	4	6	—	—	—	—	—	194	
Percentage of valid linkage keys with missing sex and/or a date of birth estimate	4.5	5.5	2.8	0.3	1.9	1.6	2.5	1.2	0.1	2.6	
(a)	Statistical linkage keys with estimated date of birth and/or missing sex are counted as valid.
Missing or invalid statistical linkage keys cannot be linked to other records, and so must be treated as belonging to separate individual service users. This may result in the number of service users being slightly overestimated.
All counts of the number of service users depend on the accuracy of the statistical linkage key. A linkage key is considered to be invalid if any, or all, parts of the key are missing (excluding sex). The overall rate of invalid linkage keys in 2010–11 was 0.6%, ranging among jurisdictions from 0.0% to 2.6% of the total number of service user records (Table A2). 
For about 10% of the original service user records for Victoria, the appropriate letters of the first and last names were not collected. As for the data from previous years, where possible, the ‘pseudo’ linkage key was used for Victoria for these cases. This consists of date of birth (not estimated), sex and postcode. Its use resulted in 5% of Victorian records being allocated a full valid linkage key, and another 5% of Victorian records being linked by using the pseudo linkage key. All these cases are included in the valid count in Table A2. The use of the pseudo linkage key increases the likelihood that some records could have been wrongly matched, or that some records were not matched when they should have been.
A.5	Data quality
Data quality should be taken into account when interpreting data in this report. Consideration of data quality is particularly important when making comparisons across jurisdictions and data collection periods. 
In this section, three important data quality considerations when analysing data in the DS NMDS are looked at:
•	service type outlet response rates
•	service user response rates
•	rates of ‘not stated/not known’ responses.
In general, high response rates for service type and service user result in better data quality, while high ‘not stated/not known’ response rates lead to less reliable data. These concepts are looked at further below.
Service type outlet response rate
While every effort is made to incorporate responses from all service type outlets provided under the NDA, each year a small number are not included. Jurisdictions report their service type outlet response rates—the proportion of outlets that contributed to the DS NMDS collection compared with the total number of outlets in the jurisdiction.
In 2010–11, the national service type outlet response rate was 97% (Table A3). The response rates for the majority of jurisdictions were between 98–100%. The exceptions were New South Wales (94%), Victoria (95%) and the Northern Territory (96%). As response rates from service type outlets approach 100%, data can be considered more reliable.
Table A3: Response rates for service type outlets, 2005–06 to 2010–11 (per cent)
	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	
NSW	89.0	89.0	90.0	92.0	93.0	94.3	
Vic	90.0	90.0	93.0	93.0	96.0	95.0	
Qld	99.0	100.0	100.0	99.0	99.0	99.7	
WA	100.0	100.0	99.0	99.0	100.0	98.0	
SA	100.0	100.0	99.0	100.0	99.0	99.7	
Tas	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
ACT	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
NT	100.0	100.0	99.0	100.0	96.0	96.0	
Australian Government	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Total	94.0	94.0	95.0	96.0	97.0	96.9	
Notes
1.	Response rates are based on figures provided by jurisdictions. 
2.	The total response rate is based on the number of outlets in the data set divided by the number of total outlets that would have been in the data set if all jurisdictions had a 100% response rate.
3.	The response rates for New South Wales in 2006–07 and 2007–08 are estimated. Because of the way New South Wales organises its funding allocations (particularly in relation to individualised funding arrangements) and the limitations of the existing funding management system, it is impossible to accurately measure the rate of the return.
Service user response rate
Data quality can be considered more reliable as user response rates increase. It is recognised that some outlets do not report on all service users, due to administration or other errors, and it is not possible to accurately estimate the number of service users who may be missing from the data as a result. 
Some service type outlets have a large number of service users who have minimal contact, such as information and referral services. These service types are not required to submit service user information to the DS NMDS, and as a result users of these services are not included in totals.
All service type outlets are required to estimate the number of service users they helped over the year; however, analysis of these estimates and comparison with jurisdictional reports indicate that such estimations are of poor quality and are not reliable, so are not included in this report.
‘Not stated/not known’ rates
‘Not stated/not known’ proportions vary across jurisdiction and service type (Tables A2, A3 and A4). ‘Not stated/not known’ proportions are counted when a service user or service type outlet does not provide/collect information on a service user, or when information is unable to be derived by statistical linkage processes. In some instances, particular service types are not required to submit data for all measures, and service users may be included in ‘not stated’ figures in such instances. High proportions of ‘not stated/not known’ responses reduce the validity and reliability of data, and items with high proportions should be considered with care, especially when comparing data across jurisdictions and collection years.
In 2010–11, the national ‘not stated’ average was 17%, which was skewed by comparatively high numbers and rates in Victoria (32%), New South Wales (14%) and the Australian Government (Table A4). The Northern Territory had the highest rate (38%). Most of the other jurisdictions had ‘not stated’ proportions of less than 7%; Tasmania had the lowest (0.3%).
Particular data items are subject to larger ‘not stated’ variation than others. Data items such as age, date of birth and sex are almost fully collected, while other items such as receipt of carer allowance (child) have extremely high ‘not stated’ proportions nationally, at 31%.
Table A4: ‘Not stated/not known’ response rates for service user data items, 2010–11 (per cent)
Data item	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov(a)	Australia	
Not stated											
Age	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Date of birth	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Sex	—	0.2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.1	
Indigenous status	4.3	14.9	2.7	3.1	0.4	0.5	3.1	2.1	0.3	5.0	
Country of birth	3.0	14.3	3.0	2.8	0.2	—	3.6	2.8	0.6	4.7	
Need for interpreter services	4.5	30.0	4.5	0.6	0.3	—	3.6	42.6	0.1	9.0	
Method of communication(a)	12.4	28.8	3.8	6.7	2.5	0.9	1.8	40.8	28.5	22.0	
Living arrangements	5.2	15.9	3.2	4.1	1.7	—	3.2	41.1	10.6	10.0	
Postcode of usual residence	—	4.3	2.2	2.4	1.7	—	1.6	40.5	—	1.8	
Residential setting	7.5	23.7	3.3	4.1	2.2	—	3.9	41.8	5.9	10.5	
Primary disability group	9.1	15.6	1.7	1.6	0.4	—	2.5	44.1	1.6	6.6	
Frequency of support or 
assistance needed	
Self-care(a)	19.7	46.0	9.3	6.6	1.6	0.1	6.4	51.6	30.0	28.4	
Mobility(a)	19.5	44.6	9.9	6.6	1.6	0.1	6.3	54.6	29.0	27.7	
Communication(a)	19.0	44.4	9.4	6.6	1.7	0.1	4.3	64.5	29.1	27.6	
Interpersonal interactions and relationships(a)	19.5	46.8	9.6	7.0	1.7	0.1	5.2	62.5	29.0	28.3	
Learning, applying knowledge and general tasks and demands(a)	18.4	44.6	10.9	8.4	1.4	0.8	13.6	60.3	28.8	27.8	
Education(a)	19.9	45.5	14.6	9.3	1.5	0.8	14.0	64.1	31.5	29.6	
Community/economic life(a)	20.3	44.9	13.0	8.4	1.4	0.8	18.5	58.9	31.6	29.4	
Domestic life(a)	27.2	38.0	12.2	7.5	0.9	0.3	1.8	46.8	32.1	28.5	
Working(a)	33.6	39.6	17.2	9.6	1.0	0.2	3.0	57.6	28.9	29.3	
Carer—existence of	4.2	23.6	3.1	6.8	0.5	—	8.1	44.6	—	7.6	
Carer—primary status	6.7	30.2	1.2	6.4	0.9	0.4	1.7	0.9	9.6	10.8	
Carer—residency status	19.9	31.5	1.7	0.6	2.3	1.8	1.1	5.5	14.2	15.4	
Carer—relationship to service user	23.2	25.6	1.0	1.4	1.1	—	0.3	2.9	4.5	13.6	
Carer—age group	27.9	34.5	8.6	4.3	7.2	0.9	10.9	5.6	30.3	20.8	
Main income source (adult)	14.7	42.4	7.7	7.2	0.5	0.2	3.2	42.1	14.4	20.3	
Receipt of Carer Allowance (child)	15.2	70.9	14.6	10.8	2.9	—	25.8	40.9	59.9	30.5	
Labour force status	16.2	37.1	8.2	5.2	0.6	0.4	7.9	70.8	—	12.1	
Individual funding status	9.7	14.8	9.1	—	—	—	—	42.4	—	6.3	
Average ‘not stated’ rate	14.1	31.6	6.9	5.1	1.4	0.3	5.8	38.1	16.7	17.2	
Not known											
Main income source (adult)	6.2	0.0	3.7	4.4	20.9	0.7	8.3	5.1	0.3	2.8	
Receipt of Carer Allowance (child)	34.4	0.8	20.2	19.0	5.0	7.2	34.6	40.3	0.7	17.8	
(a)	Data for method of communication and frequency of support or assistance needed were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
Notes
1.	Figures are the percentage of total data item responses for each data source.
2.	Service users accessing service type 3.02 were required to report only on data items relating to age and sex. Service users who accessed only this service type over the 12-month period are excluded from calculations of ‘not stated’ rates for all other data items.
3.	Service types 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04 did not collect service user data, so are excluded from this table.
4.	Service types 5.01 and 5.02 were not required to collect data on carer—primary status, carer—residency status, and carer—age group. ‘Not stated’ rate calculations exclude service types 5.01 and 5.02 for these data items.
5	‘Not stated’ rates for method of communication, learning, applying knowledge and general tasks and demands, education, and community/economic life include responses for persons aged 0–4 in the denominator. 
6.	‘Not stated’ rates for domestic life and working include responses for persons aged 0–14 in the denominator.
7.	‘Not stated’ rates for carer—primary status, carer—residency status, carer—relationship to service user, and carer—age group are based only on those service users who answered ‘that they had a carer’. 
8.	‘Not stated’ rates for main income source (adult) and receipt of Carer Allowance include ‘not known’ responses in the denominator.
In general, across all jurisdictions, information was collected for all ‘service start date’ and ‘date service last received’ items for all service users (Table A5). There was some variation between jurisdictions on the main reason for cessation of services, with Victoria (41.7%) contributing most to the national ‘not stated’ response rate of 11.5%.
Table A5: ‘Not stated’ response rates for service use data items, for applicable service types, 
2010–11 (per cent)
Data item	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Australia	
Service start date	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Date service last received	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Main reason for cessation of services	9.4	41.7	0.3	1.8	0.4	—	0.1	50.0	—	11.5	
Notes
1.	Figures are the percentage of total data item responses for each data source.
2.	Service users accessing service types 3.02, 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04 were not required to collect service use data, and so are excluded from this table.
3.	‘Not stated’ rates for main reason for cessation of services are based only on service users who entered a service exit date. Exit dates left blank were treated as indicating that the service user had remained with the service; so the response rate for this item was 100%.
In 2010–11, the data items agency sector, service type and full financial year operation were fully collected by all jurisdictions (Table A6). Victoria had above average ‘not stated’ proportions for staff hours in the reference week (40%).
Table A6: ‘Not stated’ response rates for service type outlet data items, 2010–11 (per cent)
Data item	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Australia	
Agency sector	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Service type	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Full financial year operation	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Staff hours in the reference week	5.3	39.5	—	3.3	1.4	—	0.4	5.3	0.1	9.9	
Staff hours in a typical week	12.9	—	0.8	9.1	6.6	0.4	3.6	6.4	0.1	7.0	
Operating weeks per year	—	4.4	—	3.5	—	—	—	—	0.1	1.1	
Operating days per week	—	4.2	—	3.5	—	—	—	—	0.1	1.1	
Operating hours per day	—	5.4	—	3.5	—	—	—	—	0.1	1.3	
Number of service users over the year	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Notes
1.	Figures are the percentage of total data item responses for each data source.
2.	Service types 7.01–7.04 were not required to report on the number of service users over the year, so these outlets are excluded from the ‘not stated’ calculations for this data item. 
3.	Victoria did not collect data on staff hours in a typical week.
4.	A response of ‘0’ was considered as a ‘not stated’ response, except for staff hours (for both the reference week and a typical week); if only 1 staff hour (paid or unpaid) variable was missing, it was assumed to be validly recorded as zero (0).
A.7	Calculation of potential population
To assess how well disability support services are meeting the needs of people with disability, it is useful to estimate the potential population for these services.
Tables B43 and B44 in Appendix B provide information on potential population data, including calculations of these populations (Table B44) and the Indigenous factor (Table B45).
Potential population figures were calculated as follows:
•	National 5-year age- and sex-specific rates of severe/profound core activity limitation were calculated using data from the 2009 SDAC (ABS 2006, 2010a) (number of people in Australia with a severe/profound core activity limitation in each sex and 5-year age group, divided by total population for each age group, by sex).
•	These rates were applied to (multiplied by) estimated resident population numbers in each state and territory, as at 30 June 2009, to produce estimates of the number of people with severe/profound core activity limitations in each 5-year age group, by sex.
•	Five-year age group estimates were then summed into age categories (under 65 and 15–64) to produce an estimated number of people with a severe/profound core activity limitation in each state/territory as at 30 June 2009.
•	An Indigenous factor was calculated (for people aged under 65 and 15–64) by weighting the Indigenous population with severe/profound core activity limitation at 2.4, and all other Australians with severe/profound core activity limitation at 1 (AIHW 2006).
•	Potential populations for accommodation support, community support and community access (aged under 65) were calculated by multiplying the estimated number of people with a severe/profound core activity limitation aged under 65 by the Indigenous factor.
•	Potential populations for respite were obtained as above, but by selecting only people from the 2009 SDAC (ABS 2010a) who had a primary carer.
•	Potential populations for employment (that is, aged 15–64) were calculated by multiplying the estimated number of people with a severe/profound core activity limitation aged 15–64 by the Indigenous factor and by state/territory-specific labour force participation rates (ABS 2011).
Thus the term ’potential population’ represents an estimate of the population with severe/profound core activity limitation in the Australian or relevant population.
It is worth noting that the potential populations for 2004–05 to 2008–09 were calculated using national age- and sex-specific rates of severe or profound core activity limitation from the 2003 SDAC. The SDAC was done again in 2009 and prevalence rates for disability were different for some categories from those in the 2003 survey. The potential population was calculated for both 2009–10 and 2010–11 using national age- and sex-specific rates of severe or profound core activity limitation from the 2009 SDAC. The change of use of rates from SDAC 2003 to SDAC 2009 represents a break in the series. For comparison purposes, the potential population for 2008–09 has also been calculated using national age- and sex-specific rates of severe or profound core activity limitation from SDAC 2009.
A.8	Further information
The AIHW has an interactive disability data site containing subsets of national information from the 2009–10 data collection, as well as previous data collections from 1999 onwards. This is available at <www.aihw.gov.au/disability/datacubes/index.html>.
Appendix B: Additional tables
Table B1: Disability support service users, service type outlets and agencies, by state and territory, 2010–11 (per cent)
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
Service users	28.3	33.5	15.4	7.7	9.9	2.9	1.8	0.9	100.0	
Agencies	27.5	28.4	18.1	7.4	8.5	5.1	3.1	1.9	100.0	
Outlets	36.3	22.4	19.7	8.0	8.8	2.2	1.9	0.8	100.0	
Notes 
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Totals for Australia for service users may not be the sum of components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one state or territory during the 12-month period.
Table B2: Characteristics of disability support service type outlets, 2010–11
Data item	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Agency sector											
Australian/state/territory government	552	685	522	214	230	18	87	10	6	2,324	
Local government	95	90	17	n.p.	5	—	—	—	n.p.	219	
Income tax exempt (charity)	3,806	1,895	1,724	701	50	57	161	84	1,261	9,739	
Non-income tax exempt	116	66	215	n.p.	751	191	n.p.	—	220	1,601	
Not stated	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Full 2010–11 financial year
of operation									
Yes	3,890	2,697	2,266	952	905	236	230	89	1,442	12,707	
No	679	39	212	13	131	30	20	5	47	1,176	
Not stated	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Weeks of operation per year										
1–39 weeks	59	56	26	n.p.	75	9	n.p.	—	22	286	
40–51 weeks	1,676	467	680	126	160	65	77	16	1,004	4,271	
52 weeks	2,286	2,074	1,577	691	670	184	170	73	367	8,092	
No regular annual pattern	548	18	195	n.p.	131	8	n.p.	5	95	1,078	
Not stated	—	121	—	n.p.	—	—	—	—	n.p.	156	
Days of operation per week(a)										
1 day	44	80	10	n.p.	17	6	n.p.	—	104	271	
2 days	38	36	12	n.p.	13	6	n.p.	—	n.p.	165	
3 days	143	34	22	6	6	5	5	—	31	252	
4–5 days(b)	1,657	1,647	680	270	296	90	82	28	1,061	5,811	
6–7 days(b)	2,008	802	1,493	469	549	138	153	56	28	5,696	
No regular weekly pattern	679	23	261	173	155	21	4	10	213	1,539	
Not stated	—	114	—	n.p.	—	—	—	—	n.p.	149	
(continued)	

Table B2 (continued): Characteristics of disability support service type outlets, 2010–11
Data item	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Hours of operation per day										
<7 hours	884	424	90	n.p.	71	36	24	n.p.	67	1,644	
7–8 hours	985	854	595	247	255	79	49	36	1,130	4,230	
8–24 hours	128	194	330	n.p.	37	13	34	n.p.	134	892	
24 hours	1,367	1,066	906	396	484	77	128	37	4	4,465	
No regular daily pattern	1,205	50	557	221	189	61	15	18	152	2,468	
Not stated	—	148	—	n.p.	—	—	—	—	n.p.	184	
Staff hours in the reference 
week: paid staff								
0 hours	1,230	192	74	81	99	21	n.p.	n.p.	66	1,782	
<20 hours	821	173	253	64	236	24	34	6	207	1,818	
20 to <38 hours	395	111	216	60	59	30	21	10	108	1,010	
38 to <114 hours	662	378	542	198	159	70	36	23	344	2,412	
114 to <228 hours	730	440	777	212	152	43	79	17	307	2,757	
228 to <418 hours	391	242	385	202	206	32	37	17	262	1,774	
418 to <570 hours	43	53	91	43	58	12	n.p.	n.p.	81	391	
570+ hours 	49	64	140	70	51	34	21	4	113	546	
Not stated	248	1,083	—	35	16	—	n.p.	6	n.p.	1,393	
Staff hours in the reference 
week: unpaid staff								
0 hours	3,750	1,203	1,690	824	528	200	173	53	1,127	9,548	
<20 hours	235	267	539	63	127	40	18	9	122	1,420	
20 to <38 hours	20	61	96	18	10	8	7	8	43	271	
38 to <114 hours	29	46	94	17	16	11	n.p.	n.p.	42	262	
114 to <228 hours	9	19	23	6	n.p.	5	n.p.	n.p.	6	82	
228 to <418 hours	4	8	10	3	n.p.	n.p.	—	n.p.	3	31	
418 to <570 hours	n.p.	n.p.	10	n.p.	—	n.p.	—	—	n.p.	16	
570+ hours 	n.p.	n.p.	16	n.p.	3	—	—	n.p.	n.p.	25	
Not stated	518	1,130	—	32	343	—	41	20	144	2,228	
Staff hours in a typical 
week: paid staff									
0 hours	350	—	29	55	57	10	n.p.	n.p.	—	514	
<20 hours	633	—	233	69	248	26	34	9	266	1,518	
20 to <38 hours	448	—	198	64	69	30	20	9	95	933	
38 to <114 hours	993	—	539	201	178	62	41	17	343	2,374	
114 to <228 hours	985	—	830	225	156	55	83	20	311	2,665	
228 to <418 hours	635	—	388	207	196	34	35	23	270	1,788	
418 to <570 hours	107	—	91	42	63	11	4	n.p.	n.p.	402	
570+ hours	165	—	170	67	57	38	19	5	123	644	
Not stated	253	2,736	—	35	12	—	n.p.	5	n.p.	3,045	
(continued)	
Table B2 (continued): Characteristics of disability support service type outlets, 2010–11
Data item	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Staff hours in a typical 
week: unpaid staff								
0 hours	3,302	—	1,601	822	509	201	163	53	1,116	7,767	
<20 hours	541	—	605	63	143	35	17	10	127	1,541	
20 to <38 hours	80	—	105	17	10	10	8	7	43	280	
38 to <114 hours	74	—	113	22	19	n.p.	15	n.p.	38	294	
114 to <228 hours	29	—	34	4	6	6	5	n.p.	n.p.	91	
228 to <418 hours	17	—	10	n.p.	—	n.p.	—	n.p.	4	35	
418 to <570 hours	n.p.	—	4	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	—	—	n.p.	10	
570+ 	n.p.	—	6	n.p.	n.p.	—	—	n.p.	3	20	
Not stated	520	2,736	—	32	344	—	42	20	151	3,845	
Service users over the 
2010–11 year(b)									
1–4 service users	2,023	498	1,097	224	381	83	133	40	114	4,593	
5–9 service users	992	826	270	258	165	38	31	16	94	2,690	
10–19 service users	499	251	301	112	80	34	19	9	169	1,474	
20–49 service users	525	386	433	135	100	62	28	12	330	2,011	
50–99 service users	254	286	194	82	55	20	14	7	275	1,187	
100 or more service users	229	416	118	131	113	25	17	7	507	1,563	
(a)	There were 227 service type outlets operating 4 days per week, and 125 service type outlets operating 6 days per week in 2010–11.
(b)	Service type outlets with a service type 7.01–7.04 (research and evaluation, training and development, peak bodies and other support services) were excluded, as they were not required to report this data item.
Notes
1.	A service outlet may be a single outlet or a combination of two or more outlets of the same service type for an organisation.
2.	Data for NDA service outlets, including the data on service user numbers, were from the service form completed by funding jurisdictions and service providers. These data do not use a linkage key to estimate service user numbers. Service user numbers reflect the estimated number of people who received a service at the service outlet during the 2010–11 financial year.

Table B3: Disability support service type outlets, remoteness area, by service group, 2010–11
	Major cities	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote	Subtotal	Not known	Total	
	Number	
Accommodation support	3,705	1,319	424	38	9	5,496	4	5,500	
Community support	1,109	426	157	32	22	1,745	—	1,745	
Community access	1,722	876	314	27	7	2,945	—	2,945	
Respite	800	419	195	29	10	1,453	—	1,453	
Employment	747	366	240	41	22	1,416	—	1,416	
Advocacy, information, alternative forms of communication 	313	111	33	3	—	459	—	459	
Other support	261	61	36	4	3	365	—	365	
Total	8,657	3,577	1,398	173	73	13,879	4	13,883	
	Per cent	
Accommodation support	67.4	24.0	7.7	0.7	0.2	100.0	. .	. .	
Community support	63.5	24.4	9.0	1.8	1.3	100.0	. .	. .	
Community access	58.5	29.7	10.7	0.9	0.2	100.0	. .	. .	
Respite	55.1	28.8	13.4	2.0	0.7	100.0	. .	. .	
Employment	52.8	25.8	17.0	2.9	1.5	100.0	. .	. .	
Advocacy, information, alternative forms of communication 	68.1	24.1	7.1	0.7	—	100.0	. .	. .	
Other support	71.5	16.6	9.9	1.0	0.9	100.0	. .	. .	
Total	62.4	25.8	10.1	1.2	0.5	100.0	. .	. .	
Notes
1.	The number of outlets in each remoteness area was estimated based on outlets’ residential postcodes. Some postcode areas were split between two or more remoteness areas. Where this was the case, the data were weighted according to the proportion of the population of the postcode area in each remoteness area. 
2.	Totals may not be the sum of the components because of rounding.

Table B4: Disability support service type outlets, service type, by agency sector, 2010–11
Service type	Government		Non-government	Not stated	Total	
	Aus Gov	State/
territory	Local	Sub-
total	Income tax exempt (charity)	Non-income tax exempt	Sub-
total			
Large residential facilities/institutions	—	27	—	27	25	6	31	—	58	
Small residential facilities/institutions	—	n.p.	—	n.p.	92	5	97	—	98	
Hostels	—	—	—	—	26	7	33	—	33	
Group homes	—	1,382	13	1395	2,038	330	2368	—	3,763	
Attendant care/personal care	—	n.p.	n.p.	13	96	74	170	—	183	
In-home accommodation support	—	50	10	60	794	166	960	—	1,020	
Alternative family placement	—	—	—	—	91	5	96	—	96	
Other accommodation support	—	11	n.p.	n.p.	216	20	236	—	249	
Total accommodation support	—	1,478	31	1,509	3,378	613	3,991	—	5,500	
Therapy support for individuals	—	44	—	44	184	36	220	—	264	
Early childhood intervention	—	71	10	81	272	19	291	—	372	
Behaviour/specialist intervention	—	n.p.	n.p.	92	78	14	92	—	184	
Counselling (individual/family/group)	—	10	—	10	13	14	27	—	37	
Regional resource and support teams	—	106	—	106	6	3	9	—	115	
Case management, local coordination and development	—	306	10	316	341	17	358	—	674	
Other community support	—	n.p.	n.p.	9	72	18	90	—	99	
Total community support	—	634	24	658	966	121	1087	—	1,745	
Learning and life skills development	—	46	40	86	2,307	213	2520	—	2,606	
Recreation/holiday programs	—	n.p.	n.p.	8	143	37	180	—	188	
Other community access	—	n.p.	n.p.	12	124	15	139	—	151	
Total community access	—	56	50	106	2574	265	2839	—	2,945	
Own home respite	—	n.p.	n.p.	8	119	36	155	—	163	
Centre-based respite/respite homes	—	107	n.p.	109	300	n.p.	367	—	476	
Host family respite/peer support respite	—	n.p.	—	n.p.	30	5	35	—	36	
Flexible respite	—	14	44	58	613	70	683	—	741	
Other respite	—	n.p.	—	n.p.	34	n.p.	36	—	37	
Total respite	—	127	50	177	1,096	180	1,276	—	1,453	
Open employment	n.p.	n.p.	—	4	918	173	1091	—	1,095	
Supported employment	—	n.p.	n.p.	4	303	14	317	—	321	
Total employment	n.p.	4	n.p.	8	1,221	187	1,408	—	1,416	
(continued)	

Table B4 (continued): Disability support service type outlets, service type, by agency sector, 
2010–11
Service type	Government		Non-government	Not stated	Total	
	Aus Gov	State/
territory	Local	Sub-
total	Income tax exempt (charity)	Non-income tax exempt	Sub-
total			
Advocacy	—	—	—	—	100	47	147	—	147	
Information/referral	—	11	3	14	118	19	137	—	151	
Combined information/advocacy	—	—	—	—	40	6	46	—	46	
Mutual support/self-help groups	—	—	—	—	77	11	88	—	88	
Alternative forms of communication	—	—	—	—	21	6	27	—	27	
Total advocacy, information and alternative communication	—	11	3	14	356	89	445	—	459	
Research and evaluation	—	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	4	—	4	—	6	
Training and development	—	n.p.	—	n.p.	24	n.p.	25	—	27	
Peak bodies	—	—	—	—	13	n.p.	18	—	18	
Other support services	—	n.p.	n.p.	67	107	140	247	—	314	
Total other support	—	12	59	71	148	146	294	—	365	
Total	<5	2,322	<220	2543	9,739	1,601	11340	—	13,883	
Per cent	—	16.7	1.6	18.3	70.2	11.5	81.7	—	100.0	

Table B5: State/territory-funded disability support service type outlets, service type, by state and territory, 2010–11
Service type	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
Large residential facilities/institutions	24	3	13	7	8	3	—	—	58	
Small residential facilities/institutions	14	4	66	9	n.p.	n.p.	—	—	98	
Hostels	6	21	—	n.p.	n.p.	4	—	—	33	
Group homes	1,262	931	788	333	321	37	70	21	3,763	
Attendant care/personal care	52	—	51	n.p.	47	18	n.p.	5	183	
In-home accommodation support	293	203	248	104	80	47	33	12	1,020	
Alternative family placement	77	—	12	n.p.	n.p.	—	—	3	96	
Other accommodation support	135	34	71	3	3	n.p.	n.p.	—	249	
Total accommodation support	1,863	1,196	1,249	463	465	111	112	41	5,500	
Therapy support for individuals	61	70	45	41	32	3	5	7	264	
Early childhood intervention	178	114	45	17	16	—	n.p.	n.p.	372	
Behaviour/specialist intervention	60	35	47	22	14	—	n.p.	n.p.	184	
Counselling (individual/family/group)	—	—	19	n.p.	15	—	n.p.	n.p.	37	
Regional resource and support teams	100	—	n.p.	n.p.	5	n.p.	—	—	115	
Case management, local coordination 
and development	108	198	217	70	30	9	36	6	674	
Other community support	58	4	n.p.	6	20	n.p.	3	3	99	
Total community support	565	421	377	161	132	19	50	20	1,745	
Learning and life skills development	1,403	514	373	120	99	57	33	7	2,606	
Recreation/holiday programs	87	12	27	16	33	7	n.p.	n.p.	188	
Other community access	45	68	9	3	19	—	n.p.	n.p.	151	
Total community access	1,535	594	409	139	151	64	40	13	2,945	
Own home respite	6	23	40	53	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	163	
Centre-based respite/respite homes	122	121	140	23	47	12	8	3	476	
Host family respite/peer support respite	11	10	5	—	6	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	36	
Flexible respite	356	130	111	72	40	22	6	4	741	
Other respite	—	9	15	11	n.p.	—	—	n.p.	37	
Total respite	495	293	311	159	124	41	18	12	1,453	
Advocacy	14	29	11	n.p.	—	6	4	n.p.	84	
Information/referral	22	58	32	3	10	13	11	—	149	
Combined information/advocacy	24	10	4	—	—	5	n.p.	n.p.	46	
Mutual support/self-help groups	—	62	13	n.p.	n.p.	—	n.p.	—	88	
Alternative forms of communication	4	—	7	—	n.p.	3	n.p.	—	19	
Total advocacy, information and alternative 
communication	64	159	67	20	22	27	22	5	386	
Research and evaluation	—	—	n.p.	—	—	—	n.p.	n.p.	6	
Training and development	11	8	3	n.p.	—	n.p.	3	—	27	
Peak bodies	9	—	n.p.	—	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	—	18	
Other support services	27	65	57	n.p.	n.p.	—	n.p.	n.p.	314	
Total other support	47	73	65	23	142	4	8	3	365	
Total	4,569	2,736	2,478	965	1,036	266	250	94	12,394	

Table B6: Australian Government-funded disability support service type outlets, service type, by state and territory, 2010–11
Service type	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
Open employment 	340	265	210	106	142	18	7	7	1,095	
Supported employment	114	87	41	23	37	13	3	3	321	
Total employment support	454	352	251	129	179	31	10	10	1,416	
Advocacy	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	3	n.p.	3	63	
Information/referral, alternative forms of communication	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	—	n.p.	—	10	
Total advocacy, information, alternative communication	17	21	7	11	7	3	4	3	73	
Total	471	373	258	140	186	34	14	13	1,489	
Note: Information on Australian government-funded respite services is not included in this table.

Table B7: Disability support service users and services received, by state and territory, 2005–06 to 2010–11
	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	
	Number of service users	
State and territory services							
NSW	31,897	34,583	36,003	42,411	48,056	50,993	
Vic	64,515	67,986	69,540	77,053	75,280	77,657	
Qld	18,190	19,202	20,998	22,544	23,107	25,012	
WA	19,191	17,304	15,759	15,349	15,573	16,577	
SA	15,958	17,041	19,386	20,151	20,784	21,822	
Tas	3,902	3,839	4,175	4,555	5,977	6,356	
ACT	2,606	3,477	3,682	3,927	4,054	4,213	
NT	1,021	1,120	1,916	1,639	1,108	2,378	
Australian Government services	73,157	80,008	89,935	109,003	118,801	128,321	
Total	217,143	232,253	246,281	279,301	295,024	314,252	
	Number of service type outlets accessed	
State and territory services							
NSW	50,319	65,600	73,897	83,968	98,217	104,762	
Vic	103,175	106,827	109,924	124,197	120,033	128,443	
Qld	33,515	36,816	44,326	47,362	51,334	61,328	
WA	36,874	31,404	30,980	32,988	34,193	43,242	
SA	27,463	30,116	37,361	36,200	39,106	42,478	
Tas	5,825	5,708	6,087	6,601	8,364	8,852	
ACT	3,351	4,331	4,943	5,540	5,444	5,744	
NT	1,286	1,573	2,584	2,165	1,294	2,735	
Australian Government services	76,736	82,767	95,592	110,552	122,133	130,556	
Total	338,544	365,142	405,694	449,573	480,118	528,140	
	Average service type outlets accessed per user	
State and territory services							
NSW	1.58	1.90	2.05	1.98	2.04	2.05	
Vic	1.60	1.57	1.58	1.61	1.59	1.65	
Qld	1.84	1.92	2.11	2.10	2.22	2.45	
WA	1.92	1.81	1.97	2.15	2.20	2.61	
SA	1.72	1.77	1.93	1.80	1.88	1.95	
Tas	1.49	1.49	1.46	1.45	1.40	1.39	
ACT	1.29	1.25	1.34	1.41	1.34	1.36	
NT	1.26	1.40	1.35	1.32	1.17	1.15	
Australian Government services	1.05	1.03	1.06	1.01	1.03	1.02	
Total	1.56	1.57	1.65	1.61	1.63	1.68	
Notes
1.	Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those in previous years. For further information, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
2.	Totals for Australia may not be the sum of service components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one state or territory during the 12-month period.

Table B8: Users of state/territory-funded disability support services, agency sector, state and territory, by service group, 2010–11
Service group	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	Per cent	
Accommodation support	
Government	2,850	3,699	740	1,003	816	6	170	—	9,283	21.8	
Non-government	6,695	11,871	6,185	2,365	4,679	1,274	298	211	33,566	78.8	
Total	9,487	15,486	6,899	3,308	5,468	1,280	454	211	42,579	100.0	
Community support	
Government	19,506	21,045	13,566	9,942	13,401	449	3,439	1,780	82,876	59.1	
Non-government	19,932	31,570	4,864	6,311	4,536	4,298	445	189	72,013	51.4	
Total	35,479	48,219	16,653	13,385	16,727	4,527	3,733	1,956	140,156	100.0	
Community access	
Government	1,250	242	451	721	682	161	38	—	3,545	5.9	
Non-government	13,312	22,849	8,993	4,144	6,122	1,541	462	255	57,643	95.3	
Total	14,490	23,052	9,334	4,630	6,719	1,579	486	255	60,509	100.0	
Respite											
Government	3,426	2,328	649	440	86	153	178	—	7,255	20.0	
Non-government	7,317	14,291	4,813	3,074	1,669	411	191	97	31,835	87.8	
Total	9,499	15,676	5,191	3,315	1,735	461	341	97	36,266	100.0	
Total state/territory service users	
Government	21,872	23,929	13,831	10,264	13,671	667	3,563	1,780	89,285	43.7	
Non-government	39,479	64,521	17,704	11,860	12,297	6,241	1,039	663	153,494	75.2	
Total	50,993	77,657	25,012	16,577	21,822	6,356	4,213	2,378	204,226	100.0	
Note: Totals for Australia may not be the sum of service components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one state or territory during the 12-month period.
Table B9: Users of employment services, agency sector, by state and territory, 2010–11
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	Per cent	
Government	—	—	163	29	—	—	—	—	192	0.1	
Non-government	42,266	32,213	26,013	10,604	11,914	3,139	1,578	596	128,132	99.9	
Total	42,266	32,213	26,175	10,631	11,914	3,139	1,578	596	128,321	100.0	
Note: Totals for Australia may not be the sum of service components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one 	state or territory during the 12-month period.

Table B10: Disability support services, characteristics of services accessed, 2010–11

Service use item	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Start date											
Before 1980	127	381	—	—	12	29	25	—	—	574	
1980–1989	212	1,143	n.p.	14	86	90	62	n.p.	—	1,630	
1990–1999	275	6,339	76	4,145	639	706	233	78	—	12,491	
2000	738	1,263	n.p.	1,037	141	177	111	n.p.	—	3,493	
2001	1,362	1,452	25	1,172	151	100	111	23	—	4,396	
2002	1,085	4,469	246	1,192	226	351	137	36	—	7,742	
2003	1,418	3,997	84	1,193	356	131	136	18	28	7,361	
2004	895	4,271	83	1,168	448	182	244	14	136	7,441	
2005	908	4,386	248	1,095	1,084	261	221	19	6,932	15,154	
2006	1,600	5,316	258	1,228	677	309	250	40	5,587	15,265	
2007	2,668	6,689	367	1,266	7,050	301	376	17	1,378	20,112	
2008	4,398	12,298	1,462	2,762	6,217	469	556	30	1,886	30,078	
2009	10,420	18,771	968	2,490	5,575	788	1,059	92	1,955	42,118	
2010	56,733	38,739	38,922	19,805	12,447	2,993	1,495	1,421	90,564	263,119	
2011 (January–June)	19,654	17,775	17,134	2,403	4,205	1,639	657	808	22,090	86,365	
Date of last service 											
July 2010	2,000	3,932	1,829	703	944	323	121	69	2,678	12,599	
August 2010	1,806	3,986	1,697	708	851	345	100	117	2,745	12,355	
September 2010	3,965	6,337	3,153	811	1,071	430	115	99	2,773	18,754	
October 2010	2,050	3,667	2,162	923	1,044	254	137	74	2,604	12,915	
November 2010	2,188	4,362	2,545	1,053	1,117	334	154	97	2,940	14,790	
December 2010	4,746	5,605	3,758	1,493	1,399	427	200	90	3,219	20,937	
January 2011	2,318	4,061	2,225	1,339	1,227	201	139	102	2,768	14,380	
February 2011	2,324	4,648	2,805	1,788	1,399	373	161	153	3,223	16,874	
March 2011	8,820	8,029	6,996	2,281	4,050	990	288	191	3,714	35,359	
April 2011	4,633	5,687	837	3,191	2,295	402	272	292	2,897	20,506	
May 2011	6,040	7,154	4,537	2,908	2,201	694	631	300	3,892	28,357	
June 2011	61,603	69,821	27,339	23,772	21,720	3,753	3,355	1,051	97,103	309,517	
(continued)	

Table B10 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of services accessed, 2010–11

Service use item	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Exit date											
July 2010	703	1,662	273	143	241	123	n.p.	n.p.	2,678	5,882	
August 2010	769	1,623	209	158	275	128	29	—	2,745	5,936	
September 2010	1,039	1,950	353	177	399	142	47	—	2,773	6,880	
October 2010	817	1,399	884	178	431	88	n.p.	n.p.	2,604	6,451	
November 2010	846	2,063	1,081	198	385	110	59	—	2,940	7,682	
December 2010	1,187	2,088	1,112	387	775	129	n.p.	n.p.	3,219	8,994	
January 2011	616	1,958	626	380	652	69	n.p.	n.p.	2,768	7,153	
February 2011	793	1,896	919	248	691	81	n.p.	n.p.	3,223	7,892	
March 2011	1,205	2,268	1,484	230	2,967	437	n.p.	n.p.	3,714	12,379	
April 2011	912	1,964	135	270	1,232	130	121	4	2,897	7,665	
May 2011	1,319	2,299	1,075	260	486	114	93	5	3,892	9,543	
June 2011	4,730	2,969	1,460	299	454	149	180	13	4,242	14,496	
No exit date recorded (did not exit service)	87,557	103,150	50,272	38,042	30,330	6,826	4,749	2,603	92,861	416,390	
Main reason for cessation 
of services	
No longer needs assistance—moved to mainstream services	558	2,797	476	80	159	267	n.p.	n.p.	4,162	8,605	
No longer needs assistance—other reason	1,296	5,118	7,556	1,525	4,496	1,075	351	4	9,434	30,855	
Moved to residential, institutional or supported accommodation setting	387	166	153	106	140	60	n.p.	n.p.	—	1,054	
Needs have increased—other service type required	106	220	91	37	151	25	11	3	2,101	2,745	
Services terminated due to budget/staffing constraints	32	62	32	39	28	39	—	—	5	237	
Services terminated due to occupational health and safety reasons	12	42	11	4	9	4	3	—	—	85	
Service user moved out of area	308	566	236	193	559	41	n.p.	n.p.	4	1,968	
Service user died	379	448	198	184	696	66	14	—	124	2,109	
Service user terminated service	136	1,053	162	133	89	75	n.p.	n.p.	3,730	5,431	
Other reason	10,319	3,583	675	575	2,621	48	288	3	18,135	36,247	
Not stated	1,403	10,084	21	52	40	—	n.p.	n.p.	—	11,617	
(continued)
Table B10 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of services accessed, 2010–11
Number of hours	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
<1 	—	2,204	—	26	61	70	—	—	. .	2,361	
1–11 	4,468	5,875	9,861	5,583	4,476	863	980	126	. .	32,232	
12–23 	2,958	1,025	2,414	1,183	670	444	117	44	. .	8,855	
24–47 	4,142	1,943	1,619	781	883	571	61	35	. .	10,035	
48–71 	588	111	337	291	80	39	28	4	. .	1,478	
72–103 	274	34	165	116	59	22	21	—	. .	691	
104–135 	239	25	143	95	27	n.p.	4	n.p.	. .	538	
136–167 	84	20	68	95	31	n.p.	11	n.p.	. .	317	
168 	128	41	235	230	178	4	25	19	. .	860	
Not stated	—	75,436	213	15,874	17,401	1,109	789	307	. .	111,129	
Notes
1.	Service use data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
2.	Service users accessing recreation/holiday programs (service type 3.02) were not required to report on any service use data items, and so are excluded from this table.
3.	Service users accessing service types 1.01–1.04, 1.08, 2.01–2.05, 2.07, 3.02, 5.01, 5.02, 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04 were not required to report on hours received (reference week), and so are excluded from analysis of this data item in this table.

Table B11: Users of disability support services aged under 65 per 1,000 potential population, service group, by state and territory, 2010–11
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	
Accommodation support(a)	
Number of service users	8,857	13,889	6,551	3,110	3,808	1,186	434	208	38,030	
Potential population	223,863	166,464	144,404	73,306	50,786	16,643	11,051	10,376	696,952	
Service users per 1,000 potential population	39.6	83.4	45.4	42.4	75.0	71.3	39.3	20.0	54.6	
Community support(a)	
Number of service users	34,349	40,426	16,322	13,083	14,921	4,421	3,718	1,326	128,046	
Potential population	223,863	166,464	144,404	73,306	50,786	16,643	11,051	10,376	696,952	
Service users per 1,000 potential population	153.4	242.9	113.0	178.5	293.8	265.6	336.4	127.8	183.7	
Community access(a)	
Number of service users	13,790	18,695	8,984	4,416	4,577	1,490	480	255	52,653	
Potential population	223,863	166,464	144,404	73,306	50,786	16,643	11,051	10,376	696,952	
Service users per 1,000 potential population	61.6	112.3	62.2	60.2	90.1	89.5	43.4	24.6	75.5	
Respite(a)	
Number of service users	9,364	14,479	5,144	3,247	1,675	454	320	97	34,731	
Potential population	121,592	91,375	78,657	40,097	27,021	8,615	6,204	5,870	379,427	
Service users per 1,000 potential population	77.0	158.5	65.4	81.0	62.0	52.7	51.6	16.5	91.5	
Employment(b)	
Number of service users	41,893	31,935	25,979	10,537	11,811	3,121	1,573	591	127,249	
Potential population	129,745	99,692	86,145	43,843	30,484	9,395	7,134	5,521	411,846	
Service users per 1,000 potential population	322.9	320.3	301.6	240.3	387.5	332.2	220.5	107.0	309.0	
(a)	Aged 0–64.
(b)	Aged 15–64.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
2.	Totals for Australia may not be the sum of the components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one state or territory during the 12-month period.
3.	For details about the calculation of potential population, see Appendix A1.7.
4.	The method for calculating potential population is currently under review and may differ in future reports.

Table B12: Disability support services, characteristics of service users, 2010–11
Service user characteristic	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Age group (years)											
0–4	7,103	8,026	1,603	1,135	1,070	1,823	1,002	183	—	21,858	
5–14	12,898	10,197	4,822	5,002	3,773	1,278	1,857	325	43	39,991	
15–17	2,631	2,561	1,490	1,296	1,009	250	124	51	4,787	13,583	
18–24	6,607	8,209	3,379	2,114	2,075	467	265	136	24,087	42,501	
25–44	10,407	20,042	6,931	3,626	4,469	1,056	580	453	52,186	91,481	
45–59 	7,644	14,574	5,010	2,292	4,331	1,004	295	433	38,858	70,052	
60–64 	1,704	3,420	1,003	541	1,415	241	41	164	7,331	15,364	
65–74	1,385	3,703	560	431	1,334	190	27	339	1,009	8,808	
75–84	480	3,266	149	113	1,014	42	15	229	20	5,320	
85+	134	3,659	65	27	1,332	5	7	65	—	5,294	
Not stated	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	
Median age	20.0	35.0	28.0	20.0	39.0	15.0	8.0	47.0	38.0	34.0	
Sex											
Male	31,692	43,358	14,634	10,212	12,221	3,885	2,767	1,202	78,043	186,402	
Female	19,282	34,150	10,374	6,359	9,601	2,471	1,446	1,176	50,278	127,672	
Not stated	19	149	4	6	—	—	—	—	—	178	
Indigenous status											
Aboriginal	3,264	1,702	1,341	1,450	860	172	136	1,690	4,993	14,765	
Torres Strait Islander	69	85	184	19	19	7	7	6	230	591	
Indigenous	254	326	206	307	78	20	18	5	193	1,221	
Not Indigenous	45,255	63,565	22,345	14,201	20,149	5,993	3,901	561	122,460	280,434	
Not stated	2,143	11,490	664	501	81	28	129	48	445	15,512	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	8	489	272	99	635	136	22	68	—	1,729	
Country of birth											
Australia	45,657	58,045	22,363	14,969	18,732	6,080	3,810	2,177	103,377	257,741	
English Proficiency Group 1(a)	867	2,373	926	543	1,157	64	55	31	7,205	12,539	
English Proficiency Group 2(a)	950	2,093	390	275	462	42	89	22	5,249	9,172	
English Proficiency Group 3(a)	1,244	2,952	243	199	696	n.p.	73	n.p.	8,299	13,316	
English Proficiency Group 4(a)	204	686	44	31	94	n.p.	12	n.p.	3,365	4,367	
Not stated or not specified	1,501	11,018	738	440	46	—	152	64	826	14,768	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	570	490	308	120	635	136	22	68	—	2,349	
(continued)	

Table B12 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of service users, 2010–11

Service user characteristic	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Need for interpreter services	
For spoken language other than English	1,060	1,325	568	533	457	68	66	281	6,967	10,911	
For non-spoken communication	2,726	598	2,056	932	759	276	138	74	1,217	7,939	
Does not need an interpreter	44,350	52,113	20,972	15,018	19,913	5,876	3,836	1,040	120,017	265,336	
Not stated	2,274	23,124	1,118	94	58	—	151	983	120	27,895	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	583	497	298	—	635	136	22	—	—	2,171	
Method of communication											
Spoken language (effective)	22,531	33,897	15,590	11,585	15,200	3,296	2,127	916	87,544	177,279	
Sign language (effective) 	736	3,968	409	288	274	39	14	24	1,070	6,285	
Other effective non-spoken 
communication	870	2,481	821	552	308	109	50	37	367	5,224	
Little, or no, effective communication	12,904	6,593	5,353	1,832	3,823	899	925	210	2,711	32,935	
Child aged under 5
(not applicable)	7,103	8,027	1,603	1,135	1,070	1,823	1,000	183	—	21,857	
Not stated	6,128	21,735	931	1,040	490	5	71	928	36,629(b)	67,649	
Not collected(c)	108	462	11	24	28	50	5	12	—	648	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	613	494	294	121	629	135	21	68	—	2,375	
Living arrangements											
Lives alone	2,951	9,189	2,974	1,304	3,620	596	195	116	41,393	59,223	
Lives with family	34,660	41,030	15,482	12,285	12,887	4,368	3,382	937	35,890	150,754	
Lives with others	10,212	14,659	5,479	2,223	4,331	1,253	480	310	37,460	70,777	
Not stated	2,594	12,284	780	661	349	3	134	947	13,578	31,165	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	576	495	297	104	635	136	22	68	—	2,333	
Residential setting											
Private residence	36,445	45,068	18,609	13,785	16,407	5,013	3,583	437	99,771	225,036	
Residence within an 
Aboriginal community	426	177	264	227	171	3	n.p.	546	45	1,768	
Domestic-scale supported living facility	4,178	6,459	1,466	1,158	1,196	563	286	120	4,180	17,308	
Supported accommodation facility	3,306	2,041	1,707	335	1,305	518	106	106	1,718	9,782	
Boarding house/private hotel	964	676	173	38	46	11	9	n.p.	14,239	15,591	
Independent unit within a retirement village	38	161	75	40	280	6	4	n.p.	64	640	
Residential aged care facility	319	484	142	70	935	42	9	5	115	2,085	
Psychiatric/mental health community care facility	30	1,101	191	14	34	13	n.p.	5	269	1,445	
(continued)	
Table B12 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of service users, 2010–11 

Service user characteristic	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Hospital	59	70	258	52	41	10	4	n.p.	40	518	
Short-term crisis, emergency, transitional accommodation	98	1,624	207	40	85	18	12	6	151	2,096	
Public place/temporary shelter	29	104	39	8	17	n.p.	3	n.p.	29	209	
Other	764	892	777	59	205	19	8	111	72	2,902	
Not stated	3,761	18,301	805	651	465	n.p.	163	965	7,628	32,536	
Not collected (recreation/holiday programs)	576	499	299	100	635	136	22	69	—	2,336	
Primary disability group											
Intellectual 	22,072	18,699	9,567	9,637	7,935	1,833	964	298	27,328	86,614	
Specific learning/ADD	1,150	471	178	112	23	364	193	22	9,586	11,795	
Autism	5,161	4,133	3,490	1,933	1,779	358	522	34	1,411	17,820	
Physical	4,323	4,409	4,065	1,947	2,806	1,350	529	572	29,733	48,524	
Acquired brain injury	1,521	3,399	1,182	515	2,156	452	73	76	3,204	11,889	
Neurological	2,299	4,882	1,892	838	1,759	400	133	119	5,257	16,831	
Deaf–blind	168	571	45	47	23	3	n.p.	5	263	1,010	
Vision	1,250	8,493	314	311	3,222	28	n.p.	75	2,935	15,982	
Hearing	542	2,506	183	493	327	22	20	21	3,159	7,042	
Speech	1,527	465	90	38	71	461	762	32	400	3,824	
Psychiatric(d)	1,401	14,305	2,457	41	363	141	37	20	42,945	59,414	
Developmental delay	4,333	2,781	872	370	647	808	837	17	—	10,615	
Not stated	4,596	12,058	422	249	76	—	104	1,018	2,100	20,594	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	650	485	255	46	635	136	22	69	—	2,298	
Other significant disability 
groups 	
Intellectual 	3,264	5,468	3,312	397	1,055	387	320	97	2,489	14,868	
Specific learning/ADD	1,904	4,575	1,578	786	630	168	272	27	7,661	15,180	
Autism	2,731	5,303	1,667	773	1,415	257	224	27	2,362	13,247	
Physical	6,127	8,604	4,622	1,205	3,598	895	480	176	18,949	41,135	
Acquired brain injury	689	4,265	981	174	436	78	79	25	2,006	7,978	
Neurological	5,066	7,576	3,835	1,407	2,192	507	424	137	8,495	26,680	
Deaf–blind	877	2,499	125	76	81	28	35	n.p.	352	3,805	
Vision	2,895	3,140	2,073	654	1,165	240	237	66	3,744	12,816	
Hearing	916	1,562	1,242	416	1,571	142	154	69	3,450	8,538	
Speech	7,143	8,371	5,073	1,563	2,251	733	907	185	2,935	26,916	
Psychiatric	3,125	6,029	1,784	733	1,633	335	247	30	17,268	28,414	
Developmental delay	791	366	399	183	151	24	83	n.p.	—	1,969	
(continued)	

Table B12 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of service users, 2010–11

Service user characteristic	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Income source											
Carer Allowance (child)(e)											
Yes	7,067	4,679	3,677	4,110	3,930	788	305	35	41	24,408	
No	3,363	690	630	432	658	2,129	838	60	187	8,951	
Not known	7,114	154	1,351	1,284	258	226	998	203	4	11,553	
Not stated	3,152	13,437	962	695	142	—	743	206	346	19,640	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	164	88	241	56	184	45	18	26	—	822	
Main income source: 
adult aged 16+											
Disability Support Pension	21,391	26,577	14,149	7,487	10,933	2,715	1,023	569	63,863	132,139	
Other pension/benefit	778	3,900	878	271	720	109	46	316	36,149	42,492	
Paid employment	469	1,353	353	346	474	93	65	27	6,859	9,311	
Compensation payments	114	159	45	24	144	25	4	5	331	821	
Other income	200	684	181	76	310	42	9	22	1,598	2,991	
No income	536	864	381	500	158	65	10	12	79	2,498	
Not known	1,836	18	675	496	3,537	21	108	94	417	7,054	
Not stated	4,285	24,545	1,338	683	67	1	37	759	18,395	49,789	
Not collected(c)	77	84	53	4	6	6	5	—	52	260	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	447	425	98	113	301	91	4	44	—	1,523	
Labour force status (ages 15+)											
Employed	5,599	6,344	2,538	3,565	3,213	509	379	102	66,919	75,155	
Unemployed	5,042	7,354	2,979	1,603	1,504	345	203	90	61,359	76,043	
Not in the labour force	14,922	23,437	11,428	4,609	11,839	2,294	662	342	—	69,214	
Not stated	4,808	21,781	1,461	511	100	1	106	1,285	—	30,077	
Not collected(c)	112	83	57	5	4	11	—	4	—	234	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	509	434	124	147	319	95	4	47	—	1,679	
(a)	See ‘Glossary’ for definition of English proficiency grouping.
(b)	Data for method of communication were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
(c)	Includes service users for whom support needs information was required but not collected due to the service users’ age at the time of their last service date.
(d)	Use caution when comparing the number of Victorian service users with a primary disability of psychiatric data in 2009–10 with numbers for previous years. Between 2005–06 and 2008–09, all PDRSS clients in Victoria were deemed, for the purposes of the DS NMDS, to have a primary disability of psychiatric. From 2009–10 the primary disability of PDRSS clients in Victoria was self-reported.
(e)	Service user is aged under 16 and carer is in receipt of the Carer Allowance (child).
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Row totals may not be the sum of components because service users may have accessed services in more than one state/territory. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
4.	‘Not collected’ (recreation/holiday program service users) is a count of service users who accessed only services from this service type and did not provide a response for that particular data item.
5.	Service users with missing age who responded ‘Child aged under 5 years (not applicable)’ to the communication method data item were included in the 0–4 age group.
6.	Service types 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04 did not collect service user data, and so are excluded from this table.
7.	The higher levels of ‘not stated/not known’ on some data items for the Australian Capital Territory reflect, in part, the more limited data collection for some services within agencies.

Table B13: Users of disability support services, service type, by state and territory, 2010–11
Service type	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
Accommodation support										
Large residential facilities/institutions	1,377	173	316	195	599	122	—	—	2,782	
Small residential facilities/institutions	114	73	468	101	36	20	—	—	812	
Hostels	70	176	—	45	15	87	—	—	393	
Group homes	4,713	5,026	1,880	1,554	1,100	505	220	138	15,130	
Attendant care/personal care	858	—	552	280	934	131	10	10	2,775	
In-home accommodation support	2,005	9,684	4,545	1,175	3,028	454	191	51	21,129	
Alternative family placement	122	—	42	20	88	—	—	15	287	
Other accommodation	629	714	306	144	21	n.p.	92	—	1,908	
Total accommodation support	9,487	15,486	6,899	3,308	5,468	1,280	454	211	42,579	
Percentage of column total	10.7	14.7	14.2	13.6	17.6	14.1	8.2	7.3	13.6	
Community support										
Therapy support for individuals	5,774	15,318	2,641	4,923	4,105	133	1,637	1,733	36,226	
Early childhood intervention	8,243	11,347	2,404	1,509	1,145	—	1,412	58	26,060	
Behaviour/specialist intervention	2,041	1,700	1,498	1,674	1,050	—	136	3	8,100	
Counselling (individual/family/group)	—	—	772	138	1,626	—	7	4	2,547	
Resource teams/regional teams	18,296	—	58	620	2,223	3,281	—	—	24,473	
Case management, local coordination and development	6,194	28,608	13,539	9,486	11,300	1,318	770	208	71,254	
Other community support	1,974	353	283	1,117	1,251	158	75	13	5,224	
Total community support	35,479	48,219	16,653	13,385	16,727	4,527	3,733	1,956	140,156	
Percentage of column total	39.9	45.8	34.4	55.0	53.9	49.7	67.6	67.3	44.7	
Community access										
Learning and life skills development	12,408	15,004	8,149	2,433	4,655	1,329	397	109	44,461	
Recreation/holiday programs	2,188	1,143	1,396	2,171	2,639	324	69	100	10,030	
Other community access, day programs	496	7,425	186	719	474	—	39	54	9,393	
Total community access	14,490	23,052	9,334	4,630	6,719	1,579	486	255	60,509	
Percentage of column total	16.3	21.9	19.3	19.0	21.6	17.4	8.8	8.8	19.3	
Respite										
Own home respite	13	1,354	747	1,030	350	79	32	n.p.	3,607	
Centre-based respite/respite homes	4,210	5,275	2,708	966	864	295	220	36	14,556	
Host family/peer support respite	286	827	47	—	177	9	n.p.	13	1,360	
Flexible/combination respite	6,572	9,461	2,829	1,766	372	142	123	47	21,300	
Other respite	—	1,112	272	359	256	—	—	n.p.	2,001	
Total respite	9,499	15,676	5,191	3,315	1,735	461	341	97	36,266	
Percentage of column total	10.7	14.9	10.7	13.6	5.6	5.1	6.2	3.3	11.5	
(continued)
Table B13 (continued): Users of disability support services, service type, by state and territory, 2010–11
Service type	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
Employment										
Open employment services	35,039	27,630	23,452	8,408	9,117	2,577	1,290	493	107,942	
Supported employment services	7,602	4,882	2,870	2,346	2,933	587	294	114	21,573	
Total employment	42,266	32,213	26,175	10,631	11,914	3,139	1,578	596	128,321	
Percentage of column total	47.6	30.6	54.0	43.7	38.4	34.5	28.6	20.5	40.9	
Total	88,822	105,309	48,478	24,344	31,052	9,100	5,523	2,908	314,252	
Notes 
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Totals for Australia may not be the sum of service components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one state or territory during the 12-month period. 
3.	Service group totals may not be the sum of service components because individuals may have accessed more than one service type outlet from a service group over the 12-month period. 
4.	Grand totals may not be the sum of the service group components because individuals may have accessed more than one service group over the 12-month period. 
Table B14: Characteristics of users of disability support services, by Indigenous status, 2010–11

Service user characteristic	Indigenous		Non-Indigenous		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Age group (years)												
0–4	1,355	8.2		19,611	7.0		892	5.2		21,858	7.0	
5–14	2,883	17.4		34,525	12.3		2,583	15.0		39,991	12.7	
15–24	3,885	23.4		49,429	17.6		2,770	16.1		56,084	17.8	
25–44	4,581	27.6		82,562	29.4		4,338	25.2		91,481	29.1	
45–54 	1,968	11.9		46,061	16.4		1,999	11.6		50,028	15.9	
55–64 	1,174	7.1		32,489	11.6		1,725	10.0		35,388	11.3	
65+	731	4.4		15,757	5.6		2,934	17.0		19,422	6.2	
Median age	25.0	. .		34.0	. .		35.0	. .		33.0	. .	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		17,241	100.0		314,252	100.0	
Sex												
Male	9,944	60.0		167,256	59.6		9,202	53.4		186,402	59.3	
Female	6,633	40.0		113,116	40.3		7,923	46.0		127,672	40.6	
Not stated	—	—		62	—		116	0.7		178	0.1	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		17,241	100.0		314,252	100.0	
Living arrangements												
Lives alone	2,393	14.4		55,638	19.8		1,192	6.9		59,223	18.8	
Lives with family	8,606	51.9		137,691	49.1		4,457	25.9		150,754	48.0	
Lives with others	3,911	23.6		65,438	23.3		1,428	8.3		70,777	22.5	
Not stated/not collected	1,667	10.1		21,667	7.7		10,164	59.0		33,498	10.7	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		17,241	100.0		314,252	100.0	
Residential setting												
Private residence	10,755	64.9		210,073	74.9		4,208	24.4		225,036	71.6	
Aboriginal community	1,130	6.8		592	0.2		46	0.3		1,768	0.6	
Domestic-scale supported living facility	885	5.3		16,051	5.7		372	2.2		17,308	5.5	
Supported accommodation facility	446	2.7		9,147	3.3		189	1.1		9,782	3.1	
Short-term crisis, emergency, transitional accommodation	39	0.2		460	0.2		19	0.1		518	0.2	
Other	1,413	8.5		23,035	8.2		520	3.0		24,968	7.9	
Not stated/not collected	1,909	11.5		21,076	7.5		11,887	68.9		34,872	11.1	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		17,241	100.0		314,252	100.0	
(continued) 
Table B14 (continued): Characteristics of users of disability support services, by Indigenous status, 2010–11

Service user characteristic	Indigenous		Non-Indigenous		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Remoteness area												
Major cities	6,005	36.2		181,620	64.8		10,256	59.5		197,881	63.0	
Inner regional	4,150	25.0		65,837	23.5		3,441	20.0		73,428	23.4	
Outer regional	2,892	17.4		24,218	8.6		1,072	6.2		28,183	9.0	
Remote	1,045	6.3		2,304	0.8		73	0.4		3,422	1.1	
Very remote	1,262	7.6		572	0.2		14	0.1		1,848	0.6	
Not stated/not collected	1,223	7.4		5,883	2.1		2,385	13.8		9,490	3.0	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		17,241	100.0		314,252	100.0	
Use of services by service group											
Accommodation support	2,331	14.1		38,070	13.6		2,178	12.6		42,579	13.5	
Community support	9,486	57.2		122,599	43.7		8,071	46.8		140,156	44.6	
Community access	2,403	14.5		51,724	18.4		6,382	37.0		60,509	19.3	
Respite	2,011	12.1		32,124	11.5		2,131	12.4		36,266	11.5	
Employment	5,416	32.7		122,460	43.7		445	2.6		128,321	40.8	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		17,241	100.0		314,252	100.0	
Primary disability group												
Intellectual 	5,168	31.2		79,767	28.4		1,679	9.7		86,614	27.6	
Specific learning/ADD	792	4.8		10,849	3.9		154	0.9		11,795	3.8	
Autism	726	4.4		16,580	5.9		514	3.0		17,820	5.7	
Physical	2,670	16.1		44,977	16.0		877	5.1		48,524	15.4	
Acquired brain injury	814	4.9		10,703	3.8		372	2.2		11,889	3.8	
Neurological	588	3.5		15,612	5.6		631	3.7		16,831	5.4	
Deaf–blind	39	0.2		926	0.3		45	0.3		1,010	0.3	
Vision	347	2.1		13,494	4.8		2,141	12.4		15,982	5.1	
Hearing	286	1.7		5,227	1.9		1,529	8.9		7,042	2.2	
Speech	270	1.6		3,361	1.2		193	1.1		3,824	1.2	
Psychiatric	2,641	15.9		54,116	19.3		2,657	15.4		59,414	18.9	
Developmental delay	761	4.6		9,450	3.4		404	2.3		10,615	3.4	
Not stated/not collected	1,475	8.9		15,372	5.5		6,045	35.1		22,892	7.3	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		17,241	100.0		314,252	100.0	
(continued)
Table B14 (continued): Characteristics of users of disability support services, by Indigenous status, 2010–11

Service user characteristic	Indigenous		Non-Indigenous		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Other significant disability 
groups											
Intellectual 	6,089	36.7		93,448	33.3		1,945	11.3		101,482	32.3	
Specific learning/ADD	1,703	10.3		24,910	8.9		362	2.1		26,975	8.6	
Autism	1,342	8.1		29,025	10.4		700	4.1		31,067	9.9	
Physical	4,629	27.9		83,558	29.8		1,472	8.5		89,659	28.5	
Acquired brain injury	1,308	7.9		17,988	6.4		571	3.3		19,867	6.3	
Neurological	1,976	11.9		40,565	14.5		970	5.6		43,511	13.8	
Deaf–blind	221	1.3		4,481	1.6		113	0.7		4,815	1.5	
Vision	1,045	6.3		25,469	9.1		2,284	13.2		28,798	9.2	
Hearing	821	5.0		13,162	4.7		1,597	9.3		15,580	5.0	
Speech	1,877	11.3		27,979	10.0		884	5.1		30,740	9.8	
Psychiatric	3,997	24.1		80,992	28.9		2,839	16.5		87,828	27.9	
Developmental delay	906	5.5		11,237	4.0		441	2.6		12,584	4.0	
Not stated/not collected	—	—		—	—		—	—		—	—	
Mean number of disability groups	1.7	. .		1.7	. .		1.3	. .		1.7	. .	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		17,241	100.0		314,252	100.0	
Main income source (ages 16+)												
Disability Support Pension	6,660	55.3		123,907	55.5		1,572	11.6		132,139	53.1	
Other pension/benefit	2,409	20.0		39,935	17.9		148	1.1		42,492	17.1	
Paid employment	233	1.9		9,021	4.0		57	0.4		9,311	3.7	
Compensation payments	34	0.3		777	0.3		10	0.1		821	0.3	
Other income	72	0.6		2,898	1.3		21	0.2		2,991	1.2	
No income	192	1.6		2,281	1.0		25	0.2		2,498	1.0	
Not known/not stated/not collected	2,449	20.3		44,473	19.9		11,704	86.5		58,626	23.6	
Total	12,049	100.0		223,292	100.0		13,537	100.0		248,878	100.0	
Labour force status (ages 15+)												
Employed	2,656	21.5		71,936	31.8		563	4.1		75,155	29.8	
Unemployed	4,093	33.2		71,532	31.6		418	3.0		76,043	30.1	
Not in the labour force	3,684	29.9		64,141	28.3		1,389	10.1		69,214	27.4	
Not stated	1,903	15.4		18,065	8.0		10,344	75.1		30,312	12.0	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	3	—		624	0.3		1,052	7.6		1,679	0.7	
Total	12,339	100.0		226,298	100.0		13,766	100.0		252,403	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Row totals may not be the sum of components because service users may have accessed services in more than one state/territory. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
4.	Service types 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04 did not collect service user data, and so are excluded from this table.

Table B15: Users of disability support services aged 0–64 per 1,000 potential population, Indigenous status, by and state and territory, 2010–11

	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	
Service users (aged 0–64)	
Indigenous 	5,362	2,329	3,009	2,128	1,177	375	190	1,414	15,846	
Non-Indigenous	78,871	82,623	43,597	21,015	25,546	8,294	5,124	741	264,677	
Not stated/not collected	2,291	9,486	930	568	581	182	156	116	14,307	
Total	86,524	94,438	47,536	23,711	27,304	8,851	5,470	2,271	294,830	
Potential population
(aged 0–64)	
Indigenous 	12,282	2,821	8,232	4,503	1,799	1,242	323	3,146	34,349	
Non-Indigenous	212,350	168,445	133,998	67,978	49,472	15,026	10,937	4,396	662,602	
Service users per 
1,000 potential 
population (aged 0–64)	
Indigenous 	436.6	825.5	365.5	472.6	654.2	301.9	587.6	449.4	461.3	
Non-Indigenous	371.4	490.5	325.4	309.1	516.4	552.0	468.5	168.6	399.5	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Totals for Australia may not be the sum of components because individuals may have accessed services in more than one state or territory during the 12-month period.
3.	The Indigenous potential population is calculated by applying adjusted 10-year age–sex specific rates of severe/profound core activity limitation (from SDAC 2009 and the 2006 Census of Population and Housing) to the Indigenous population at 30 June 2010.
4.	Indigenous population figures are based on ABS Series B projections of the Indigenous population by state/territory for June 2010 
(ABS 2009).

Table B16: Users of disability support services, primary disability group, by English Proficiency Group, 2010–11 (per cent)
Primary disability type	Australia	English Proficiency Group 1	English Proficiency Group 2	English Proficiency Group 3	English Proficiency Group 4	Not stated/ not 
collected	Total	
Intellectual 	31.3	13.1	15.0	12.2	8.3	5.5	27.6	
Specific learning/ADD	4.2	2.6	2.0	1.4	0.6	0.8	3.8	
Autism	6.5	2.6	2.9	1.5	1.0	1.8	5.7	
Physical	14.0	21.7	26.5	32.9	48.3	5.2	15.4	
Acquired brain injury	3.8	5.6	4.3	3.9	3.5	2.1	3.8	
Neurological	5.2	9.1	6.6	6.1	3.3	4.2	5.4	
Deaf–blind	0.3	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.3	
Vision	4.3	10.4	9.2	8.5	3.8	9.2	5.1	
Hearing	1.7	2.3	3.1	2.7	2.4	8.9	2.2	
Speech	1.4	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.7	1.2	
Psychiatric	17.8	28.5	25.7	27.4	26.4	16.0	18.9	
Developmental delay	4.0	0.4	0.7	0.3	0.1	1.1	3.4	
Not stated/not collected	5.6	2.8	3.0	2.4	1.7	44.1	7.3	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Total number	257,741	12,539	9,172	13,316	4,367	17,117	314,252	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one 
service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom primary disability and country of birth data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.

Table B17: Users of disability support services aged 15–64, labour force status, 2005–06 to 2010–11
	Employed		Unemployed		Not in the labour force		Subtotal(a)		Not stated/not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent(b)		Number	Per cent(b)		Number	Per cent(b) 		Number		Number		Number	
2005–06	50,905	32.2		39,650	25.1		51,769	32.7		142,324		15,863		158,187	
2006–07	57,250	33.6		40,622	23.8		51,803	30.4		149,675		20,933		170,608	
2007–08	64,005	34.8		45,977	25.0		58,196	31.6		168,178		15,825		184,003	
2008–09	64,708	31.4		62,297	30.2		58,763	28.5		185,768		20,628		206,396	
2009–10	62,002	28.3		77,351	35.3		60,183	27.4		199,536		19,806		219,342	
2010–11	74,111	31.8		75,027	32.2		60,211	25.8		209,349		23,632		232,981	
(a)	Subtotal excludes ‘not stated’/missing values. For further information, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).
(b)	Proportions based on total, which includes ‘not stated’/missing values.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Total for all service groups may not be the sum of components because individuals may have accessed services from more than one service group over the 12-month period. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3).
4.	Only those aged 15 and over were asked to respond about labour force status. Includes those NDA service users in this age group or service users whose age was unknown but where a response was provided about labour force status.
5.	See AIHW 2011a for full definitions of ‘employed’, ‘unemployed’ and ‘not in the labour force’.
6.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom primary disability and labour force status data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.
7.	Linkage processes (to get unique service user counts) from 2007–08 have changed from those in previous years. For further information, see Chapter 1 in Disability support services 2008–09 (AIHW 2011b).

Table B18: Users of disability support services aged 16 and over, main income source, by primary disability group, 2010–11 (per cent)
Broad primary 
disability group	Disability Support Pension	Other pension or benefit	Paid employment	Compensation payments	Other income	Nil income	Subtotal(a)	Not stated/
not collected	Total	
	Number	
Intellectual/learning	65,171	5,385	2,428	64	276	1,388	74,712	12,529	87,241	
Physical/diverse	32,106	16,406	3,436	590	1,577	784	54,899	13,197	68,096	
Sensory/speech	4,347	2,563	994	27	311	94	8,336	13,633	21,969	
Psychiatric	28,749	17,572	2,273	131	780	180	49,685	9,442	59,127	
Not stated/not collected	1,766	566	180	9	47	52	2,620	9,825	12,445	
Total	132,139	42,492	9,311	821	2,991	2,498	190,252	58,626	248,878	
	Per cent(b)	
Intellectual/learning	74.7	6.2	2.8	0.1	0.3	1.6	85.7	14.4	100.0	
Physical/diverse	47.1	24.1	5.0	0.9	2.3	1.2	80.6	19.4	100.0	
Sensory/speech	19.8	11.7	4.5	0.1	1.4	0.4	37.9	62.1	100.0	
Psychiatric	48.6	29.7	3.8	0.2	1.3	0.3	83.9	16.0	100.0	
Not stated/not collected	14.2	4.5	1.4	0.1	0.4	0.4	21.0	78.9	100.0	
Total	53.1	17.1	3.7	0.3	1.2	1.0	76.4	23.6	100.0	
Percentage of valid responses	69.5	22.3	4.9	0.4	1.6	1.3	100.0	. .	. .	
(a)	Subtotal excludes data where main income was ‘not stated/not collected’.
(b)	Proportions based on total including ‘not stated’/missing values.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3).
3.	Only those aged 16 and over were asked to respond about income other than Carer Allowance. Adults include those NDA service users in this age group or service users whose age was unknown but where a response was provided about income sources other than the Carer Allowance. 
4.	Service users of unknown age and income source were not included in this table.
5.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom primary disability and income data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.

Table B19: Users of disability support services, new users, by service type, 2010–11
Service type	New users	Total users	Percentage new users	
Accommodation support				
Large residential facilities/institutions	44	2,782	1.6	
Small residential facilities/institutions	22	812	2.7	
Hostels	27	393	6.9	
Group homes	515	15,130	3.4	
Attendant care/personal care	264	2,775	9.5	
In-home accommodation support	3,464	21,129	16.4	
Alternative family placement	17	287	5.9	
Other accommodation support	482	1,908	25.3	
Total accommodation support	4,721	42,579	11.1	
Community support				
Therapy support for individuals	7,755	36,226	21.4	
Early childhood intervention	10,571	26,060	40.6	
Behaviour/specialist intervention	811	8,100	10.0	
Counselling (individual/family/group)	922	2,547	36.2	
Regional resource and support teams	3,971	24,473	16.2	
Case management, local coordination and development	12,754	71,254	17.9	
Other community support	987	5,224	18.9	
Total community support	33,243	140,156	23.7	
Community access				
Learning and life skills development	6,810	44,461	15.3	
Recreation/holiday programs	1,265	10,030	12.6	
Other community access	1,681	9,393	17.9	
Total community access	9,578	60,509	15.8	
Respite				
Own home respite	241	3,607	6.7	
Centre-based respite/respite homes	1,092	14,556	7.5	
Host family respite/peer support respite	120	1,360	8.8	
Flexible respite	2,962	21,300	13.9	
Other respite	422	2,001	21.1	
Total respite	4,651	36,266	12.8	
Employment				
Open employment	33,557	107,942	31.1	
Supported employment	823	21,573	3.8	
Total employment	34,287	128,321	26.7	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period, and totals may not be the sum of components.
2.	The calculation of continuing service users takes into account users who exit a service but then return in a later collection period.

Table B20: Users of disability support services, new users, by service type and state and territory, 2010–11
Service type	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
Accommodation support										
Institutional accommodation	22	17	9	19	17	9	—	—	93	
Group homes	98	319	41	14	16	n.p.	8	18	515	
Other	457	2,498	443	91	608	33	20	8	4,158	
Total accommodation support	564	2,828	475	119	638	43	28	26	4,721	
Community support										
Therapy support for individuals	1,248	4,254	204	211	475	36	294	1,423	7,755	
Early childhood intervention	4,167	5,860	648	457	333	—	671	26	10,571	
Behaviour/specialist intervention	141	275	71	238	92	—	9	n.p.	811	
Counselling (individual/family/group)	—	—	47	24	888	—	—	3	922	
Regional resource and support teams	3,474	—	n.p.	309	194	1,612	—	—	3,971	
Case management, local coordination and development	1,734	6,649	5,613	1,243	691	307	152	78	12,754	
Other community support	544	135	55	138	68	48	9	9	987	
Total community support	8,224	13,012	3,665	1,633	2,202	1,982	1,127	1,429	33,243	
Community access										
Learning and life skills development	1,043	4,260	654	39	1,015	121	45	15	6,810	
Recreation/holiday programs	165	297	138	217	371	53	11	34	1,265	
Other community access	23	1,625	37	12	8	—	—	23	1,681	
Total community access	1,195	5,898	782	261	1,141	174	55	72	9,578	
Respite										
Own home respite	—	168	34	11	9	3	18	—	241	
Centre-based respite/respite homes	249	564	207	84	49	31	18	5	1,092	
Host family respite/peer support respite	36	75	3	—	4	n.p.	—	n.p.	120	
Flexible respite	749	1,796	239	199	26	29	13	23	2,962	
Other respite	—	322	40	56	4	—	—	—	422	
Total respite	933	2,760	415	316	90	65	43	29	4,651	
Employment										
Open employment	11,748	8,197	7,336	2,253	2,777	829	318	175	33,557	
Supported employment	364	160	107	39	115	30	n.p.	15	823	
Total employment	12,052	8,326	7,415	2,282	2,875	854	320	189	34,287	
Total	22,509	29,573	12,145	4,484	6,121	3,067	1,541	1,731	81,171	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period, and totals may not be the sum of components.
2.	The calculation of continuing service users takes into account users who exit a service but then return in a later collection period.

Table B21: Users of disability support services, new service users’ frequency of need for assistance with ADL, by service group, 2010–11
Service group	Always or unable to do	Sometimes	None, but 
uses aids	None	Not applicable/
not stated(a)	Total	
Accommodation	668	1,535	277	817	1,424	4,721	
Community support	6,453	7,009	763	1,708	17,310	33,243	
Community access	788	2,293	629	1,352	4,516	9,578	
Respite	1,117	1,406	71	313	1,744	4,651	
Employment	121	637	38	393	33,098	34,287	
(a)	Data for frequency of support needed in areas of ADL were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
2.	The number of new service users in 2010–11 is the count of unique statistical linkage keys that appeared for the first time in the 2010–11 collection.
3.	The calculation of continuing service users takes into account users who exit a service but then return in a later collection period.
Table B22: Users of disability support services, new and continuing users, by age group, 2010–11
Age group (years)	New users		Continuing users	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
0–4	11,927	14.7		9,931	4.3	
5–14	7,982	9.8		32,009	13.7	
15–24	13,865	17.1		42,219	18.1	
25–44	18,931	23.3		72,550	31.1	
45–64	21,871	27.0		63,545	27.3	
65+	6,520	8.0		12,902	5.5	
Total	81,096	100.0		233,156	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period 
2.	The number of new service users in 2010–11 is the count of unique statistical linkage keys that appeared for the first time in the 2010–11 collection.
3.	The calculation of continuing service users takes into account users who exit a service but then return in a later collection period.

Table B23: Users of disability support services, new users, age group, by state and territory, 
2010–11 (per cent)
Age group (years)	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
0–4	17.1	14.9	6.0	13.1	7.5	39.5	35.6	8.4	14.7	
5–14	9.7	7.3	10.1	15.4	10.0	15.6	29.8	11.7	9.8	
15–24	20.3	13.5	23.4	15.1	17.7	15.3	9.7	6.8	17.1	
25–44	22.0	24.7	27.2	26.8	21.1	13.0	14.2	16.2	23.3	
45–64	28.3	26.1	31.8	26.7	27.4	14.8	9.1	27.7	27.0	
65+	2.6	13.6	1.6	3.0	16.4	1.8	1.6	29.2	8.0	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period 
2.	The number of new service users in 2010–11 is the count of unique statistical linkage keys that appeared for the first time in the 2010–11 collection.
Table B24: Users of disability support services, by primary and any significant disability, 2010–11
Disability group	Number primary disability	Percentage 
of all service users	Number significant
 other disability	Percentage
 of all service users	Total number disability group	Percentage 
of all service users	
Intellectual 	86,614	27.6	14,868	4.7	101,482	32.3	
Specific learning/ADD	11,795	3.8	15,180	4.8	26,975	8.6	
Autism	17,820	5.7	13,247	4.2	31,067	9.9	
Physical	48,524	15.4	41,135	13.1	89,659	28.5	
Acquired brain injury 	11,889	3.8	7,978	2.5	19,867	6.3	
Neurological	16,831	5.4	26,680	8.5	43,511	13.8	
Deaf–blind	1,010	0.3	3,805	1.2	4,815	1.5	
Vision	15,982	5.1	12,816	4.1	28,798	9.2	
Hearing 	7,042	2.2	8,538	2.7	15,580	5.0	
Speech	3,824	1.2	26,916	8.6	30,740	9.8	
Psychiatric	59,414	18.9	28,414	9.0	87,828	27.9	
Developmental delay	10,615	3.4	1,969	0.6	12,584	4.0	
Not stated/not collected	22,892	7.3	. .	. .	22,892	7.3	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom disability data were not collected (see Appendix B: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.

Table B25: Support needs of disability support services users, 2010–11

Support needs	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Support needed: self-care	
Always	15,729	10,091	9,432	6,474	7,146	2,612	863	375	2,909	53,214	
Sometimes	16,989	15,446	8,226	6,427	7,470	2,353	1,614	424	12,751	63,679	
None, but uses aids	1,064	1,084	513	367	1,943	134	67	186	715	5,502	
None 	6,711	15,096	4,241	2,023	4,288	1,113	1,377	136	73,466	101,112	
Not stated(a)	9,905	35,441	2,277	1,060	340	8	270	1,189	38,480	88,241	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	595	499	323	226	635	136	22	68	—	2,504	
Support needed: mobility	
Always 	9,691	7,671	6,865	4,394	5,756	2,236	600	316	3,168	38,646	
Sometimes	12,952	13,632	7,081	4,738	7,401	2,027	1,197	341	13,732	57,243	
None, but uses aids	2,229	2,339	1,138	941	2,850	253	112	243	1,201	10,352	
None 	15,718	19,127	7,168	5,225	4,841	1,699	2,020	151	73,026	119,401	
Not stated(a)	9,808	34,389	2,439	1,053	339	5	262	1,259	37,194	86,108	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	595	499	321	226	635	136	22	68	—	2,502	
Support needed: communication	
Always 	13,746	7,967	7,790	5,184	5,793	2,237	765	280	4,873	46,362	
Sometimes	17,184	17,322	8,156	7,004	7,650	2,327	2,189	340	38,000	90,997	
None, but uses aids	863	1,505	475	337	1,355	110	57	35	585	4,836	
None 	9,032	16,134	5,962	2,772	6,030	1,541	1,001	167	47,584	83,702	
Not stated(a)	9,573	34,230	2,310	1,055	359	5	179	1,488	37,279	85,856	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	595	499	319	225	635	136	22	68	—	2,499	
Support needed: interpersonal interactions and relationships	
Always 	14,965	7,922	8,949	6,058	6,310	2,410	801	304	10,641	55,119	
Sometimes	19,751	22,253	9,715	7,160	8,397	2,680	2,094	404	35,182	96,500	
None, but uses aids	749	852	356	204	1,114	84	44	21	463	3,462	
None 	5,081	10,063	3,301	1,805	5,004	1,041	1,036	139	44,865	68,706	
Not stated(a)	9,811	36,067	2,371	1,117	362	5	216	1,442	37,170	87,915	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	636	500	320	233	635	136	22	68	—	2,550	
Support needed: learning, applying knowledge and general tasks and demands	
Always 	15,137	10,372	9,759	5,703	6,319	1,385	692	298	17,047	62,191	
Sometimes	18,848	20,209	8,987	6,838	8,305	2,350	1,528	404	41,617	98,111	
None, but uses aids	839	1,109	461	303	1,516	76	29	16	494	4,378	
None 	2,921	8,606	2,448	1,144	3,913	605	379	99	32,150	49,851	
Not applicable	4,254	8,013	654	1,131	871	1,757	991	175	—	17,788	
Not collected(b)	72	489	44	25	6	42	74	11	—	763	
Not stated(a)	8,280	28,360	2,337	1,184	257	5	498	1,307	37,013	78,597	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	642	499	322	249	635	136	22	68	—	2,573	
(continued)
Table B25 (continued): Support needs of disability support services users, 2010–11

Support needs	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Support needed: education	
Always	16,347	12,952	9,999	6,080	6,846	1,621	757	351	10,993	60,962	
Sometimes	16,555	16,910	7,391	6,399	7,694	2,047	1,468	254	31,421	80,301	
None, but uses aids	933	1,213	512	337	1,630	74	45	16	562	4,788	
None 	2,654	8,516	2,529	1,017	3,839	659	344	106	44,916	61,872	
Not applicable	4,805	8,014	1,046	1,132	889	1,771	992	177	—	18,765	
Not collected(b)	80	490	57	26	5	42	74	11	—	785	
Not stated(a)	8,977	29,060	3,155	1,331	284	6	511	1,395	40,429	84,196	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	642	502	323	255	635	136	22	68	—	2,583	
Support needed: community (civic) and economic life	
Always 	16,921	13,157	10,633	6,760	7,195	1,625	823	375	18,117	70,670	
Sometimes	15,592	18,641	7,825	5,992	8,174	2,028	1,200	361	38,772	88,255	
None, but uses aids	802	954	451	371	1,741	89	26	21	563	4,535	
None 	2,501	7,286	1,852	973	2,911	654	372	89	30,264	44,544	
Not applicable	5,302	8,015	1,087	1,131	893	1,774	993	178	—	19,308	
Not collected(b)	90	4901	68	25	5	42	74	11	—	803	
Not stated(a)	9,190	28,615	2,773	1,192	268	8	703	1,275	40,605	83,726	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	595	499	323	133	635	136	22	68	—	2,411	
Support needed: domestic life	
Always 	14,457	9,527	9,768	4,136	6,350	1,475	627	495	6,016	48,679	
Sometimes	14,728	16,605	7,925	4,282	7,784	1,513	583	438	21,009	64,973	
None, but uses aids	568	768	238	159	1,211	61	31	15	466	3,127	
None 	2,359	8,123	1,510	827	1,843	382	118	42	59,592	71,393	
Not applicable	13,033	18,188	3,462	6,127	3,853	2,774	2,759	459	39	50,500	
Not collected(b)	44	77	24	39	3	3	—	3	3	189	
Not stated(a)	5,191	23,935	1,758	880	143	12	73	858	41,196	73,029	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	613	434	327	127	635	136	22	68	—	2,362	
Support needed: working	
Always 	17,382	15,974	10,407	5,367	8,863	2,031	650	486	19,655	72,429	
Sometimes	9,182	10,387	4,558	2,848	4,340	939	482	158	34,762	60,960	
None, but uses aids	474	683	295	184	1,125	67	29	10	127	2,896	
None 	1,522	6,720	1,606	653	2,700	324	119	73	36,672	47,509	
Not applicable	15,270	18,206	4,967	6,132	3,985	2,850	2,788	474	40	54,482	
Not collected(b)	62	86	33	42	4	3	1	4	3	228	
Not stated(a)	6,439	25,157	2,808	1,200	170	6	122	1,105	37,062	73,292	
Not collected 
(recreation/holiday programs)	662	444	338	151	635	136	22	68	—	2,456	
(a)	Data for frequency of support needed were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
(b)	Includes service users for whom support needs information was required but not collected due to the service users’ age at the time of their last service date.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Row totals may not be the sum of components because service users may have accessed services in more than one state/territory. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
4.	‘Not collected’ (recreation/holiday program service users) is a count of service users who accessed only services from this service type 
and did not provide a response for that particular data item.
5.	Service types 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04 did not collect service user data, and so are excluded from this table.
6.	The higher levels of ‘not stated/not known’ on some data items for the Australian Capital Territory reflect, in part, the more limited data collection for some services within agencies.

Table B26: Users of disability support services, frequency of need for support in life areas, by primary disability, 2010–11 (per cent)
Primary disability group	Always	Sometimes	None, but uses aids	None	Not stated(a)	Not applicable	
ADL	
Intellectual	36.2	43.7	1.0	11.6	7.5	. .	
Specific learning/ADD	5.5	36.8	0.3	26.0	31.4	. .	
Autism	41.2	36.4	0.6	5.3	16.5	. .	
Physical	21.4	24.3	3.0	25.2	26.1	. .	
Acquired brain injury	27.1	39.2	3.4	19.1	11.2	. .	
Neurological	26.2	27.5	5.5	18.7	22.2	. .	
Deaf–blind	24.8	34.9	10.6	9.4	20.4	. .	
Vision	4.5	18.4	7.3	12.7	57.2	. .	
Hearing	11.7	25.7	8.2	15.5	39.0	. .	
Speech	14.6	50.5	0.3	7.2	27.5	. .	
Psychiatric	2.8	26.8	0.8	36.8	32.8	. .	
Developmental delay	39.5	19.8	0.1	1.9	38.8	. .	
Not stated/not collected	4.5	7.6	0.4	4.5	83.0	. .	
Total	21.2	30.7	2.0	18.5	27.6	. .	
AIL	
Intellectual	48.7	39.7	0.5	3.3	7.2	0.7	
Specific learning/ADD	17.8	34.6	0.1	15.7	30.8	1.0	
Autism	48.6	32.3	0.3	1.5	7.3	10.0	
Physical	23.8	28.7	1.0	19.5	25.4	1.5	
Acquired brain injury	36.6	41.3	1.3	7.9	12.2	0.6	
Neurological	29.6	30.7	1.4	13.9	23.1	1.3	
Deaf–blind	25.0	33.7	6.6	14.3	18.7	1.8	
Vision	6.8	18.4	5.9	11.6	53.5	3.9	
Hearing	10.0	23.6	3.1	24.0	34.2	5.1	
Speech	14.0	45.3	0.3	11.2	9.9	19.3	
Psychiatric	11.2	35.3	0.5	20.1	32.8	0.1	
Developmental delay	36.9	20.0	0.1	3.8	7.0	32.2	
Not stated/not collected	5.9	7.7	0.2	3.0	75.2	7.9	
Total	28.1	31.7	0.9	11.1	24.8	3.3	
AWEC	
Intellectual	59.8	27.5	0.3	3.1	7.9	1.4	
Specific learning/ADD	18.3	31.3	0.1	16.4	32.3	1.5	
Autism	47.4	24.6	0.3	1.4	9.1	17.3	
Physical	24.3	24.5	1.7	18.8	26.2	4.6	
Acquired brain injury	49.9	26.6	1.1	8.4	13.0	1.1	
Neurological	35.0	21.1	2.0	14.6	24.2	3.1	
Deaf–blind	30.2	28.0	6.0	13.0	19.6	3.2	
Vision	10.0	14.1	6.6	10.9	53.6	4.8	
Hearing	13.3	20.9	3.5	20.7	34.6	7.0	
Speech	17.0	24.2	0.4	6.3	11.0	41.2	
Psychiatric	17.8	29.6	0.4	19.1	33.0	0.1	
Developmental delay	16.0	7.8	0.2	0.4	9.5	66.0	
Not stated/not collected	6.0	5.9	0.2	2.9	75.9	9.1	
Total	32.8	23.9	1.0	10.5	25.5	6.2	
(a)	Data for frequency of support needed in areas of ADL, AIL and AWEC were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.

Table B27: Users of disability support services, frequency of need for support in life areas, by living arrangement, 2009–10
Frequency of support needed	Lives alone		Lives with family		Lives with others		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
ADL	
Always	3,246	7.7		45,356	38.1		17,122	30.2		875	8.8		66,599	29.3	
Sometimes	17,719	42.2		52,241	43.9		22,971	40.5		3,608	36.3		96,539	42.4	
Does not need help but uses aids	1,820	4.3		3,368	2.8		862	1.5		145	1.5		6,195	2.7	
Does not need help or use aids	19,251	45.8		17,955	15.1		15,756	27.8		5,324	53.5		58,286	25.6	
Subtotal	42,036	100.0		118,920	100.0		56,711	100.0		9,952	100.0		227,619	100.0	
Not stated(a)/not collected	17,187	. .		31,834	. .		14,066	. .		23,546	. .		86,633	. .	
Total	59,223	. .		150,754	. .		70,777	. .		33,498	. .		314,252	. .	
AIL	
Always	7,663	18.3		54,826	46.6		23,957	42.4		1,900	19.2		88,346	39.1	
Sometimes	21,399	51.1		50,914	43.3		23,186	41.1		4,273	43.1		99,772	44.2	
Does not need help but uses aids	910	2.2		1,572	1.3		450	0.8		49	0.5		2,981	1.3	
Does not need help or use aids	11,934	28.5		10,322	8.8		8,860	15.7		3,699	37.3		34,815	15.4	
Subtotal	41,906	100.0		117,634	100.0		56,453	100.0		9,921	100.0		225,914	100.0	
Not stated(a)/not collected/not applicable	17,317	. .		33,120	. .		14,324	. .		23,577	. .		88,338	. .	
Total	59,223	. .		150,754	. .		70,777	. .		33,498	. .		314,252	. .	
AWEC	
Always	11,707	28.0		56,907	54.8		29,963	53.5		2,344	24.0		100,921	47.8	
Sometimes	17,546	42.0		35,750	34.5		17,140	30.6		3,748	38.4		74,184	35.1	
Does not need help but uses aids	964	2.3		1,769	1.7		436	0.8		75	0.8		3,244	1.5	
Does not need help or use aids	11,562	27.7		9,341	9.0		8,487	15.1		3,589	36.8		32,979	15.6	
Subtotal	41,779	100.0		103,767	100.0		56,026	100.0		9,756	100.0		211,328	100.0	
Not stated(a)/not collected/not applicable	17,444	. .		26,215	. .		14,499	. .		22,910	. .		81,068	. .	
Total	59,223	. .		129,982	. .		70,525	. .		32,666	. .		292,396	. .	
(a)	Data for frequency of support needed in areas of ADL, AIL, AWEC were not collected for new clients in open employment services in
2010–11.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom living arrangement data were not collected 
(see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. See Table B12 for a breakdown of these categories.

Table B28: Support needs of disability support service users, by Indigenous status, 2010–11

Support needs	Indigenous		Non-Indigenous		Total(a)	
	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	
Support needed: ADL	
Always	4,226	25.5		60,881	21.7		66,599	21.2	
Sometimes	5,445	32.8		89,413	31.9		96,539	30.7	
Does not need help but uses aids	339	2.0		5,660	2.0		6,195	2.0	
Does not need help or use aids	2,182	13.2		55,451	19.8		58,286	18.5	
Not stated(b)/not collected	4,385	26.5		69,029	24.6		86,633	27.6	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		314,252	100.0	
Support needed: AWEC	
Always	5,451	32.9		81,735	29.1		88,346	28.1	
Sometimes	5,216	31.5		92,989	33.2		99,772	31.7	
Does not need help but uses aids	111	0.7		2,817	1.0		2,981	0.9	
Does not need help or use aids	1,383	8.3		33,201	11.8		34,815	11.1	
Not stated(b)/not collected	4,416	26.6		69,692	24.9		88,338	28.1	
Total	16,577	100.0		280,434	100.0		314,252	100.0	
Support needed: AIL	
Always	5,956	39.1		93,733	35.9		100,921	34.5	
Sometimes	3,681	24.2		69,340	26.6		74,184	25.4	
Does not need help but uses aids	100	0.7		3,068	1.2		3,244	1.1	
Does not need help or use aids	1,320	8.7		31,453	12.1		32,979	11.3	
Not stated(b)/not collected	4,165	27.4		63,231	24.2		81,068	27.7	
Total	15,222	100.0		260,825	100.0		292,396	100.0	
(a)	Includes services users for whom Indigenous statues was ‘not stated/not collected’.
(b)	Data for frequency of support needed in areas of ADL, AIL and AWEC were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more 
than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	Service types 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04 did not collect service user data, and so are excluded from this table.

Table B29: Characteristics of informal carers of disability support services users, 2010–11
Carer characteristic	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT(a)	NT	Aus Gov	Total	
Carer—existence of	
Yes	40,305	28,987	15,131	12,796	12,528	4,552	2,523	766	22,082	127,777	
No	8,118	30,014	8,952	2,553	8,562	1,668	1,327	516	106,239	160,769	
Not stated/not collected 	2,570	18,656	929	1,228	732	136	363	1,096	—	25,706	
Carer—primary status(b) 	
Yes	36,625	15,637	12,292	10,969	11,930	4,405	2,350	648	8,855	94,209	
No	844	4,590	2,654	752	490	129	130	111	1,266	9,671	
Not stated/not collected	2,836	8,760	185	1,075	108	18	43	7	1,080	13,016	
Carer—residency status(b) 	
Yes, co-resident carer	28,290	15,527	11,462	11,475	10,842	4,186	2,260	671	7,392	84,178	
No, non-resident carer	3,849	4,319	3,407	1,236	1,394	283	236	51	2,216	14,680	
Not stated/not collected	8,166	9,141	262	85	292	83	27	44	1,593	18,038	
Carer—relationship to 
service user	
Wife/female partner	444	1,689	455	268	930	113	20	78	1,727	5,425	
Husband/male partner	374	1,615	594	402	1,008	167	13	40	862	4,809	
Mother	26,956	13,591	10,984	10,276	8,118	3,811	2,167	282	13,526	81,611	
Father	1,431	1,378	1,377	529	833	172	176	19	1,532	6,571	
Daughter/daughter-in-law	125	925	115	89	286	22	15	88	348	1,948	
Son/son-in-law	42	369	63	44	133	14	4	19	185	842	
Other female relative	936	973	855	662	669	156	94	164	1,520	5,261	
Other male relative	253	299	197	110	143	44	16	23	406	1,309	
Friend/neighbour—female	233	553	244	166	191	39	10	20	665	1,874	
Friend/neighbour—male	44	150	90	66	76	13	n.p.	9	313	676	
Not stated/not collected	9,467	7,445	157	184	141	n.p.	7	24	998	17,451	
Carer—age group (years) (b) 	
Under 15 	16	48	160	17	7	4	3	—	22	252	
15–24 	1,024	240	200	198	153	146	42	49	43	2,041	
25–44 	15,501	6,550	5,611	7,320	4,866	3,113	1,469	353	1,654	44,498	
45–64 	9,422	8,169	5,610	3,662	4,928	947	538	280	4,651	33,327	
65+ 	2,994	3,975	2,213	972	1,676	303	195	37	1,440	12,304	
Not stated/not collected	11,348	10,005	1,337	627	898	39	276	47	3,391	24,474	
(a)	The higher levels of ‘not stated/not known’ on some data items for the Australian Capital Territory reflect, in part, the more limited data collection for some services within agencies.
(b)	Excluding services users who accessed only 5.01 and 5.02.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Row totals may not be the sum of components because service users may have accessed services in more than one state/territory. 
3.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
4.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes recreation/holiday program service users, which is a count of service users who accessed only services from this service type and did not provide a response for that particular data item.
5.	Service types 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04 did not collect service user data, and so are excluded from this table.
6.	Service types 5.01 and 5.02 were not required to collect data on carer—primary status, carer—residency status, and carer—age group. Service users that accessed only service types 5.01 and 5.02 were not included in totals. Service users in 5.01 and 5.02 with carer information that can be derived through linkage processes have been included in totals. 
7.	Service user frequencies for carer—primary status, carer—residency status, carer—relationship to service user, and carer—age group are based only on those service users who answered that they had a carer. 
Table B30: Characteristics of carers of disability support service users, by Indigenous status, 
2010–11
Characteristic of carer	Indigenous		Non-Indigenous		Not stated		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
Carer—existence of	
Yes	7,958	48.0	116,197	41.4	3,622	21.0	127,777	40.7	
No	7,129	43.0	145,092	51.7	8,548	49.6	160,769	51.2	
Not stated/not collected	1,490	9.0	19,145	6.8	5,071	29.4	25,706	8.2	
Total	16,577	100.0	280,434	100.0	17,241	100.0	314,252	100.0	
Carer—primary status	
Yes	6,803	85.5	93,293	80.3	2,000	55.2	102,096	79.9	
No	543	6.8	8,911	7.7	217	6.0	9,671	7.6	
Not stated/not collected	612	7.7	13,993	12.0	1,405	38.8	16,010	12.5	
Total carer—primary status	7,958	100.0	116,197	100.0	3,622	100.0	127,777	100.0	
Carer—residency status	
Yes, co-resident carer	6,205	78.0	81,573	70.2	1,697	46.9	89,475	70.0	
No, non-resident carer	835	10.5	15,447	13.3	227	6.3	16,509	12.9	
Not stated/not collected	918	11.5	19,177	16.5	1,698	46.9	21,793	17.1	
Total carer—residency status	7,958	100.0	116,197	100.0	3,622	100.0	127,777	100.0	
Carer—relationship to service user	
Spouse	387	4.9	9,567	8.2	280	7.7	10,234	8.0	
Mother	4,635	58.2	75,367	64.9	1,609	44.4	81,611	63.9	
Father	409	5.1	6,085	5.2	77	2.1	6,571	5.1	
Child	176	2.2	2,385	2.1	139	3.8	2,700	2.1	
Other family	1,077	13.5	5,472	4.7	111	3.1	6,660	5.2	
Friend/neighbour	240	3.0	2,266	2.0	44	1.2	2,550	2.0	
Not stated/not collected	1,034	13.0	15,055	13.0	1,362	37.6	17,451	13.7	
Total carer—relationship to service user	7,958	100.0	116,197	100.0	3,622	100.0	127,777	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	Service types 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04 did not collect service user data, and so are excluded from this table.
4.	Service types 5.01 and 5.02 were not required to collect data on carer—primary status, carer—residency status, and carer—age group. So service user frequencies for these data items exclude users who use only these service types.
5.	Service user frequencies for carer—primary status, carer—residency status, carer—relationship to service user, and carer—age group are based only on those service users who answered that they had a carer. 
Table B31: Users of disability support services, existence of an informal carer, by remoteness area, 2010–11
Remoteness area	Has an informal carer		Does not have an informal carer		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
Major cities	78,826	39.8	105,772	53.5	13,283	6.7	197,881	100.0	
Inner regional	32,615	44.4	35,824	48.8	4,989	6.8	73,428	100.0	
Outer regional	11,989	42.5	14,718	52.2	1,477	5.2	28,183	100.0	
Remote	1,622	47.4	1,699	49.6	101	3.0	3,422	100.0	
Very remote	1,102	59.6	681	36.9	65	3.5	1,848	100.0	
Not stated/collected	1,624	17.1	2,075	21.9	5,791	61.0	9,490	100.0	
Total	127,777	40.7	160,769	51.2	25,706	8.2	314,252	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom informal carer data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. 
Table B32: Users of disability support services who always or sometimes need support with ADL(a), existence of an informal carer, by age group, 2010–11
Age group (years)	Has informal carer		Does not have informal carer		Subtotal		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent		Number	Number	
Under 15	37,544	95.6	1,709	4.4	39,253	100.0		523	39,776	
15–24	22,173	71.4	8,861	28.6	31,034	100.0		707	31,741	
25–44	21,953	49.9	22,000	50.1	43,953	100.0		1,028	44,981	
45–64	14,458	38.2	23,379	61.8	37,837	100.0		1,171	39,008	
65+	3,273	44.8	4,034	55.2	7,307	100.0		325	7,632	
Total	99,401	62.4	59,983	37.6	159,384	100.0		3,754	163,138	
(a)	Data for frequency of support needed with ADL were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	The frequency of support needed for a service user in ADL is based on the highest support need category of the service user for that group. 
4.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom support needs data were not collected 
(see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. 

Table B33: Users of disability support services who always or sometimes need support for AIL(a), existence of an informal carer, by age group, 2010–11
Age group (years)	Has informal carer		Does not have informal carer		Subtotal		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent		Number	Number	
Under 15	37,278	96.6	1,300	3.4	38,578	100.0		462	39,040	
15–24	23,939	68.9	10,801	31.1	34,740	100.0		881	35,621	
25–44	24,790	44.4	30,988	55.6	55,778	100.0		1,360	57,138	
45–64	16,010	34.3	30,726	65.7	46,736	100.0		1,392	48,128	
65+	3,563	45.6	4,258	54.4	7,821	100.0		370	8,191	
Total	105,580	57.5	78,073	42.5	183,653	100.0		4,465	188,118	
(a)	Data for frequency of support needed with AIL were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than 
one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	The frequency of support needed for a service user in ADL is based on the highest support need category of the service user for that group. 
4.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom support needs data were not collected 
(see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. 
Table B34: Users of disability support who always or sometimes need support for AWEC(a), existence of an informal carer, by age group, 2010–11
Age group (years)	Has informal carer		Does not have informal carer		Subtotal		Not stated/
not collected		Total	
	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent		Number	Number	
Under 15	28,365	97.1	854	2.9	29,219	100.0		321	29,540	
15–24	23,993	69.0	10,759	31.0	34,752	100.0		879	35,631	
25–44	24,595	44.0	31,325	56.0	55,920	100.0		1,331	57,251	
45–64	15,643	33.5	31,071	66.5	46,714	100.0		1,326	48,040	
65+	3,265	43.8	4,192	56.2	7,457	100.0		339	7,796	
Not stated	—	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	
Total	95,861	55.1	78,201	44.9	174,062	100.0		4,196	178,258	
(a)	Data for frequency of support needed with AWEC were not collected for new clients in open employment services in 2010–11.
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	The frequency of support needed for a service user in AWEC is based on the highest support need category of the service user for that group. 
4.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom support needs data were not collected
(see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. 

Table B35: Disability support service users with an informal carer, relationship of carer to service user, by age group of carer, 2010–11
Relationship of carer to service user	Age group of carer (years)	Total	
	0–14 	15–24	25–44	45–64	65+	Not stated/
not collected		
	Number	
Spouse	—	86	1,605	3,850	1,839	2,854	10,234	
Mother	—	1,406	38,368	22,424	6,852	12,561	81,611	
Father	—	26	1,526	2,288	1,290	1,441	6,571	
Child	93	288	565	449	391	914	2,700	
Other family	77	88	1,124	2,789	1,020	1,562	6,660	
Friend/neighbour	47	23	528	803	255	894	2,550	
Not stated	35	124	850	1,146	657	14,639	17,451	
Total	252	2,041	44,566	33,749	12,304	34,865	127,777	
	Per cent	
Spouse	—	4.2	3.6	11.4	14.9	8.2	8.0	
Mother	—	68.9	86.1	66.4	55.7	36.0	63.9	
Father	—	1.3	3.4	6.8	10.5	4.1	5.1	
Child	36.9	14.1	1.3	1.3	3.2	2.6	2.1	
Other family	30.6	4.3	2.5	8.3	8.3	4.5	5.2	
Friend/neighbour	18.7	1.1	1.2	2.4	2.1	2.6	2.0	
Not stated	13.9	6.1	1.9	3.4	5.3	42.0	13.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/not collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom informal carer data were not collected (see Appendix A: Section 1.3), and other service users with no response. Service users who accessed employment services only (5.01 and 5.02) and did not submit a response are also included in the ‘not collected’ category for age group of carer. These services were not required to complete this data item.
4.	Informal carer relationship categories are grouped as follows: spouse includes wife/female partner and husband/male partner; child includes daughter and son; other family includes daughter-in-law, son-in-law, other female relative and other male relative; and friend /neighbour includes females and males.

Table B36: Users of disability support services, reported primary disability group, by residential setting, 2010–11
Residential setting	Intellectual/ learning	Physical/ diverse	Acquired brain injury	Sensory/ speech	Psychiatric	Subtotal	Not stated/ collected	Total	
	Number	
Private residence	91,731	52,120	8,038	20,348	42,630	214,867	10,169	225,036	
Domestic-scale supported 	12,749	1,755	608	434	1,405	16,951	357	17,308	
Supported accommodation facility	6,680	863	665	151	1,319	9,678	104	9,782	
Other 	6,939	5,428	1,776	2,698	9,656	26,497	757	27,254	
Not stated	8,745	5,189	802	4,227	4,404	23,367	11,505	34,872	
Total	126,844	65,355	11,889	27,858	59,414	291,360	22,892	314,252	
	Per cent	
Private residence	42.7	24.3	3.7	9.5	19.8	100.0	. .	. .	
Domestic-scale supported 	75.2	10.4	3.6	2.6	8.3	100.0	. .	. .	
Supported accommodation facility	69.0	8.9	6.9	1.6	13.6	100.0	. .	. .	
Other 	26.2	20.5	6.7	10.2	36.4	100.0	. .	. .	
Not stated	37.4	22.2	3.4	18.1	18.8	100.0	. .	. .	
Total	43.5	22.4	4.1	9.6	20.4	100.0	. .	. .	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Service user data were not collected for all NDA service types (see Appendix A: Section 1.3 for details).
3.	‘Not stated/collected’ includes both service users accessing only 3.02 services for whom support needs data were not collected
(see Appendix A:Section 1.4), and other service users with no response. 
4.	‘Other’ includes residence within an Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander community; boarding house/private hotel; independent living unit within a retirement village; residential aged care facility; psychiatric/mental health community care facility; hospital; short-term crises, emergency or transitional accommodation facility; public place/temporary shelter; and other.

Table B37: Users of disability support services, service type, by multiple service use, 2010–11
Service type	Number of service users 	Mean outlets per service user	Service users accessing more than one service type outlet	
			Total accessing more than one service type outlet		Multiple service types		Multiple service groups		Same service group		Same service type	
			Number	Per cent	Per cent	Per cent	Per cent	Per cent	
Accommodation support									
1.01 Large residential facilities/institutions 	2,782	2.7	2,405	86.4	85.5	85.0	12.5	3.7	
1.02 Small residential facilities/institutions	812	2.5	693	85.3	84.9	80.4	15.3	3.9	
1.03 Hostels	393	3.0	300	76.3	76.3	71.8	18.3	0.8	
1.04 Group homes	15,130	3.1	12,850	84.9	84.0	82.6	15.9	6.8	
1.05 Attendant care/personal care	2,775	3.7	1,977	71.2	70.8	68.6	30.5	10.5	
1.06 In-home accommodation support	21,129	2.8	14,530	68.8	67.6	65.8	15.8	6.6	
1.07 Alternative family placement	287	3.7	223	77.7	77.4	76.3	11.1	4.2	
1.08 Other accommodation support	1,908	3.0	1,224	64.2	61.4	52.8	35.8	6.9	
Total accommodation support	42,579	2.8	31,565	74.1	73.0	72.0	12.2	6.9	
Community support									
2.01 Therapy support for individuals	36,226	2.7	23,225	64.1	62.5	38.5	55.1	9.2	
2.02 Early childhood intervention	26,060	1.7	9,024	34.6	21.0	3.4	34.0	18.6	
2.03 Behaviour/specialist intervention	8,100	4.2	7,125	88.0	87.8	62.6	74.8	10.5	
2.04 Counselling (individual/family/group)	2,547	3.3	1,816	71.3	71.0	54.5	42.1	3.5	
2.05 Regional resource and support teams	24,473	2.9	16,464	67.3	53.0	40.9	52.3	40.9	
2.06 Case management, local coordination and development	71,254	2.7	48,275	67.8	61.4	46.9	45.8	24.6	
2.07 Other community support	5,224	3.1	3,519	67.4	66.2	46.4	54.1	3.4	
Total community support	140,156	2.3	75,720	54.0	45.3	35.4	36.0	24.6	
(continued)	
Table B37 (continued): Users of disability support services, service type, by multiple service use, 2010–11
Service type	Number of service users 	Mean outlets per service user	Service users accessing more than one service type outlet	
			Total accessing more than one service type outlet		Multiple service types		Multiple service groups		Same service group		Same service type	
			Number	Per cent	Per cent	Per cent	Per cent	Per cent	
Community access									
3.01 Learning and life skills development	44,461	2.9	31,749	71.4	69.7	68.8	16.9	11.0	
3.02 Recreation/holiday programs	10,030	3.1	6,817	68.0	67.5	64.4	27.9	6.2	
3.03 Other community access	9,393	2.3	5,331	56.8	55.4	53.7	18.1	10.7	
Total community access	60,509	2.7	40,522	67.0	65.5	64.7	14.3	10.4	
Respite									
4.01 Own home respite	3,607	4.3	2,980	82.6	82.3	78.3	44.6	10.9	
4.02 Centre-based respite/respite homes	14,556	4.0	12,188	83.7	82.0	76.8	46.3	21.2	
4.03 Host family respite/peer support respite	1,360	3.0	897	66.0	64.6	59.1	33.8	4.1	
4.04 Flexible respite	21,300	3.1	14,481	68.0	65.8	62.1	31.4	12.4	
4.05 Other respite	2,001	2.7	1,155	57.7	57.7	53.0	24.9	0.2	
Total respite	36,266	3.1	25,143	69.3	67.3	64.8	26.0	16.1	
Employment									
5.01 Open employment	107,942	1.2	10,452	9.7	9.1	8.4	1.8	0.7	
5.02 Supported employment	21,573	2.1	10,570	49.0	48.4	44.8	6.9	1.5	
Total employment	128,321	1.3	19,828	15.5	14.9	14.3	1.7	0.8	
Total	314,252	1.7	99,199	31.6	26.7	21.5	20.9	14.4	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period. 
2.	Groups of users of multiple services are not mutually exclusive. For example, a service user can have accessed two outlets of the one service type and another outlet of a different service type, and would be included in those users accessing outlets of the same service type as well as those accessing multiple service types. Service users using three or more service types are included under all relevant combinations.
Table B38: Users of disability support services, service type, by use of other services, 2010–11
Service type	Number of service users	Mean service groups per service user	Service users accessing other service groups (or types within groups) (per cent)	Code of most frequent other service type	
			Accommodation support	Community support	Community access	Respite	Employment		
Accommodation support									
1.01 Large residential facilities/institutions	2,782	2.2	8.8	39.4	70.8	2.0	10.2	3.01	
1.02 Small residential facilities/institutions	812	2.1	11.8	18.5	55.3	3.9	27.6	3.01	
1.03 Hostels	393	2.2	17.6	47.6	34.4	12.7	24.7	2.06	
1.04 Group homes	15,130	2.3	9.6	54.7	56.0	6.7	15.8	3.01	
1.05 Attendant care/personal care	2,775	2.2	22.6	60.5	27.6	23.5	9.2	2.06	
1.06 In-home accommodation support	21,129	2.0	9.9	36.2	40.1	12.0	15.6	2.06	
1.07 Alternative family placement	287	2.6	7.0	66.9	40.4	36.9	12.9	3.01	
1.08 Other accommodation support	1,908	1.9	30.2	31.7	28.3	12.0	14.4	1.06	
Total accommodation support	42,579	2.1	6.0	42.9	45.8	9.9	15.1	3.01	
Community support									
2.01 Therapy support for individuals	36,226	1.6	14.9	52.6	22.1	13.8	4.8	2.06	
2.02 Early childhood intervention	26,060	1.0	0.4	20.0	0.8	2.8	—	2.06	
2.03 Behaviour/specialist intervention	8,100	2.0	34.9	73.8	34.0	20.7	12.2	2.06	
2.04 Counselling (individual/family/group)	2,547	1.9	25.5	39.1	41.0	11.7	7.2	3.01	
2.05 Regional resource and support teams	24,473	1.6	13.6	24.6	19.5	20.8	7.4	3.01	
2.06 Case management, local coordination and development	71,254	1.7	16.4	31.8	23.4	18.3	10.9	2.01	
2.07 Other community support	5,224	1.7	24.8	52.7	26.0	15.6	7.3	2.01	
Total community support	140,156	1.5	13.0	20.7	17.9	13.5	7.7	2.06	
(continued)	

Table B38 (continued): Users of disability support services, service type, by use of other services, 2010–11
Service type	Number of service users	Mean service groups per service user	Service users accessing other service groups (or types within groups) (per cent)	Code of most frequent other service type	
			Accommodation support	Community support	Community access	Respite	Employment		
Community access									
3.01 Learning and life skills development	44,461	2.1	34.4	47.6	7.2	16.8	9.9	2.06	
3.02 Recreation/holiday programs	10,030	2.1	26.9	41.8	25.1	18.9	19.9	2.06	
3.03 Other community access	9,393	1.8	35.0	17.3	10.3	13.2	13.9	1.06	
Total community access	60,509	2.0	32.2	41.5	5.5	16.1	11.7	2.06	
Respite									
4.01 Own home respite	3,607	2.3	15.8	71.4	35.0	39.5	8.1	2.06	
4.02 Centre-based respite/respite homes	14,556	2.2	12.0	66.3	33.4	35.0	8.8	2.06	
4.03 Host family respite/peer support respite	1,360	1.9	12.5	47.9	21.0	31.2	11.8	2.06	
4.04 Flexible respite	21,300	1.9	11.0	48.1	26.2	24.0	9.2	2.06	
4.05 Other respite	2,001	1.9	14.9	40.8	19.9	24.9	15.8	2.06	
Total respite	36,266	2.0	11.6	52.1	26.9	16.5	9.5	2.06	
Employment									
5.01 Open employment	107,942	1.1	2.0	5.3	3.3	1.2	1.1	2.06	
5.02 Supported employment	21,573	1.7	20.3	25.0	17.3	10.3	5.5	2.06	
Total employment 	128,321	1.2	5.0	8.4	5.5	2.7	0.9	2.06	
Total	314,252	1.3	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. . 	
Notes
1.	Service user data are estimates after use of a statistical linkage key to account for individuals who received services from more than one service type outlet during the 12-month period.
2.	Where the service groups are the same, the percentage of service users accessing other service groups includes service users who use two or more different service types in that group. 
3.	The overall mean service groups per service user does not equal the average across service groups. This is because service users accessing more than one service group are counted once in the overall mean, but are counted multiple times if all service group means are considered separately.

Table B39: Mean and median hours of service provided by disability support service type outlets during the reference week, June 2011
Service type	Number of 
service type outlets	Mean hours in reference week per outlet	
Median hours in reference week per outlet	Mean number of service users with hours received in reference week	
Accommodation support					
1.05 Attendant care/personal care	150	292.1	59.0	16.4	
1.06 In-home accommodation support	755	315.9	92.0	13.1	
1.07 Alternative family placement	70	452.8	168.0	3.2	
Total accommodation support 	975	322.1	95.0	12.9	
Community support					
2.06 Case management, local coordination and development	504	98.2	32.4	32.6	
Community access					
3.01 Learning and life skills development	1,798	244.1	107.5	13.2	
3.03 Other community access	87	172.1	113.7	47.1	
Total community access	1,885	240.8	108.0	14.8	
Respite					
4.01 Own home respite	115	199.5	62.0	16.4	
4.02 Centre-based respite/respite homes	283	585.2	384.0	14.0	
4.03 Host family respite/peer support respite	16	184.2	68.6	32.8	
4.04 Flexible respite	350	267.4	73.0	19.2	
4.05 Other respite	20	237.7	122.3	28.1	
Total respite	784	369.7	115.4	17.4	
All services reporting hours	4,148	266.9	92.0	17.0	
Notes
1.	Service users who, according to their start date and date of last service received or exit date, were not receiving a service in the 
reference week were not included even if they had recorded hours received in the reference week. 
2.	Service type outlets for which no service users had hours received in the reference week recorded were not included. 
3.	Where a service type outlet had data for both service users with valid hours received and service users with missing hours received, the latter were assigned the average number of hours per service user for that outlet, before the total hours received for the outlet was calculated.
4.	Not all service types were required to collect data on hours received during the reference week. The following service types did not collect this data item: 1.01–1.04, 1.08, 2.01–2.05, 2.07, 3.02, 5.01, 5.02, 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04.
5.	Data are based on a reference week during June 2010; this may be different from a typical week.
Table B40: Mean and median hours of service provided by disability support service type outlets during a typical week, 2010–11
Service type	Number of 
service type outlets	Mean hours in a 
typical week per outlet	Median hours in a typical week per outlet	
Accommodation support				
1.05 Attendant care/personal care	180	274.9	60.0	
1.06 In-home accommodation support	795	429.1	109.0	
1.07 Alternative family placement	95	387.9	168.0	
Total accommodation support 	1,070	399.5	107.0	
Community support				
2.06 Case management, local coordination and development	476	267.9	103.0	
Community access				
3.01 Learning and life skills development	2,082	210.7	91.0	
3.03 Other community access	83	145.1	71.0	
Total community access	2,165	208.2	90.0	
Respite				
4.01 Own home respite	135	191.5	75.0	
4.02 Centre-based respite/respite homes	346	1,058.2	459.5	
4.03 Host family respite/peer support respite	26	239.5	103.5	
4.04 Flexible respite	603	315.6	88.0	
4.05 Other respite	26	412.5	132.5	
Total respite	1,136	527.5	135.0	
All services reporting hours	4,847	331.1	103.0	
Notes
1.	Service type outlets for which no service users have hours received in the typical week recorded were not included. 
2.	Where a service type outlet had data for both service users with valid hours received, and service users with missing hours received, the latter were assigned the average number of hours per service user for that outlet before the total hours received for the outlet was calculated.
3.	Not all service types were required to collect data on hours received during a typical week. The following service types did not collect this data item: 1.01–1.04, 1.08, 2.01–2.05, 2.07, 3.02, 5.01, 5.02, 6.01–6.05 and 7.01–7.04.
4.	Victoria did not collect data on hours received in a typical week.

Table B41: Mean hours worked in the reference week by paid and unpaid staff for disability support service type outlets, by service group, 2010–11
Service group	Mean paid staff hours per outlet	Mean FTE(a) paid staff 
per outlet	Mean unpaid staff hours 
per outlet	Mean FTE unpaid staff 
per outlet	Total mean FTE staff 
per outlet	Users per outlet	Mean FTE 
staff per user 	
Accommodation support	229.2	6.0	7.9	0.2	6.2	7.7	0.8	
Community support	114.3	3.0	2.4	0.1	3.1	80.3	—	
Community access	130.5	3.4	23.4	0.6	4.0	20.5	0.2	
Respite	121.6	3.2	5.0	0.1	3.3	25.0	0.1	
Employment 	216.6	5.7	3.8	0.1	5.8	90.6	0.1	
Advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication 	72.6	1.9	21.6	0.6	2.5	n.a	n.a	
Other support services	96.6	2.5	22.5	0.6	3.1	n.a	n.a	
All services	172.8	4.5	10.8	0.3	4.8	22.6	0.2	
(a)	Full-time equivalent
Notes
1.	Data for hours worked are the mean number of hours worked over one (1) 7-day week in June 2011.
2.	Data exclude 1,379 outlets where mean staff hours could not be calculated because of missing data. These were for outlets with both paid and unpaid staff hours in the reference week missing; if only one of these variables was missing, it was assumed to be zero (0).
3.	FTE staff numbers are based on a 38-hour working week.
4.	Service user counts are not available for advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication, and other support services.
Table B42: Mean hours worked in a typical week by paid and unpaid staff for disability support service type outlets, by service group, 2010–11
Service group	Mean paid staff hours per outlet	Mean FTE paid staff per outlet	Mean unpaid staff hours per outlet	Mean FTE unpaid staff per outlet	
Accommodation support	294.5	7.7	6.8	0.2	
Community support	146.9	3.9	5.2	0.1	
Community access	192.6	5.1	31.4	0.8	
Respite	166.6	4.4	11.9	0.3	
Employment 	228.2	6.0	6.1	0.2	
Advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication 	91.4	2.4	28.9	0.8	
Other support services	141.2	3.7	33.3	0.9	
All services	225.2	5.9	13.5	0.4	
Notes
1.	Data for hours worked are the mean number of hours worked over a typical 7-day week during the year. 
2.	Data for Victoria are excluded, as Victoria did not provide data on staff hours in a typical week.
3.	Data exclude 3,251 outlets where the mean staff hours could not be calculated because of missing data. These were for outlets with both paid and unpaid staff hours in a typical week missing; if only one of these variables was missing, it was assumed to be zero (0).
4.	FTE staff numbers are based on a 38-hour working week.

Table B43: Disability support service type outlets, period of operation, by service group, 2010–11
	Accom-
modation support	Community support	Community access	Respite	Employment	Advocacy, 
information, alternative communi- cation	Other	Total (number)	Total 
(per cent)	
Hours of operation
per day	
Less than 3 	15	12	8	9	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	49	0.4	
3–6 	90	90	1,186	75	66	82	6	1,595	11.6	
7–9 	333	1,260	1,002	255	1,166	312	174	4,502	32.9	
10–12 	90	24	64	23	24	6	n.p.	233	1.7	
13–18 	68	8	31	46	n.p.	n.p.	—	157	1.1	
19–23 	213	—	3	14	—	—	—	230	1.7	
24 	3,616	72	148	605	4	9	11	4,465	32.6	
No regular pattern	1,017	260	451	388	152	37	163	2,468	18.0	
Total	5,442	1,726	2,893	1,415	1,415	449	359	13,699	100.0	
Days of operation 
per week	
1 	7	29	40	37	104	51	3	271	2.0	
2 	8	25	42	21	50	n.p.	n.p.	165	1.2	
3 	13	29	127	26	31	20	6	252	1.8	
4 	20	42	88	19	27	23	8	227	1.7	
5 	680	1,269	1,921	291	964	296	163	5,584	40.7	
6 	27	9	56	19	7	n.p.	n.p.	125	0.9	
7 	4,357	122	314	730	20	12	16	5,571	40.6	
No regular pattern	359	202	306	274	213	28	157	1,539	11.2	
Total	5,471	1,727	2,894	1,417	1,416	449	360	13,734	100.0	
Weeks of operation
per year	
1–39 	80	36	49	82	22	11	6	286	2.1	
40–47 	22	142	192	18	7	9	5	395	2.9	
48–51 	114	539	1,719	295	943	210	56	3,876	28.2	
52 	4,974	831	744	842	349	209	143	8,092	58.9	
No regular pattern	285	177	181	180	95	11	149	1,078	7.9	
Total	5,475	1,725	2,885	1,417	1,416	450	359	13,727	100.0	
Note: Service type outlets that did not respond to these questions are excluded from this table.

Table B44: Calculation of potential populations, people aged 0–64 and 15–64, by state and territory, 30 June 2009
Age group (years)	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	
0–64 										
All	6,204,467	4,780,534	3,938,944	2,014,007	1,387,133	428,352	321,460	216,654	19,291,551	
All (per cent)	32.2	24.8	20.4	10.4	7.2	2.2	1.7	1.1	100.0	
With profound or severe core activity limitation	224,632	171,267	142,230	72,481	51,271	16,268	11,261	7,542	696,952	
Potential population (accommodation support, community support, community access)	223,863	166,464	144,404	73,306	50,786	16,643	11,051	10,376	696,952	
With profound or severe core activity limitation and a primary carer	122,010	94,011	77,473	39,645	27,280	8,421	6,321	4,267	379,427	
Potential population (respite)	121,592	91,375	78,657	40,097	27,021	8,615	6,204	5,870	379,427	
15–64 										
With profound or severe core activity limitation	171,246	131,317	106,925	54,936	39,692	12,423	8,706	5,484	530,729	
Labour force participation rate (per cent)	76.0	77.7	79.6	79.0	77.4	74.1	83.2	75.7	77.6	
Potential population (employment)	129,745	99,692	86,145	43,843	30,484	9,395	7,134	5,521	411,846	
Notes
1.	Data are estimates. Population estimates of 9,000 or less have a relative standard error of 25% or more.
2.	Data for all people are resident populations estimated by the ABS at 30 June 2009.
3.	The 30 June 2009 data for people with profound or severe core activity limitation are estimates derived using the 2009 SDAC (ABS 2010a.
4.	The potential population for accommodation support, community support and community access is the number of people aged under 65 with severe or profound core activity limitation, multiplied by the Indigenous factor (Table B45) for that jurisdiction.
5.	The potential population for respite is the number of people aged under 65 with severe or profound core activity limitation and a primary carer, multiplied by the Indigenous factor (Table B45) for that jurisdiction.
6.	The potential population for employment services is the number of people aged 15–64 with severe or profound core activity limitation, multiplied by both the Indigenous factor (see Table B45) and the labour force participation rate for that jurisdiction.
7.	Owing to the adjustment used in calculating the potential populations in each case, the sum of the jurisdictions is not necessarily equal to the total population for Australia. Estimated resident population for Australia includes that for external territories. 
8.	This method differs from that used to calculate the potential population for reporting against the NDA performance indicators. The method used to calculate potential population is under review, and may differ in future reports. 
Sources: ABS 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010b; AIHW analysis of the ABS 2009 SDAC (2010a).
Table B45: Calculation of Indigenous factor, 2010–11
Age group (years)	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	
0–64 										
Indigenous Australians	159,197	35,292	155,796	73,823	29,365	19,420	4,621	66,541	544,055	
Non-Indigenous Australians	6,045,270	4,745,242	3,783,148	1,940,184	1,357,768	408,932	316,839	150,113	18,747,496	
All people (weighted)	6,427,343	4,829,943	4,157,058	2,117,359	1,428,244	455,540	327,929	309,811	20,053,228	
All people (weighted per person)	1.04	1.01	1.06	1.05	1.03	1.06	1.02	1.43	1.04	
Indigenous factor	99.66	97.20	101.53	101.14	99.05	102.31	98.14	137.57	100.00	
15–64 										
Indigenous Australians	100,290	22,682	96,981	47,800	18,869	12,626	3,020	43,562	345,830	
Non-Indigenous Australians	4,752,829	3,742,482	2,944,892	1,521,241	1,075,437	318,282	252,480	120,145	14,727,788	
All people (weighted)	4,993,525	3,796,919	3,177,646	1,635,961	1,120,723	348,584	259,728	224,694	15,557,780	
All people (weighted per person)	1.03	1.01	1.04	1.04	1.02	1.05	1.02	1.37	1.03	
Indigenous factor	99.69	97.71	101.21	101.02	99.23	102.06	98.49	132.98	100.00	
Notes
1.	Data are estimates. Figures for all people (weighted per person) and Indigenous factor are rounded to the nearest 0.01, although unrounded figures have been used for further calculations.
2.	Indigenous population figures are based on ABS Series B projections of Indigenous population by state/territory for June 2010 (ABS 2009).
3.	Data for all people (weighted) were calculated by multiplying the data for Indigenous Australians by a weighting, and adding the data for non-Indigenous Australians (AIHW 2006).
4.	Data for all people (weighted per person) were calculated by dividing the all people (weighted) data by the sum of the Indigenous Australians data and the non-Indigenous Australians data.
5.	All people (weighted per person) for each state/territory was divided by all people (weighted per person) for Australia. The outcome is a state-specific Indigenous factor (multiplied by 100) which is relative to the reference Indigenous factor of 100 for Australia. An Indigenous factor that is greater than 100 for a state/territory means that state/territory has a relatively higher proportion of Indigenous people compared with the Australian population as a whole. The opposite is true for an Indigenous factor below 100. The Indigenous factor is applied (multiplied) to the severe/profound population counts, resulting in the potential population. In this way, the Indigenous factor accounts for the higher rate of service use for Indigenous people who have a severe/profound limitation, taking into account the relative Indigenous populations in each state/territory. 
6.	For more information, see Appendix A1.7 and AIHW 2006.
Sources: ABS 2007, 2009, 2010b.

Glossary
Other terms are defined in Appendix A and in the DS NMDS data guide and the DS NMDS data transmission and technical guide (< http://www.aihw.gov.au/disability-services-nmds-collection>.
Agency: an organisation that delivers one or more service types provided under the NDA (service type outlets). Agencies are usually legal entities, and are generally responsible for providing DS NMDS data to jurisdictions. Where an agency operates only one service type outlet, the service type outlet and the agency are one and the same. 
Carer (informal): an informal carer is a person such as a family member, friend or neighbour who provides regular and sustained care and assistance to the person requiring support (AIHW 2011a). This includes people who may receive a pension or benefit associated with their caring role, but does not include people, either paid or voluntary, whose services are arranged by a formal service organisation. Informal carers can be defined as primary if they help with one or more of the ADL: self-care, mobility or communication.
Disability support services: refers to the services provided under the NDA.
DS NMDS: refers to the Disability Services National Minimum Data Set.
English proficiency group: refers to a classification of countries of birth to enable the analysis and presentation of data on immigrants to Australia. Countries are classified to one of four groups based on the English proficiency of recent arrivals (the EP index). They are:
•	EP1—all countries rating 98.5% or higher on the EP index with at least 10,000 residents in Australia 
•	EP2—countries rating 84.5% or higher on the EP index, other than those in EP1 
•	EP3—countries rating 57.5% to less than 84.5% 
•	EP4—countries rating less than 57.5%.
For further information see DIMIA 2003.
Primary disability group: the primary disability group is one that most clearly expresses the experience of disability by a person. The primary disability group can also be considered as the disability group causing the most difficulty to the person (overall difficulty in daily life, not just within the context of the support offered by this service) (AIHW 2011a).
Service: a support activity delivered to a service user, in accordance with the NDA. Services within the scope of the collection are those for which funding has been provided, during the specified period, by a government organisation operating under the NDA.
Service type and service group: the support activity that is provided to the client. The DS NMDS classifies services according to service type, arranging services into seven distinct categories known as service groups. They are accommodation support; community support; community access; respite; employment; advocacy, information and alternative forms of communication; and other support. Within each of these service groups are various service types (see Appendix A for a full list of service type codes and definitions).
Service type outlet: a statistical counting unit managed by an agency that delivers one type of NDA service from a discrete location. If an agency provides, for example, both accommodation support and respite services, it is counted as two service type outlets. Similarly, if an agency provides more than one accommodation support service type (for example, group homes and attendant care), it is providing (and is usually separately funded for) two different service types; that is, there are two service type outlets for the agency.
Service user: a person with disability who receives a service provided under the NDA. A service user may receive more than one service over a period of time or on a single day.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2006. Census data. Canberra: ABS. Viewed June 2012, <www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/Census>.
ABS 2009. Experimental estimates and projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 1991 to 2021. ABS cat. no. 3238.0. Canberra: AGPS.
ABS 2010a. Disability, ageing and carers: summary of findings, 2009. ABS cat. no. 4430.0. Canberra: AGPS.
ABS 2010b. Labour force, Australia, June 2010. ABS cat. no. 6202.0. Canberra: ABS. Viewed 17 June 2011, <www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6202.0Main+Features1Jun%202010?OpenDocument>.
ABS 2011. Labour force, Australia, detailed—electronic delivery, December 2010. ABS cat. no. 6291.0.55.001. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2012. Australian demographic statistics, December 2011. ABS cat. no. 3101.0. Canberra: ABS.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 1993. Australia’s welfare 1993. Cat. no. AUS 41. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2003. Australia’s national disability services data collection: redeveloping the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement National Minimum Data Set. Disability series. Cat. no. DIS 30. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2006. Disability rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: updating the Indigenous factor in disability services performance indicator denominators. Disability series. Cat. no. DIS 45. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2008. Disability support services 2006–07: national data on services provided under the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement. Disability series. Cat. no. DIS 52. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2009. Disability support services 2007–08: national data on services provided under the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement. Disability series. Cat. no. DIS 56. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2011a. Disability Services National Minimum Data Set collection: data guide—data items and definitions 2010–11. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2011b. Disability support services 2008–09: report on services provided under the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement and the National Disability Agreement. Disability series. Cat. no. DIS 58. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2011c. Disability support services 2009–10: report on services provided under the National Disability Agreement. Disability series. Cat. no. DIS 59. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2011d. Australia’s welfare 2011. Australia’s welfare series no. 10. Cat. no. AUS 142. Canberra: AIHW.
COAG (Council of Australian Governments) 2008a. Fact sheet: National Disability Agreement. Canberra: COAG.
COAG 2008b. National Disability Agreement: intergovernmental agreement on federal financial relations. Canberra: COAG. Viewed 15 December 2010, <www.coag.gov.au/intergov_agreements/federal_financial_relations/docs/IGA_FFR_ScheduleF_National_Disability_Agreement.pdf>.
CSTDA (Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement) 2003. Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement, in relation to disability services, 2002–2007. Canberra: Department of Families and Community Services.
HRSCFCHY (House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Community, Housing and Youth) 2009. Who cares …? Report on the Inquiry into Better Support for Carers. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
DIMIA (Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs) 2003. Statistical focus—2001 classification of countries into English Proficiency Groups. C01.2.0. Canberra: Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
SCRGSP (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision) 2012. Report on government services 2012. Canberra: Productivity Commission.
WHO (World Health Organization) 2001. International classification of functioning, disability and health. Geneva: WHO.
List of tables
Table 2.1: Disability support service agencies, by state and territory, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Table 2.2: Disability support service agencies, funding source, by state and territory, 2010–11
Table 2.3: Disability support service type outlets, service group, by agency sector, 2010–11
Table 2.4: Users of disability support services, service type outlets and average service users 
per service type outlet, by service group, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Table 2.5: Users of disability support services, service group, by state and territory, 2010–11
Table 2.6: Users of disability support services, service types outlets accessed and average service
 type outlets accessed per service user, by service group, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Table 2.7: Users of disability support services aged under 65 per 1,000 potential population, 
by service group, 2009–10 to 2010–11
Table 2.8: Expenditure on disability support services by Australian, state and territory 
governments, by service group, 2010–11 ($ million)
Table 2.9: Expenditure in constant dollars on disability support services by Australian, state 
and territory governments, by service group, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Table 3.1: Users of disability support services, by age group, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Table 3.2: Users of disability support services aged 0–64, Indigenous status and proportion of 
Indigenous Australians aged 0–64 in the population, by state and territory, 2010–11
Table 3.3: Users of disability support services, by 10 most common countries of birth, 
2005–06 to 2010–11
Table 3.4: Users of disability support services, living arrangements, by service group, 2010–11
Table 3.5: Users of accommodation support services provided under the NDA, accommodation 
support category, by state and territory, 2010–11
Table 3.6: Users of disability support services aged 0–64(a), remoteness area, by state and territory, 
2010–11
Table 3.7: Users of disability support services aged 16–64(a), labour force status, by main source 
of income, 2010–11
Table 3.8: Users of disability support services aged 15–64, labour force status, by service group, 
2010–11
Table 3.9: Characteristics of users of open and supported employment services aged 15 and 
over, 2010–11
Table 3.10: Users of open and supported employment services, by disability group, 2010–11 
(per cent)
Table 3.11: Users of disability support employment services aged 16 and over, main source of 
income, by service type, 2010–11
Table 3.12: Users of open employment services aged 15–64, labour force status, by primary 
disability, 2010–11
Table 3.13: New and continuing service users of disability support services, by selected 
demographics, 2010–11
Table 4.1: Users of disability support services, sex and primary disability group, by age group,
2010–11
Table 4.2: Users of disability support services, primary disability group with or without other 
significant disability group, 2010–11
Table 4.3: Users of disability support services, by life area and need for support in life areas, 
2010–11
Table 4.4: Users of disability support services, service group, by need for support in life areas, 
2010–11
Table 4.5: Users of disability support services, primary disability group, by most effective 
method of communication, 2010–11 (per cent)
Table 4.6: Users of disability support services, need for interpreter services, by primary 
disability, 2010–11
Table 5.1: Users of services provided under the NDA, existence of an informal carer, 
2005–06 to 2010–11
Table 5.2: Users of disability support services, existence of an informal carer, by service 
group, 2010–11
Table 5.3: Users of disability support services with an informal carer, access to selected 
support services, 2010–11
Table 5.4: Users of disability support services with an informal carer, carer relationship 
to service user, by age of service user, 2010–11
Table 5.5: Users of disability support services with an informal carer, age of service user, 
by age of carer, 2010–11
Table 5.6: Users of disability support services who received informal care from a carer aged 65 
and over, relationship of carer to service user, by age group of service user, 2010–11
Table 5.7: Users of disability support services with an informal carer, residency status, by primary 
carer status, 2010–11
Table 6.1: Users of disability support services, multiple service use, 2010–11
Table 6.2: Users of disability support services, mean service use, by selected demographics, 2010–11
Table 6.3: Users of disability support services, service use patterns across groups, 2010–11
Table 6.4: Users of disability support services, mean hours received per service user, by 
selected service type category, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Table A1: Scope of services included in the DS NMDS collection, by state and territory, 
2010–11
Table A2: Validity and completeness of the statistical linkage key, 2010–11
Table A3: Response rates for service type outlets, 2005–06 to 2010–11 (per cent)
Table A4: ‘Not stated/not known’ response rates for service user data items, 2010–11 (per cent)
Table A5: ‘Not stated’ response rates for service use data items, for applicable service types, 
2010–11 (per cent)
Table A6: ‘Not stated’ response rates for service type outlet data items, 2010–11 (per cent)
Table B1: Disability support service users, service type outlets and agencies, by state and territory, 
2010–11 (per cent)
Table B2: Characteristics of disability support service type outlets, 2010–11
Table B2 (continued): Characteristics of disability support service type outlets, 2010–11
Table B3: Disability support service type outlets, remoteness area, by service group, 2010–11
Table B4: Disability support service type outlets, service type, by agency sector, 2010–11
Table B4 (continued): Disability support service type outlets, service type, by agency sector, 
2010–11
Table B5: State/territory-funded disability support service type outlets, service type, by state and 
territory, 2010–11
Table B6: Australian Government-funded disability support service type outlets, service type, 
by state and territory, 2010–11
Table B8: Users of state/territory-funded disability support services, agency sector, state and 
territory, by service group, 2010–11
Table B9: Users of employment services, agency sector, by state and territory, 2010–11
Table B10: Disability support services, characteristics of services accessed, 2010–11
Table B10 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of services accessed, 2010–11
Table B10 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of services accessed, 2010–11
Table B11: Users of disability support services aged under 65 per 1,000 potential population, 
service group, by state and territory, 2010–11
Table B12: Disability support services, characteristics of service users, 2010–11
Table B12 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of service users, 2010–11
Table B12 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of service users, 2010–11
Table B12 (continued): Disability support services, characteristics of service users, 2010–11
Table B13: Users of disability support services, service type, by state and territory, 2010–11
Table B13 (continued): Users of disability support services, service type, by state and territory, 2010–11
Table B14: Characteristics of users of disability support services, by Indigenous status, 2010–11
Table B14 (continued): Characteristics of users of disability support services, by Indigenous status, 2010–11
Table B14 (continued): Characteristics of users of disability support services, by Indigenous 
status, 2010–11
Table B15: Users of disability support services aged 0–64 per 1,000 potential population, 
Indigenous status, by and state and territory, 2010–11
Table B16: Users of disability support services, primary disability group, by English Proficiency 
Group, 2010–11 (per cent)
Table B17: Users of disability support services aged 15–64, labour force status, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Table B18: Users of disability support services aged 16 and over, main income source, by primary 
disability group, 2010–11 (per cent)
Table B19: Users of disability support services, new users, by service type, 2010–11
Table B20: Users of disability support services, new users, by service type and state and 
territory, 2010–11
Table B21: Users of disability support services, new service users’ frequency of need for 
assistance with ADL, by service group, 2010–11
Table B22: Users of disability support services, new and continuing users, by age group, 2010–11
Table B23: Users of disability support services, new users, age group, by state and territory, 2010–11 (per cent)
Table B24: Users of disability support services, by primary and any significant disability, 2010–11
Table B25: Support needs of disability support services users, 2010–11
Table B25 (continued): Support needs of disability support services users, 2010–11
Table B26: Users of disability support services, frequency of need for support in life areas, by primary disability, 2010–11 (per cent)
Table B27: Users of disability support services, frequency of need for support in life areas, by living arrangement, 2009–10
Table B28: Support needs of disability support service users, by Indigenous status, 2010–11
Table B29: Characteristics of informal carers of disability support services users, 2010–11
Table B30: Characteristics of carers of disability support service users, by Indigenous status, 
2010–11
Table B31: Users of disability support services, existence of an informal carer, by remoteness 
area, 2010–11
Table B32: Users of disability support services who always or sometimes need support 
with ADL, existence of an informal carer, by age group, 2010–11
Table B33: Users of disability support services who always or sometimes need support for 
AIL, existence of an informal carer, by age group, 2010–11
Table B34: Users of disability support who always or sometimes need support for AWEC, 
existence of an informal carer, by age group, 2010–11
Table B35: Disability support service users with an informal carer, relationship of carer to 
service user, by age group of carer, 2010–11
Table B36: Users of disability support services, reported primary disability group, by 
residential setting, 2010–11
Table B37: Users of disability support services, service type, by multiple service use, 2010–11
Table B37 (continued): Users of disability support services, service type, by multiple service use, 
2010–11
Table B38: Users of disability support services, service type, by use of other services, 2010–11
Table B38 (continued): Users of disability support services, service type, by use of other 
services, 2010–11
Table B39: Mean and median hours of service provided by disability support service type 
outlets during the reference week, June 2011
Table B40: Mean and median hours of service provided by disability support service type 
outlets during a typical week, 2010–11
Table B41: Mean hours worked in the reference week by paid and unpaid staff for disability 
support service type outlets, by service group, 2010–11
Table B42: Mean hours worked in a typical week by paid and unpaid staff for disability 
support service type outlets, by service group, 2010–11
Table B43: Disability support service type outlets, period of operation, by service group, 
2010–11
Table B44: Calculation of potential populations, people aged 0–64 and 15–64, by state and 
territory, 30 June 2009
Table B45: Calculation of Indigenous factor, 2010–11

List of figures
Figure 2.1:	Service users per 1,000 population, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Figure 2.2:	Users of disability support services aged under 65 per 1,000 potential population,
by service group, 2008–09 to 2010–11
Figure 3.1:	Users of disability support services, by age group and sex, 2010–11
Figure 3.2:	Users of disability support services per 1,000 population aged 0–64,
by remoteness area, 2010–11
Figure 4.1:	Users of disability support services, primary disability by age group, 2010–11
Figure 4.2:	Users of disability support services, primary disability, 2005–06 to 2010–11
Figure 4.3:	Users of disability support services who always or sometimes need assistance,
by life area, 2010–11
Figure 4.4:	Users of disability support services with little or no effective communication,
by primary disability group, 2010–11
Figure 5.1:	Users of disability support services, existence of informal carer, by service group, 
2010–11
Figure 6.1:	Disability support service type outlets, mean FTE staff per outlet in the
reference week, 2005–06 to 2010–11