Disability in Australia: multiple disabilities and need for assistance

September 2009

Please note that there is the potential for minor revisions of data in this report.
Please check the online version at <www.aihw.gov.au> for any amendments.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is Australia’s national
health and welfare statistics and information agency. The Institute’s mission is
 better information and statistics for better health and wellbeing.

© Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2009

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This publication is part of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Disability series. A complete list of the Institute’s publications is available from the Institute’s website <www.aihw.gov.au>. 

ISSN 1444-3589
ISBN 978 1 74024 947 8
Suggested citation 
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2009 Disability in Australia: multiple disabilities and need for assistance. Disability series. Cat. no. DIS 55. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 
Board Chair
Hon. Peter Collins, AM, QC

Director 
Penny Allbon

Any enquiries about or comments on this publication should be directed to:
Dr Xingyan Wen
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
GPO Box 570
Canberra ACT 2601
Phone: (02) 6244 1177
Email: xingyan.wen@aihw.gov.au

Published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Printed by Blue Star Print Group 

Contents
Acknowledgments
Summary
Introduction
Prevalence of multiple disabilities
Combinations of disabilities
Mean number of long-term health conditions and multiple disabilities
Severity of disability and multiple disabilities
Likelihood of severe or profound core activity limitation and number of disabilities
Likelihood of severe or profound core activity limitation, for a given combination of multiple disabilities
Frequency of need for help with core activities
Participation in education and employment
Participation in community activities
Support needs and assistance for people with multiple disabilities
Is need for assistance among people with multiple disabilities being met?
Education restriction and support received
Employment restriction and support received
Use of aids and equipment and multiple disabilities
Technical appendix
Concepts and terms of the ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers
Appendix tables
References
List of tables
List of figures

Acknowledgments
The author of this report was Dr Xingyan Wen.
Special thanks to Cathy Hales, Head of the Functioning and Disability Unit at the Institute, for her constructive comments and editorial suggestions on the draft report.
The author is grateful to Dr Louise O'Rance, Ann Peut, Ingrid Seebus (AIHW), Maria Hicks and Patricia O'Reilly (FaHCSIA) for reviewing the draft report.
Summary
In 2003, over half of all Australians with disability had a combination of two or more intellectual, psychiatric, sensory/speech, acquired brain injury (ABI) and physical/diverse disabilities (about 10% of the Australian population or 2 million people).
The average number of long-term health conditions associated with disabilities ranged from 3.5 for people with two disabilities to 6.2 for people with five disabilities. Dementia, autism, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, speech problems, and stroke were long-term health conditions more commonly associated with multiple disabilities.
Half of children aged under 15 years with psychiatric disability (42,300) or ABI (11,500) had three or more disabilities, followed by over one-third of children with sensory/speech (48,100) or intellectual disability (55,100). More than half of people aged 15–44 years with ABI (85,300) or intellectual disability (95,300) had three or more disabilities. Support needs of people with early onset multiple disabilities vary depending on the nature of their disabilities and their life stages. As they grow older, they may have higher support needs at an earlier age than people with single or late onset disability.
The more disabilities people had, the more likely they were to need help with 'core' daily activities of self-care, mobility and communication. Some combinations of disabilities had more marked effects on people's activity, participation in major life areas and related need for assistance. 
A substantial proportion of care for people with multiple disabilities was provided by their family members and friends.
People with multiple disabilities who needed very frequent assistance with daily activities were much less likely to have their needs fully met than people with less frequent need for assistance.
School students with a mix of intellectual and other disabilities were more likely than other students with a mix of disabilities to have schooling restrictions and to rely on special support or arrangements at school.
Over half of children with psychiatric disability and two or more other disabilities had a nervous or emotional condition or mental illness causing restriction, or requiring help or supervision.
People aged 15–64 years with a mix of psychiatric and physical/diverse disabilities, and in combination with another type of disability, were more likely than others to have severe or profound employment restriction. Over one-third of people with three disabilities, and almost half of people with four or five disabilities, had profound employment restriction. 
Among people with four or five disabilities, 30% were unable to go out as often as they would like, to participate in community activities; over 40% were living in institutions and a majority (77%) was aged 65 years or over.
Access to aids and equipment is critical to older people with multiple disabilities. Around 70% of people aged 65 years or over with four or five disabilities and mobility limitation, relied on mobility aids.

Introduction
Multiple disabilities can be considered in terms of multiple disabling conditions, impairments or activity limitations. In Australia, disabilities are often classified into groups that provide a broad categorisation of disability, based not only on underlying disabling conditions but also on activity limitation and participation restrictions (AIHW 2003). Disability groups, such as intellectual, psychiatric or sensory/speech disability, are generally recognised in the disability field and in legislative and administrative contexts in Australia. This analysis focuses on people in Australia who have disabilities in two or more of the following disability groups (AIHW 2003, 2005):
•	intellectual
•	psychiatric
•	sensory/speech 
•	acquired brain injury (ABI)
•	physical/diverse disabilities. 
Discussions of disability often focus on a person's primary disability such as intellectual disability, or disability related to a specific health condition such as Parkinson's disease. This is reflected in various reports and papers on disability and the organisation of consumer representatives and advocates within the disability sector. 
In reality, many people experience more than one type of disability. People with multiple disabilities often have a combination of two or more disabling conditions, impairments or activity limitations. The severity of disability and need for assistance is closely related to the number and type of disabilities a person has (Statistics Canada 2006). A study of instruments to classify support needs based on a survey of about 1,000 people with disability found that people with multiple disabilities or intellectual disability in addition to a neurological disability, a sensory or physical disability generally registered higher support needs in major life areas of activities and participation (Llewellyn et al. 2005). There is little in-depth and comprehensive study of multiple disabilities and related needs for assistance at large population level. 
This report examines the severity of disability and complex support needs of people with different combinations of disabilities in Australia. It considers the following questions:
•	What are the most common combinations of multiple disabilities?
•	Which combinations of disability are most often associated with severe disability? 
•	Which combinations of disability are often associated with limitation in all three 'core' activity areas of self-care, mobility and communication?
•	What are the support needs of people with multiple disabilities?
•	Is the support system taking care of people who need very frequent assistance due to multiple disabilities as well as those who need less frequent assistance?
The primary data source is the 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) conducted by the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS). While the data are now 6 years old and the number of people with disability has changed, much of the insight they give into the experience of people with multiple disabilities is not outdated. This report uses SDAC terminology for some key concepts of disability and activity limitation (see Technical appendix).
Prevalence estimates of specific disabilities vary with the scope and severity of the disabilities under consideration (AIHW 2003, 2005). Estimates in this analysis are based on all disabling conditions a person may have, whether or not they are the main disabling conditions. A person's 'main disabling condition' is the condition that they identify as causing the most problems, compared with any other conditions they may also have (ABS 2004).
The analysis examines people with disability in different age groups: children (0–14 years), people of working age (15–64 years) and older people (aged 65 years or over).
This report begins with an overview of the prevalence of multiple disabilities in Australia. It then discusses the relationship between multiple disabilities and severity of disability, the need for assistance for activities and participation in major life areas, and the extent to which that need was met.
Prevalence of multiple disabilities
An estimated 10% of Australians (two million people) in 2003 had two or more of the following types of disabilities: intellectual, psychiatric, sensory/speech, acquired brain injury and physical/diverse. The prevalence of multiple disabilities was higher for people at older ages. There were 4% of children under 15 years with multiple disabilities, compared with 7.5% of people aged 15–64 years and 35% of people aged 65 years or over (Table 1).
Overall, half (51%) of all people with disability had two or more disabilities. The proportion of all people with disability who had two or more disabilities was:
•	49% for people aged under 15 years
•	45% for people aged 15–64 years
•	62% for people aged 65 years or over.
The highest proportions of people with three or more disabilities were people with disabilities related to acquired brain injury (ABI) (64%) and intellectual disability (61%), followed by people with psychiatric (49%) and sensory/speech (33%) disabilities (Table A1). 
Half of children aged under 15 years with psychiatric disability (42,300) or ABI (11,500) had three or more disabilities. Over one-third of children with sensory/speech (48,100) or intellectual disability (55,100) also had three or more disabilities (Figure 1). Of children with psychiatric disability and two or more other disabilities, over half (56%, 24,700) had a nervous or emotional condition or mental illness causing restriction, or a need for help or supervision. Of these children, 41% (17,400) had other mental and behavioral disorders, 17% (7,100) had autism and 8% had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as their main disabling condition (AIHW analysis of 2003 SDAC confidentialised unit record file).  
Early intervention is important to reduce the impact of mental illness in later life. This may include prevention or strategies to reduce the impact of child abuse and neglect; behavioural interventions to reduce maladaptive behaviours or enhance social competence and additional educational help to enhance academic ability and social skill (International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities 2001).
More than half of people aged 15–44 years with ABI (85,300) or intellectual disability (95,300) had three or more disabilities. Among people aged 45–64 years, 83% (70,200) with intellectual disability and 63% (92,300) with ABI had three or more disabilities (Table A1). 
ABI is used to describe disabilities arising from damage to the brain which occurs after birth. ABI can result in the deterioration of cognitive, physical, emotional or independent functioning. The causes of ABI include traumatic accidents, neurological diseases, stroke and substance abuse. People with ABI often experience a range of physical, social and emotional difficulties and have complex and diverse support needs due to the varied nature of ABI (AIHW 1999, 2007a).
People with early onset multiple disabilities are likely to have low levels of functional ability and may have complex support needs. Their support needs vary depending on the nature of the disabilities and life stage. As they grow older, they may have higher support needs at an earlier age than others (AIHW 2000, 2009; Suttie 1995; Getter 1996; Williams & Chad 1998).

Table 1: People with disability: number of disabilities by age, 2003
	 	Number of disabilities	 	 	Total with disability	Total population	
 	One 	Two	Three	Four	Five	At least two			
	'000			
0–14	162.8	97.9	35.6	19.1	2.5	155.1	317.9	3,850.6	
15–64	1,230.4	681.2	227.8	76.9	21.9	1,007.8	2,238.1	13,371.8	
65+	528.7	586.5	173.1	87.1	15.0	861.7	1,390.4	2,496.8	
All ages	1,921.8	1,365.6	436.5	183.1	39.4	2,024.6	3,946.4	19,719.3	
	Per cent of people with disability			
0–14	51.2	30.8	11.2	6.0	0.8	48.8	100.0	 	
15–64	55.0	30.4	10.2	3.4	1.0	45.0	100.0	 	
65+	38.0	42.2	12.5	6.3	1.1	62.0	100.0	 	
All ages	48.7	34.6	11.1	4.6	1.0	51.3	100.0	 	
	Per cent of population			
0–14	4.2	2.5	0.9	0.5	0.1	4.0	8.3		
15–64	9.2	5.1	1.7	0.6	0.2	7.5	16.7		
65+	21.2	23.5	6.9	3.5	0.6	34.5	55.7		
All ages	9.7	6.9	2.2	0.9	0.2	10.3	20.0	 	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Source: Table A1.
Figure 1: Proportion of people with three or more disabilities by age and disability group, 2003
Combinations of disabilities
Multiple disabilities in childhood were mostly associated with intellectual disability 
(Table 2).
For people with disability aged 15–64 years, those with multiple disabilities often had physical and psychiatric disabilities, in combination with another type of disability.
For people with disability aged 65 years or over, multiple disabilities were most commonly associated with people who had physical/diverse and sensory/speech disabilities.

Table 2: People with multiple disabilities, by combinations of disabilities by age, 2003
	 	Age group (years)		
 	0–14	15–64	65+	All ages	
Two disabilities	 	'000	 	 	
Sensory/speech & physical/diverse	14.4	239.7	466.8	720.9	
Psychiatric & physical/diverse	*4.4	243.1	74.9	322.3	
Acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*4.6	86.3	24.6	115.5	
Intellectual & psychiatric	27.3	48.1	*3.5	78.9	
Intellectual & physical/diverse	19.4	18.9	*7.6	45.9	
Intellectual & sensory/speech	18.2	*8.6	**2.0	28.7	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech	*4.5	13.2	*4.4	22.1	
Sensory/speech & acquired brain injury	*2.2	12.0	*2.6	16.8	
Psychiatric & acquired brain injury	**0.8	*8.7	**0.1	*9.6	
Intellectual & acquired brain injury	*2.2	*2.6	—	*4.9	
Three disabilities					
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	**0.2	59.1	69.8	129.1	
Sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	**0.6	41.7	46.6	89.0	
Intellectual & psychiatric & physical/diverse	*5.3	40.2	24.0	69.6	
Acquired brain injury & psychiatric & physical/diverse	**0.6	39.7	*7.7	48.1	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	*9.4	12.3	17.2	38.9	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech	16.3	13.7	*5.2	35.2	
Intellectual & physical/diverse & acquired brain injury	**1.4	*9.0	**0.7	11.1	
Intellectual & psychiatric & acquired brain injury	**0.9	*8.8	**0.2	10.0	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury	**0.7	*3.2	**1.5	*5.4	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury	—	**0.1	**0.1	**0.2	
Four disabilities	 	 	 	 	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	14.4	23.7	65.9	104.1	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	—	17.3	12.2	29.5	
Intellectual & psychiatric & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	**0.8	17.0	*5.0	22.8	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*3.5	11.1	*3.7	18.2	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury	*0.3	*7.9	**0.4	*8.5	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Note: Estimates of some combinations of disability are subject to high standard errors and therefore excluded in the subsequent analyses.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Mean number of long-term health conditions and multiple disabilities
People with multiple long-term health conditions are likely to have multiple disabilities. The number of long-term health conditions a person experiences is highly correlated with the severity of disability (AIHW 2004).
A 'long-term health condition' is a disease or health problem that has lasted or is likely to last for at least six months, or has resulted in an impairment or restriction that has lasted or is likely to last for at least six months (ABS 2004).
The average number of long-term health conditions among people with multiple disabilities ranged from 3.5 for people with two disabilities to 6.2 for people with five disabilities (Table 3).
Age patterns indicate a higher average number of conditions for people aged 65 years or over than younger people across all combinations of multiple disabilities.
Some long-term health conditions are particularly noteworthy for high prevalence of multiple disabilities (Table A2): 
•	dementia (classified here as psychiatric disability) was most likely to be associated with multiple disabilities: 91% of people with dementia had physical/diverse disability, 82% had intellectual disability, 68% had sensory/speech disability and 15% had ABI 
•	autism (58% psychiatric, 38% sensory/speech) 
•	Parkinson's disease (50% sensory/speech, 40% psychiatric) 
•	schizophrenia (52% physical/diverse, 43% intellectual)
•	speech problems (62% physical/diverse, 57% intellectual, 49% psychiatric) 
•	stroke (59% sensory/speech, 29% psychiatric).
People with these long-term conditions often had three or more associated disabilities.
People with three or more disabilities who needed help with health care were less likely to have their health care needs fully met than people with one or two disabilities. The unmet need was particularly high among adults with four or five disabilities (Table 4).
At working age (15–64 years), the proportion of people with disability who had their health-care needs fully met dropped markedly at three or more disabilities. At 65 years or older, the decline was most marked at four or five disabilities. This highlights the importance of health and disability support systems working together for this group of Australians.

Table 3: People with multiple disabilities: mean number of health conditions by combinations of multiple disabilities, 2003
 	0–14	15–64	65+	All ages	
Two disabilities					
Sensory/speech & physical/diverse	2.2	3.3	4.2	3.8	
Psychiatric & physical/diverse	*2.1	3.6	4.5	3.8	
Acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*2.3	3.5	4.1	3.6	
Intellectual & physical/diverse	2.1	2.4	*3.9	2.5	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech	*1.3	2.5	*3.1	2.4	
Sensory/speech & acquired brain injury	*1.8	2.3	*3.0	2.3	
Intellectual & sensory/speech	1.7	2.0	*3.2	1.9	
Intellectual & psychiatric	1.2	1.4	2.4	1.4	
Total with two disabilities	1.8	3.2	4.2	3.5	
Three disabilities					
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	*2.0	5.4	5.9	5.7	
Sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*3.0	4.7	5.5	5.1	
Acquired brain injury & psychiatric & physical/diverse	*3.0	4.7	*6.7	5.0	
Intellectual & psychiatric & physical/diverse	*2.5	3.8	4.7	4.0	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	*2.4	4.2	4.8	4.0	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech	1.7	1.8	*3.6	2.0	
Total with three disabilities	2.1	4.4	5.4	4.6	
Four disabilities					
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	—	5.9	8.0	6.7	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	2.7	5.2	6.1	5.4	
Intellectual & psychiatric & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*3.1	5.1	*5.7	5.2	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*2.6	4.2	*6.1	4.3	
Total with four disabilities	2.7	5.0	6.3	5.4	
Total with five disabilities	5.2	5.9	6.7	6.2	
Total with disability	1.6	2.7	4.0	3.1	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table 4: People with a disability living in households who need assistance with health care: proportion whose health care need was fully met, 2003
	 	Number of disabilities		
Age/Need fully met	One	Two	Three	Four
 or five	Total	
0–14		Per cent of total		
Fully met	91.4	95.8	72.0	83.7	86.8	
Total ('000)	30.7	17.2	17.0	13.1	78.0	
15–64						
Fully met	82.1	79.2	75.6	68.5	79.0	
Total ('000)	185.8	132.7	66.6	33.4	418.5	
65+						
Fully met	86.3	87.7	86.9	71.7	86.1	
Total ('000)	174.6	203.3	65.8	29.5	473.2	
All ages						
Fully met	84.7	84.9	80.2	72.4	83.1	
Total ('000)	391.1	353.2	149.4	76.1	969.8	
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.
Severity of disability and multiple disabilities
Information about severity of disability in the Australian population can inform disability policy and service planning. The eligibility criteria for receiving disability-related services generally include at least one indicator of severity of disability. Severity of disability can be examined in relation to different aspects of disability, depending on the purpose. In this analysis, severity of disability is chiefly measured by the need and frequency of need for assistance in the three core activities of self-care, mobility and communications (see Technical appendix). Participation restrictions in education, employment and community activities are also discussed.
Likelihood of severe or profound core activity limitation and number of disabilities
A person with multiple disabilities is much more likely to have severe or profound core activity limitation (that is, they sometimes or always need assistance with core activities) than a person with one type of disability. In 2003, almost four in five people (78%) with five disabilities had severe or profound core activity limitation, compared with one in five people (22%) with one disability (Figure 2). In fact, the proportion of people with severe or profound core activity limitation increases with each additional disability.

Source: Table A3.
Figure 2: People with disability: proportion with core activity limitation, 
by severity, according to number of disabilities, 2003
Likelihood of severe or profound core activity limitation, for a given combination of multiple disabilities
This section explores the associations between different combinations of disabilities and the likelihood of severe or profound core activity limitation.
Among people with two disabilities, intellectual disability combined with sensory/speech disability was more likely to result in severe or profound core activity limitation than other combinations of disabilities (62% versus average 32%) (Table A4).
Around half (49%) of people with three disabilities had severe or profound core activity limitation. This was most common among people with intellectual and psychiatric and sensory/speech disabilities (82%).
Three-quarters (75%) of people with four disabilities had severe or profound core activity limitation. This was most common among people with intellectual and psychiatric and sensory/speech and physical/diverse disabilities (86%).
In summary, for each number of disabilities, there is considerable variation in the frequency of need for assistance depending on the different combination of disabilities, making policy development complex. People who had three or more disabilities, including intellectual and psychiatric disabilities, were more likely than others to have severe or profound core activity limitation. 
Number of core activities in which help is needed
Over 40% of people with four or five disabilities needed help with all three core activities, compared with very few people with one or two disabilities (1% and 2% respectively) (Figure 3).
Generally, people with three or four disabilities were much more likely to need help with multiple core activities than those with one or two disabilities (Table A6).
People with intellectual disability only were, on average, more likely to need help with two or three core activities (18%) than other people with one disability (7%). 
Among people with multiple disabilities, the need for assistance with two or three core activities was most commonly associated with people with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities in combination with sensory/speech disability.

Source: Table A5.
Figure 3: People with disability: number of core activities in which help was needed, by number of disabilities, 2003

Frequency of need for help with core activities
The number of core activities that a person needs help with is one indicator of the level of assistance needed. It is also of interest to examine how often people need assistance and whether this is influenced by the presence of multiple disabilities. This section examines the highest frequency of need for help with any one of the three core activities, regardless of the number of activities in which help is needed.
Overall, people with four or five disabilities were much more likely to need at least daily assistance with core activities than those with one or two disabilities (Table 5). Almost half of people with five disabilities needed help six or more times per day, compared with 1% of people with one type of disability.
A higher proportion of people with intellectual disability only needed at least daily help with core activities, compared with the average of people with one disability (Table A7).
Among people with multiple disabilities, those with intellectual and sensory disabilities, in combination with other types of disability, were more likely to need at least daily assistance with core activities (Table A7).
Table 5: People with disability: highest frequency of need for assistance with core activities, by number of disabilities, 2003
		Number of disabilities			
Highest frequency of need for assistance	One	Two	Three	Four	Five	Total	
			Per cent				
Six or more times per day	1.1	3.2	10.1	32.7	48.4	4.7	
Up to five times per day	6.7	10.8	19.2	22.5	*16.7	10.3	
At least daily	7.7	14.0	29.3	55.2	65.0	15.1	
Once to six times per week	6.7	9.8	8.9	11.2	*6.6	8.2	
Three times or less per month	6.9	7.4	9.7	8.1	*5.7	7.4	
Do not need assistance or don't know	78.6	68.8	52.1	25.5	*22.7	69.3	
Total ('000)	1,921.8	1,365.6	436.5	183.1	39.4	3,946.4	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Note: The 2009 SDAC will collect information about frequency of recipient of assistance, which was not collected in the 2003 SDAC.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.
Participation in education and employment
School students with a severe or profound core activity limitation were more likely to attend a special class or school than students with no such limitation (Table 6).
Students with multiple disabilities were much more likely to attend a special class or school than those with one disability regardless of whether they had severe or profound core activity limitation. This appears to be related to intellectual disability (Table A8).
Labour force participation is strongly associated with the number of disabilities a person has (Figure 4; Table A9). The labour force participation rate was 59% for people with one disability only, compared with 28% for those with four or five disabilities. The participation rates were substantially lower for people with three or more disabilities than the average rate of people with disability. 
The unemployment rate for people with three disabilities was nearly twice (12%) as high as for people with one disability (6.5%) (Table A9).
Table 6: People aged 5–19 years with disability in households: type of school attending by number of disabilities, 2003
	Severe or profound limitation		Disability but no severe or profound limitation	
 Number of disabilities	Ordinary school class	Special class/ school	Total(a)	 	Ordinary school class	Special class/school	Total(a)	
	Per cent	Per cent	'000		Per cent	Per cent	'000	
One disability only	61.3	29.0	60.6		71.6	11.6	125.3	
Two disabilities	52.8	43.1	45.7	 	53.9	30.2	76.6	
Three disabilities	28.5	60.3	31.2		41.9	21.6	16.7	
Four disabilities	21.8	68.4	19.5	 	**25.2	**42.4	*3.4	
(a) 	Total includes persons who were not attending school.
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Source: Table A9.
Figure 4: People aged 15–64 years with disability in households: labour force participation rates, by number of disabilities, 2003
Participation in community activities
This section examines community/social participation restrictions among people with disability, specifically, the proportion of people who would have liked to go out more but were prevented from doing so because of disability.
Multiple disabilities, especially three or more disabilities, are strongly associated with lower rates of social participation (as indicated by being able to leave their house). About 30% of people aged 5 years or over with four or five disabilities were unable to go out as often as they would like, compared with 11% of people with one disability (Figure 5).

Source: Table A10.
Figure 5: Proportion of people aged 5 years or over living in households who could not leave home at all or could not go out as often as would like due to their disability, by age, 2003

The likelihood of living in an institution increases with increasing number of disabilities. In 2003, one-third (57,300) of people aged 5 years or over with four disabilities, and 43% (16,700) of people aged 5 years or over with five disabilities were living in 'cared accommodation' such as hospitals and aged care homes (Table 7). The ABS SDAC does not collect information about social participation for this group. Most people living in cared accommodation had multiple disabilities, especially three or more disabilities.
About 22,200 people with five disabilities were living in households.

Table 7: People aged 5 years or over with disability in households: could not leave home at all or could not go out as often as would like due to disability or condition, by combinations of multiple disabilities, 2003
 Number of disabilities	Could not leave home or could not go out as often as would like 	Total with disability living in households ('000)	Total with disability living in cared accommodation	Total with disability	
	Per cent of total living in households	 ('000)	 ('000)	('000)	
One disability	11.3	1,873.6	16.0	1889.6	
Two disabilities	15.5	1,312.5	38.9	1351.4	
Three disabilities	20.1	384.5	48.8	433.3	
Four disabilities	25.8	122.4	57.3	179.7	
Five disabilities	48.6	22.2	16.7	38.9	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.
Support needs and assistance for people with multiple disabilities
Over half (54%) of people with severe or profound core activity limitation and four or five disabilities needed help with all three core activities (Figure 6). A large proportion (44%) of people with four or five disabilities were living in cared accommodation. People in cared accommodation were far more likely to have severe or profound limitation in all three core activities (AIHW 2007b).
People aged 15 years or over who needed help with one or two core activities were most likely to need assistance with mobility only or with self-care and mobility (Figure 6; Table A12).
For children aged 0–14 years, the most commonly reported need for assistance was with communication only (Table A12).

Source: Table A11.
Figure 6: People with severe or profound core activity limitation: core activities in which help is needed, by number of disabilities, 2003
The following section discusses the type of assistance received with core activities and non-core activities by number of disabilities. Non-core activities include cognition or emotion, health care, paper work, transport, housework, property maintenance, and meal preparation. The analysis is restricted to people with disability who needed help with core and/or non-core activities.
Overall, people with disability were more likely to receive informal assistance only for core activities (56%) than non-core activities (36%) (Table A.13). Informal assistance is unpaid help or supervision provided to people with disability or people aged 60 years and over living in households. It includes only assistance that is provided for the specified core and non-core activities because of a person's disability or age. 
The more disabilities a person had, the less likely they were to receive informal assistance only and the more likely they were to be receiving both formal and informal assistance (Figure 7).  Formal assistance is help provided to people with disability by organisations or individuals representing organisations, or person who provided regular paid assistance.
Compared with core activities, people's need for help with non-core activities was more likely to be addressed through formal assistance (Table A13).
The high reliance of formal and informal assistance for people with multiple disabilities highlights the importance of the formal sector working hand-in-hand with primary carers and families to support people with multiple disabilities. A primary carer is a person who provides the most informal assistance to a person with disability.

Source: Table A13.
Figure 7: People with severe or profound core activity limitation who needed help with core activities by source of help received for core activities, by number of disabilities, 2003
Is need for assistance among people with multiple disabilities being met?
This section presents analysis relating to the overall extent to which need for help was met. The data are from 2003 SDAC and may not necessarily reflect the current service system. The analysis summarises the survey responses relating to three core activities and seven non-core activities, respectively. A person who needs help with all three core activities is counted as having their overall needs fully met only if the needs are fully met in each of the three core activities, and likewise for non-core activities.
Of the one million people who needed help with core activities, three-quarters had their needs fully met, and one in six had their needs partially met (Table 8). For non-core activities, only about 63% of people with disability who needed help had their needs fully met, and 33% had their needs partially met. Therefore, core activity needs were more likely to be met than non-core activity needs. A substantial proportion of care for people with multiple disabilities was provided by informal carers.
People with one disability were much more likely to have their core activity needs fully met (82%) than people with three or more disabilities (between 60% and 70%). A similar picture emerges for non-core activities—67% of those with one disability had their needs fully met, compared with about half of those with three or more disabilities (Table 8).
The proportion of people whose needs were not met at all was not higher for a higher number of disabilities (Table 8). This suggests that the unmet needs of people with multiple disabilities were largely under-met needs, meaning that they received some but not sufficient assistance.
People with intellectual disability only were less likely to have their needs fully met with non-core activities (49%), compared with the average of people with one disability (65%). There is no statistically significant difference in the proportions of people with fully met needs across different combinations of multiple disabilities (working tables not shown).
People with multiple disabilities who needed very frequent assistance were much less likely to have their needs fully met than people with less frequent need for help (Table 9).

Table 8: People with disability living in households who needed help with core activities(a) and/ or non-core activities(b), by the extent to which need for help was met, by number of disabilities, 2003
	 	Number of disabilities	 	
Extent to which need for help met	One 	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	
Core activities(a)		Per cent		('000)	
Fully	81.8	78.7	70.1	61.2	77.0	
Partly	11.3	14.4	22.8	33.9	16.2	
Not at all	7.0	6.9	7.1	*4.9	6.8	
Total	396.3	390.4	162.6	92.7	1,042.0	
Non-core activities(b)						
Fully	67.0	63.4	54.0	48.5	62.8	
Partly	27.9	32.5	41.4	48.6	32.6	
Not at all	5.1	4.2	4.6	*2.9	4.6	
Total	965.3	818.1	293.7	131.8	2,208.9	
(a) 	People with severe or profound core activity limitation who needed assistance with one or more core activities.
(b) 	People with disability who needed assistance with one or more none core activities.
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table 9: People with disability living in households who had their need for help fully met, by frequency of need for help by number of disabilities, 2003
 Frequency of need for help	One 	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	
Core activities(a)	Per cent of people who needed help	
Six or more times/day	77.2	69.1	60.3	53.6	64.7	
Up to five times/day	81.1	78.0	67.4	62.0	75.7	
At least daily	80.6	76.3	65.7	58.4	73.4	
One to six times/week	83.6	81.6	73.5	61.3	80.0	
Three or less/month	81.3	78.9	75.9	70.0	79.0	
Total	81.8	78.7	70.1	61.2	77.0	
Non-core activities(b)						
Six or more times/day	38.0	44.4	48.2	*46.9	44.4	
Up to five times/day	66.4	56.5	53.8	51.5	59.3	
At least daily	64.8	55.5	53.1	50.3	57.9	
One to six times/week	63.8	63.1	45.0	37.9	60.3	
Three or less/month	72.0	72.7	64.7	57.5	70.9	
Total	67.0	63.4	54.0	48.5	62.8	
(a) 	People with severe or profound core activity limitation who needed assistance with one or more core activities.
(b) 	People with disability who needed assistance with one or more none core activities.
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.
Education restriction and support received
Approximately 58% of people aged under 20 years with disability had schooling restriction, with 30% having severe or profound schooling restriction. More than two-thirds of those with schooling restriction received some kind of support or special arrangements at school (Table 10).
Students with four or five disabilities were much more likely to have severe or profound schooling restriction (64%) than those with one (18%) or two (34%) disabilities. Students with multiple disabilities were also more likely to receive support at school (68% to 79%) than those with one disability (59%).
Among students with one disability only, those with intellectual or sensory/speech disabilities were more likely to have special support at school than students with physical/diverse disability (Table A14).
Among students with two or more disabilities, those with a combination of intellectual and other disabilities were more likely than others to have schooling restrictions and have special supports or arrangements at school (Table A14).

Table 10: People aged under 20 with a disability living in households: schooling restrictions and receipt of support or special arrangement at school, by number of disabilities, 2003
 	One	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	
Whether support provided		Per cent of total with restriction		
No support provided	40.8	21.2	31.6	*22.9	31.0	
Support for schooling provided	59.2	78.8	68.4	77.1	69.0	
Level of schooling restriction		Per cent of total with disability		
Profound or severe	18.1	33.5	49.5	63.7	29.7	
Moderate or mild	30.2	30.5	24.0	*16.9	28.6	
Total with schooling restriction (%)	48.3	63.9	73.5	80.6	58.4	
Total with schooling restriction ('000)	105.3	87.3	37.5	24.3	254.4	
Total with disability ('000)	218.1	136.5	51.1	30.2	435.8	
(a)	Support and special arrangements for people with a schooling restriction include special equipment (including computer), special tuition, special assessment procedure, a counsellor or disability support person, special access or transport arrangements and other support.
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.
Employment restriction and support received
About 90% of people aged 15–64 years with five disabilities (living in households) had employment restriction, compared with 63% of people with one disability only (Table 11). 
Over one-third of people with three disabilities and almost half of people with four or five disabilities had profound employment restriction. According to the SDAC, they were permanently unable to work because of their disability, and no provision could be made to enable them to work (see Technical appendix).
On average, about 29% of total people with severe, moderate or mild employment restriction received some support for employment. People with four or five disabilities (42%) were much more likely to receive employment support than people with one type of disability (27%) (Table 11).
Employment restriction was much more common for people with psychiatric disability only (78%) than for people with one disability in general (63%) (Tables 11 & A15).
People with a mix of psychiatric and physical/diverse disabilities, in combination with another type of disability were more likely than others to have employment restriction, especially severe or profound employment restriction. Around 37% of people with psychiatric & physical/diverse disabilities had profound employment restriction, which was significantly higher than the employment restriction average for people with two disabilities (Tables 11 & A15).

Table 11: People aged 15 to 64 years with disability living in households: employment restrictions and receipt of support or special arrangement for employment, by number of disabilities, 2003
 	One 	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	
Whether support provided	Per cent of total with severe, moderate or mild restriction(a)	
No support	73.5	70.3	67.4	58.5	71.3	
Support provided(b)	26.5	29.7	32.6	41.5	28.7	
Total with severe, moderate or mild (000')	524.4	302.8	105.5	36.5	969.2	
						
Level of employment restriction		Per cent of total with disability		
Profoundly restricted	20.2	28.9	35.8	48.8	25.6	
Severely restricted	4.8	8.3	12.8	16.1	7.1	
Total profound or severe (%)	25.0	37.2	48.6	65.0	32.7	
Moderately or mildly restricted	37.9	36.4	34.3	*24.6	36.5	
Total with restriction (%)	62.8	73.6	82.8	89.5	69.2	
Total with restriction(000')	772.0	498.7	185.8	80.3	1536.7	
Total with disability(000')	1228.6	677.5	224.3	89.7	2220.0	
(a) 	Special support was provided for people with severe, moderate or mild employment restriction, as no level of support could enable people with profound employment restriction to join the work force.
(b) 	Support and special arrangements for people with an employment restriction include special leave arrangements, a special support person to assist/train on the job, help from someone at work, special equipment, modifying buildings/fittings, special/free transport or parking, training/retraining, allocating different duties and other support.
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.
Use of aids and equipment and multiple disabilities
Overall, the proportion of people using aids, including those using aids for core activities, increased with the number of disabilities present (Figure 8; Table A16). For people aged under 65 years, less than 50% of people with two or three disabilities used aids and equipment. For people aged 65 years or over, over 70% of people with two or three disabilities and 90% of people with four or five disabilities used aids.
For people aged under 65 years, the most commonly used aids were medical aids and communication and hearing aids; while for those aged 65 years or over, communication and hearing aids and mobility aids were the most commonly used (Figure 9). 
Access to aids and equipment is critical to many people with multiple disabilities. Around 70% of people aged 65 years with four or five disabilities who had mobility limitation relied on mobility aids (Table 12).

Source: Table A16.
Figure 8: People with disability: proportion using aids by number of disabilities, by age, 2003

Source: Table A16.
Figure 9: People with disability: type of aids used, by age, 2003

Table 12: People with disability and mobility limitation: use of mobility aids by number of disabilities, by age, 2003
	 	Number of disabilities		
 	One 	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	
0–14	Per cent of total with mobility limitation	
Use mobility aids	**2.7	*10.1	*10.2	*17.8	8.0	
Total with mobility limitation ('000)	63.5	44.3	26.1	18.7	152.6	
15–64						
Use mobility aids	9.7	13.1	13.0	19.1	11.8	
Total with mobility limitation ('000)	705.6	432.4	164.7	85.9	1,388.7	
65+						
Use mobility aids	24.3	35.7	47.9	67.8	36.0	
Total with mobility limitation ('000)	413.0	417.3	146.6	101.0	1,077.8	
All ages						
Use mobility aids	14.4	23.5	28.0	42.9	21.5	
Total with mobility limitation ('000)	1,182.1	894.1	337.5	205.6	2,619.1	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.
Technical appendix
Concepts and terms of the ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 
Disability
For ABS survey purposes, a person has disability if he/she has at least one of 17 limitations, restrictions or impairments that has lasted or is likely to last for at least 6 months and that restricts everyday activities. People with disability, so defined, are asked further questions about core activity limitations and schooling/employment restrictions. Those reporting a core activity limitation or schooling/employment restriction are the population with disability and a specific limitation or restriction. The remainder are the population with disability and no specific limitations (ABS 2004). 
Prevalence estimates of specific disabilities vary with the scope and severity of disabilities under consideration (AIHW 2003). Estimates in this analysis are based on all disabling conditions, whether or not they are main disabling conditions. A person's 'main disabling condition' is the condition (s)he identified as causing the most problems, compared with any other conditions (s)he may also have had.
Core activity
People identified as having disability are asked about their need for assistance with core activities of self-care, mobility, and communication. 
Core activities comprise the following tasks:
•	self-care—bathing or showering, dressing, eating, using the toilet, and bladder or bowel control
•	mobility—getting into or out of a bed or chair, moving around at home and going to or getting around a place away from home
•	communication—understanding and being understood by others: strangers, family and friends.
Core activity limitations
Four levels of core activity limitation are based on whether a person needs personal assistance with, has difficulty with, or uses aids or equipment for any of the core activities. A person’s overall level of core activity limitation is determined by the highest level of limitation the person experiences in any of the core activity areas. The four levels of core activity limitation are:
•	profound—unable to do, or always needs assistance from another person to perform a core activity
•	severe—sometimes needs assistance from another person to perform a core activity, or has difficulty understanding or being understood by family or friends; or can communicate more easily using sign language or other non-spoken forms of communication
•	moderate—does not need assistance, but has difficulty performing a core activity
•	mild—has no difficulty performing a core activity but uses aids or equipment because of disability; or cannot easily walk 200 metres, walk up and down stairs without a handrail, easily bend to pick up an object from the floor, or use public transport; or has difficulty or needs help using public transport.
In this report, a ‘severe or profound core activity limitation’ is sometimes referred to as ‘severe or profound limitation’.
Schooling or employment restriction
The survey identified two other life areas in which people may experience restrictions or difficulties due to disability, referred to as non-core restrictions. Schooling restrictions are applicable to people aged 5–20 years and employment restrictions are limited to persons aged 15–64 years living in households.
Severity of employment restrictions
•	profound—permanently unable to work because of own condition/disability, and no provision could be made to enable work
•	severe—needed/would need ongoing assistance or supervision at work because of conditions; and received assistance from disability job placement program or agency
•	moderate—restricted in type of work could do because of health conditions; often needed time off work; restricted in number of hours worked; and difficulty in changing jobs/getting better job
•	mild—did not need ongoing personal assistance or supervision, time off, shorter hours or have difficulty changing or getting better job, but needed ‘employer other arrangements’: needed employer to provide training/retraining, special equipment, modified buildings/fittings, special/free transport or parking.
Long-term health condition
A long-term health condition is defined as a disease or disorder that has lasted or is likely to last for at least 6 months, or a disease, disorder or event (e.g. stroke, poisoning, accident, etc.) that results in an impairment or restriction that has lasted or is likely to last for at least 6 months. 
Disabling condition
A disabling condition is a disease, disorder or event that leads to an impairment or restriction that has lasted or is likely to last for at least 6 months.
Main disabling condition
If one disabling condition is reported in the survey, this is recorded as the main disabling condition. If multiple conditions are reported, the main condition is the one reported as causing the most problems.
Appendix tables
Table A1: People with disability: number of disabilities by disability groups by age, 2003
 	Intellectual	Psychiatric	Sensory/speech	ABI	Physical/diverse	Total disability	
0–14	Per cent of total of a given disability group	'000	
One only	26.8	**2.2	32.6	**6.5	47.1	51.2	
Two or more	73.2	97.8	67.4	93.5	52.9	48.8	
Three or more	33.0	52.2	37.1	50.3	25.2	18.0	
Four or more	12.9	22.3	16.1	*31.3	13.8	6.8	
Five	*1.5	*3.1	*1.9	**11.0	*1.6	*0.8	
Total ('000)	166.7	81.0	129.7	22.8	154.1	317.9	
15–44							
One only	13.2	17.3	25.6	*4.1	55.9	56.7	
Two or more	86.8	82.7	74.4	95.9	44.1	43.3	
Three or more	51.5	37.1	35.7	57.4	15.9	14.8	
Four or more	22.5	12.9	16.9	24.4	5.4	4.7	
Five	6.1	3.6	5.2	7.6	1.5	1.1	
Total ('000)	185.1	314.2	215.7	148.6	746.0	982.1	
45–64							
One only	**1.6	6.5	15.2	**0.9	51.7	53.6	
Two or more	98.4	93.5	84.8	99.1	48.3	46.4	
Three or more	83.2	41.6	35.2	63.2	15.2	14.4	
Four or more	47.2	14.4	11.9	26.6	4.4	4.2	
Five	12.6	3.2	2.8	7.3	0.9	0.8	
Total ('000)	84.4	326.9	382.9	146.0	1,143.3	1,256.0	
65+							
One only	*1.3	*2.1	7.1	**0.3	35.6	38.0	
Two or more	98.7	97.9	92.9	99.7	64.4	62.0	
Three or more	90.1	69.9	30.9	77.0	20.5	19.8	
Four or more	59.0	33.3	12.6	29.9	7.8	7.3	
Five	9.8	5.1	1.9	12.4	1.1	1.1	
Total ('000)	152.5	295.8	768.0	120.9	1,307.2	1,390.4	
All ages							
One only	12.3	8.2	14.1	2.1	46.1	48.7	
Two or more	87.7	91.8	85.9	97.9	53.9	51.3	
Three or more	60.8	49.3	33.2	64.4	17.9	16.7	
Four or more	32.8	20.1	13.3	27.0	6.4	5.6	
Five	6.7	3.9	2.6	9.0	1.2	1.0	
Total ('000)	588.7	1,017.9	1,496.3	438.3	3,350.6	3,946.4	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.
Table A2: People with disability: selected long-term health conditions by disability group, 2003
	Intellectual	Psychiatric	Sensory/speech	Acquired brain injury	Physical/diverse	Total	
		Percent of total number of a given health condition	('000)	
Autism	100.0	58.0	38.3	*11.7	*21.0	29.9	
ADHD	100.0	30.6	19.3	*11.5	32.4	75.3	
Schizophrenia	43.4	100.0	*21.4	*19.8	52.1	43.9	
Depression	18.7	100.0	33.5	16.7	80.8	333.1	
Dementia(a)	81.9	98.0	68.0	15.4	90.7	101.4	
Glaucoma	*19.9	29.1	100.0	*12.0	96.7	48.3	
Total vision	20.1	29.6	100.0	18.4	82.4	328.4	
Hearing noise-induced	6.9	16.5	100.0	14.0	87.2	362.1	
Total hearing	12.3	21.2	100.0	12.4	82.5	1,091.1	
Speech problems	56.7	48.6	100.0	17.9	61.6	271.7	
Heart diseases	10.3	25.2	48.0	10.5	100.0	488.1	
Stroke	20.0	29.3	59.4	15.9	100.0	282.6	
Hypertension	8.0	21.5	47.2	10.1	100.0	919.4	
Asthma	13.7	26.3	32.4	11.9	100.0	517.8	
Arthritis	7.1	23.1	38.9	10.6	100.0	1,256.7	
Back problems	6.8	25.3	31.7	12.5	100.0	1,094.0	
Osteoporosis	10.1	24.7	41.0	8.2	100.0	242.5	
Parkinson's disease	*29.6	39.7	51.3	*13.3	100.0	32.4	
Multiple sclerosis	**4.9	*32.8	*27.4	*2.9	100.0	11.1	
Epilepsy	31.6	34.1	37.0	31.8	100.0	87.2	
Migraine	6.9	34.0	25.4	14.3	100.0	257.0	
Cerebral palsy	*59.2	*41.2	*55.7	*36.8	100.0	16.1	
Paralysis	*53.1	53.4	*65.7	*50.1	100.0	11.7	
Diabetes	10.2	22.9	40.8	10.3	92.1	355.8	
Cancer	9.5	16.6	42.0	11.3	88.3	135.6	
(a) 	Includes Alzheimer's disease. Prevalence of dementia is likely to be an underestimate, particularly in relation to people living in households as the survey data are based on self-report (or report by proxy) rather than professional assessment (AIHW 2007c).
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A3: People with disability: number of disabilities by severity of core activity limitation, 2003
	 	Number of disabilities	 		
 	One 	Two	Three	Four	Five	Total	
			'000				
Profound or severe	422.3	437.2	211.5	137.1	30.5	1,238.6	
Moderate or mild	907.8	642.7	162.0	35.4	*8.0	1,755.8	
Schooling or employment only	224.8	120.3	30.1	*8.2	**0.8	384.1	
Disability no limitation	367.0	165.5	32.9	*2.4	**0.1	567.8	
Total with disability	1,921.8	1,365.6	436.5	183.1	39.4	3,946.4	
	Per cent	
Profound or severe	22.0	32.0	48.5	74.9	77.5	31.4	
Moderate or mild	47.2	47.1	37.1	19.3	*20.2	44.5	
Schooling or employment only	11.7	8.8	6.9	*4.5	**2.1	9.7	
Disability no limitation	19.1	12.1	7.5	*1.3	**0.1	14.4	
Total with disability	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A4: People with multiple disabilities: proportion of severe or profound core activity limitation by specific combinations of disabilities, by age, 2003
 	Per cent severe or profound	95% CI(a) lower	95% CI(a) upper	 	Severe or profound 	Total with disability	
Two disabilities	Per cent		'000	
Intellectual & sensory/speech	61.8	47.9	75.7		17.7	28.7	
Intellectual & physical/diverse	40.0	28.7	51.4		18.4	45.9	
Intellectual & psychiatric	38.0	29.0	46.9		29.9	78.9	
Psychiatric & physical/diverse	36.9	32.5	41.2		118.8	322.3	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech	*31.6	16.6	46.5		*7.0	22.1	
Sensory/speech & physical/diverse	29.9	27.1	32.7		215.7	720.9	
Acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	22.0	15.7	28.2		25.4	115.5	
Total with two disabilities	32.0	29.9	34.1		437.2	1,365.6	
Three disabilities							
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech	82.2	71.9	92.6		29.0	35.2	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	68.6	56.8	80.3		26.7	38.9	
Intellectual & psychiatric & physical/diverse	59.9	50.1	69.7		41.7	69.6	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	50.4	43.2	57.5		65.0	129.1	
Acquired brain injury & psychiatric & physical/diverse	41.5	30.2	52.8		19.9	48.1	
Sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	23.7	16.5	31.0		21.1	89.0	
Total with three disabilities	48.5	44.5	52.4		211.5	436.5	
Four disabilities							
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	86.1	80.7	91.5		89.6	104.1	
Intellectual & psychiatric & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	67.2	52.5	82.0		15.3	22.8	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	65.6	48.8	82.3		12.0	18.2	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	53.9	39.9	67.8		15.9	29.5	
Total with four disabilities	74.9	69.8	80.0	 	137.1	183.1	
(a) 	Confidence intervals. If the confidence intervals (CI) of two proportions overlapped, the proportions are deemed not to be significantly different from each other.
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A5: People with disability: number of core activities in which help is needed, by number of disabilities, 2003
Number of core activities	Number of disabilities	 	
	One 	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	
0–14						
One core activity	30.0	28.6	28.5	*19.2	28.7	
Two core activities	7.9	11.5	15.0	*16.2	10.4	
Three core activities	2.9	6.2	35.4	58.2	11.3	
Total need help	40.8	46.3	78.8	93.6	50.3	
Total ('000)	162.8	97.9	35.6	21.6	317.9	
15–64						
One core activity	11.0	16.0	18.1	23.2	13.8	
Two core activities	4.8	7.7	13.0	16.0	7.0	
Three core activities	0.1	0.8	3.8	16.7	1.4	
Total need help	16.0	24.4	34.9	55.9	22.2	
Total ('000)	1,230.4	681.2	227.8	98.8	2,238.1	
65+						
One core activity	17.0	19.2	20.0	11.5	17.9	
Two core activities	10.0	14.2	20.4	17.6	13.6	
Three core activities	0.8	3.1	18.7	60.1	8.4	
Total need help	27.8	36.5	59.1	89.2	39.9	
Total ('000)	528.7	586.5	173.1	102.1	1,390.4	
All ages						
One core activity	14.3	18.3	19.7	17.4	16.4	
Two core activities	6.5	10.7	16.1	16.7	9.6	
Three core activities	0.6	2.2	12.3	40.7	4.7	
Total need help	21.3	31.2	48.0	74.8	30.7	
Total ('000)	1,921.8	1,365.6	436.5	222.5	3,946.4	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A6: People with disability who needed help with two or three core activities by combinations of multiple disabilities, 2003
	Three activities 	95% CI(a) lower	95% CI(a) upper		At least two activities	95% CI(a) lower	95% CI(a) upper	Total 	
One disability only									
Intellectual	*7.9	3.09	12.74		18.4	11.29	25.43	72.5	
Psychiatric	**1.8	-0.23	3.75		*5.4	1.70	9.12	83.4	
Physical/diverse	**0.2	0.04	0.38		7.5	6.39	8.58	1,546.3	
Total with one disability	0.6	0.29	0.82		7.1	6.11	8.01	1,921.8	
Two disabilities								 	
Intellectual & psychiatric	*7.4	2.89	11.87		19.4	12.40	26.31	78.9	
Intellectual & sensory/speech	**3.0	-1.15	7.23		*19.4	8.31	30.47	28.7	
Intellectual & physical/diverse	5.7	0.74	10.56		*16.9	8.42	25.46	45.9	
Psychiatric & physical/diverse	2.2	0.94	3.47		15.4	12.10	18.74	322.3	
Sensory/speech & physical/diverse	1.6	0.88	2.36		11.8	9.87	13.81	720.9	
Acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	—	—	—		*9.0	4.80	13.12	115.5	
Total with two disabilities	2.2	1.52	2.81		12.9	11.43	14.40	1,365.6	
Three disabilities								 	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech	42.5	29.75	55.22		59.7	46.65	72.78	35.2	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	28.0	16.90	39.10		47.3	34.78	59.79	38.9	
Intellectual & psychiatric & physical/diverse	20.1	12.58	27.52		35.9	26.62	45.16	69.6	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	*6.7	3.25	10.09		28.2	21.75	34.75	129.1	
Sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	**1.1	-0.39	2.54		*9.0	4.33	13.77	89.0	
Acquired brain injury & psychiatric & physical/diverse	**1.9	-0.70	4.52		*20.1	11.11	29.04	48.1	
Total with three disabilities	12.3	9.71	14.87		28.4	24.84	31.87	436.5	
Four disabilities								 	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	55.2	47.36	63.11		73.2	66.40	80.05	104.1	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*22.3	7.95	36.61		*38.8	21.55	56.05	18.2	
Intellectual & psychiatric & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*23.4	10.13	36.61		*37.7	22.14	53.22	22.8	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	**5.9	-0.14	11.94		*26.1	13.75	38.44	29.5	
Total with four disabilities	39.0	33.16	44.84	 	56.3	50.16	62.37	183.1	
(a) 	Confidence interval
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A7: People with disability: highest frequency of need for help with core activities, by combinations of disabilities 2003
 	6+/day	95% CI(a) lower	95% CI(a) upper	 	At least daily	95% CI(a) lower	95% CI(a) upper	Total	
One disability only	Per cent of total	('000)	
Intellectual	*2.1	-0.25	4.41		19.7	12.46	27.04	72.5	
psychiatric	**1.1	-0.42	2.54		*8.7	3.98	13.51	83.4	
Sensory/speech	*1.3	0.18	2.49		6.8	4.05	9.47	210.3	
Physical/diverse	1.0	0.60	1.40		7.3	6.21	8.37	1,546.3	
Total with one disability	1.1	0.70	1.46		7.7	6.75	8.73	1,921.8	
Two disabilities								 	
Intellectual & psychiatric	*3.4	0.44	6.36		19.8	12.79	26.85	78.9	
Intellectual & sensory/speech	*11.3	2.71	19.97		45.1	31.00	59.15	28.7	
Intellectual & physical/diverse	*5.2	0.51	9.92		*20.5	11.25	29.72	45.9	
Psychiatric & physical/diverse	3.4	1.82	4.98		14.4	11.21	17.65	322.3	
Sensory/speech & physical/diverse	2.8	1.79	3.77		12.8	10.75	14.85	720.9	
Acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*2.7	0.47	4.87		9.6	5.29	13.83	115.5	
Total with two disabilities	3.2	2.38	3.94		14.0	12.44	15.53	1,365.6	
Three disabilities								 	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech	28.9	17.10	40.75		63.2	50.40	76.01	35.2	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	*16.7	7.59	25.75		50.6	37.95	63.31	38.9	
Intellectual & psychiatric & physical/diverse	15.8	9.01	22.65		37.0	27.66	46.36	69.6	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	9.6	5.54	13.63		29.2	22.63	35.77	129.1	
Sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*2.3	0.05	4.61		*10.5	5.43	15.57	89.0	
Acquired brain injury & psychiatric & physical/diverse	—	—	—		*15.2	7.30	23.17	48.1	
Total with three disabilities	10.1	7.73	12.47		29.3	25.73	32.82	436.5	
Four disabilities								 	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	47.6	39.55	55.68		72.4	65.47	79.27	104.1	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*22.3	7.97	36.64		*38.7	21.49	55.98	18.2	
Intellectual & psychiatric & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	*13.4	3.06	23.77		*42.5	26.51	58.40	22.8	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	**3.7	-0.98	8.33		*19.3	8.36	30.22	29.5	
Total with four disabilities	32.7	27.08	38.37	 	55.2	49.11	61.38	183.1	
(a) 	Confidence interval
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A8: People aged 5–19 years with disability in households: type of school attending by combinations of multiple disabilities, 2003
	Severe or profound		Disability but no severe or profound	
 	Ordinary school class	Special class/ school	Total	 	Ordinary school class	Special class/school	Total	
	Per cent	Per cent	'000		Per cent	Per cent	'000	
One disability only								
Intellectual	41.9	48.8	24.1		50.3	33.0	31.0	
Sensory/speech	*59.8	*28.6	16.1		68.1	*17.2	20.2	
Physical/diverse	83.7	**6.5	18.5		83.7	**1.3	68.6	
Total with one disability only	61.3	29.0	60.6		71.6	11.6	125.3	
Two disabilities	 	 	 		 	 	 	
Intellectual & psychiatric	*42.0	*49.9	14.8		*35.1	45.8	26.2	
Intellectual & sensory/speech	*43.3	*50.5	10.8		*79.6	**20.4	7.0	
Intellectual & physical/diverse	*53.8	*46.2	*9.5		*41.4	*41.2	16.5	
Sensory/speech & physical/diverse	*70.3	**29.7	*6.0		*72.1	**7.1	8.9	
Total with two disabilities	52.8	43.1	45.7	 	53.9	30.2	76.6	
Three disabilities	 	 	 		 	 	 	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech	*25.7	*64.5	14.5		**27.5	**37.0	2.1	
Intellectual & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	*26.1	*65.5	*7.5		**26.2	**48.6	2.4	
Total with three disabilities	28.5	60.3	31.2		41.9	21.6	16.7	
Four disabilities	 	 	 		 	 	 	
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	*23.0	*74.1	13.2		—	**100.0	**1.5	
Total with four disabilities	21.8	68.4	19.5	 	**25.2	**42.4	*3.4	
Total includes persons who were not attending school.
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A9: People aged 15–64 years with disability in households: labour force status, 2003
	Number of disabilities	
 	One 	Two 	Three	Four or five	Total	
Severe or profound			('000)			
Employed	73.9	39.5	15.3	*5.7	134.3	
Unemployed	*3.5	*8.9	**1.6	**1.2	15.1	
Total in the labour force	77.4	48.3	16.9	*6.8	149.5	
Not in the labour force	125.1	122.0	60.3	39.5	347.0	
Total	202.5	170.4	77.2	46.3	496.4	
Total with disability	 	 	 	 	 	
Employed	674.1	299.8	86.8	22.1	1,082.7	
Unemployed	46.8	38.5	12.1	*2.7	100.2	
Total in the labour force	720.9	338.3	98.9	24.9	1,182.9	
Not in the labour force	507.7	339.3	125.4	64.8	1,037.1	
Total	1,228.6	677.5	224.3	89.7	2,220.0	
	Unemployment rate (per cent)		
Severe or profound	*4.5	*18.4	**9.5	**17.0	10.1	
Total with disability	6.5	11.4	12.3	*10.9	8.5	
	Labour force participation rate (per cent)	
Severe or profound	38.2	28.4	21.9	*14.7	30.1	
Total with disability	58.7	49.9	44.1	27.7	53.3	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A10: People aged 5 years or over with disability in households: does not leave home at all or cannot go out due to disability or condition, by number of disabilities, by age, 2003
	 	Number of disabilities		
 	One 	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	
	Does not leave home or cannot go out as often as would like ('000)	
5–14	*4.3	*4.2	*9.2	*5.7	23.5	
15–64	123.7	101.8	38.3	24.3	288.0	
65+	84.1	97.6	29.7	12.4	223.9	
All ages	212.1	203.7	77.2	42.4	535.3	
		Total with disability (000')		
5–14	130.5	83.6	32.4	17.6	264.1	
15–64	1,228.6	677.5	224.3	89.7	2,220.0	
65+	514.5	551.3	127.9	37.3	1,231.0	
All ages	1,873.6	1,312.5	384.5	144.6	3,715.2	
		Per cent of total with disability		
5–14	*3.3	*5.1	*28.3	*32.6	8.9	
15–64	10.1	15.0	17.1	27.0	13.0	
65+	16.4	17.7	23.2	33.2	18.2	
All ages	11.3	15.5	20.1	29.3	14.4	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A11: People with a severe or profound core activity limitation: core activities in which help was needed, by number of disabilities, 2003
	 	Number of disabilities	 	
Activities in which help was needed	One 	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	
 		Per cent of total			
Self-care only	16.8	12.9	*11.6	*3.7	12.8	
Mobility only	40.3	37.5	23.3	16.6	33.2	
Communication only	7.8	6.7	*5.7	*2.9	6.4	
Self-care and mobility	27.7	29.4	28.4	17.3	27.0	
Self-care and communication	*0.5	*1.0	*1.4	*1.6	1.0	
Mobility and communication	*1.4	3.1	*3.4	*3.4	2.6	
All three core activities	2.5	6.8	25.4	54.0	14.9	
Total ('000)	422.3	437.2	211.5	167.6	1,238.6	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A12: People with a severe or profound core activity limitation: core activities in which help is needed, by age, 2003
	 	Age group (years)	
 	0–14	15–64	65+	
 		Per cent of total	
Self-care only	12.6	15.7	10.1	
Mobility only	9.9	41.6	32.4	
Communication only	32.6	2.9	1.8	
Self-care and mobility	10.5	27.2	31.7	
Self-care and communication	*3.5	*0.3	*0.9	
Mobility and communication	*5.9	3.1	*1.1	
All three core activities	21.8	6.3	20.7	
Total ('000)	165.3	512.4	560.9	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A13: People with disability in households who needed help with core activities and/or non-core activities, by type of assistance received, by number of disabilities, 2003.
	 	Number of disabilities			
 	One 	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	Total ('000)	
Core activities(a)	Per cent of total with disability		
Informal only	67.9	60.9	44.3	27.7	55.8	676.8	
Formal only	3.5	4.7	*3.7	*1.8	3.7	45.1	
Informal and formal	18.5	19.8	24.0	23.5	20.6	249.5	
No provider	6.7	6.3	5.5	*2.7	5.8	70.5	
Total living in households	96.7	91.7	77.5	55.7	86.0	1,042.0	
Living in cared accommodation 	3.3	8.3	22.5	44.3	14.0	170.0	
	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Total with disability ('000)	410.0	425.8	209.7	166.5	1,212.0		
Non-core activities(b)							
Informal only	44.2	35.2	28.3	16.7	36.3	866.2	
Formal only	12.1	12.0	7.4	*4.2	10.7	255.5	
Informal and formal	37.1	44.4	46.1	41.2	41.4	986.3	
No provider	5.1	4.0	3.9	*1.9	4.2	101.0	
Total living in households	98.5	95.6	85.8	64.0	92.6	2,208.9	
Living in cared accommodation 	1.5	4.4	14.2	36.0	7.4	175.5	
Total with disability ('000)	980.2	855.9	342.3	205.9	2,384.4	—	
(a) 	People with a severe or profound core activity limitation who needed help with one or more core activities
(b) 	People with a disability who needed help with one or more non-core activities
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A14: Students aged under 20 years with disability living in households: schooling restrictions and receipt of support or special arrangements at school, by type of multiple disabilities, 2003
	Support provided at school		Profound or severe	Total with schooling restriction 		Total with schooling restriction	Total with disability	
One disability only	Per cent of total with restriction		Per cent of total with disability		('000)	('000)	
Intellectual	67.6		46.0	82.6		45.5	55.1	
sensory/speech	69.4		29.1	63.2		22.9	36.2	
Physical/diverse	41.3		*2.9	37.4		32.6	87.1	
Two disabilities								
Intellectual & psychiatric	83.1		49.5	80.0		32.8	41.0	
Intellectual & sensory/speech	81.8		*38.7	83.3		14.8	17.8	
Intellectual & physical/diverse	79.2		47.0	73.7		19.1	26.0	
Three disabilities								
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech	68.7		65.7	91.6		15.2	16.6	
Four disabilities								
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	77.2	 	79.3	100.0	 	14.6	14.6	
(a) 	Support and special arrangements for people with a schooling restriction include special equipment (including computer), special tuition, special assessment procedure, a counsellor or disability support person, special access or transport arrangements and other support.
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A15: People aged 15 to 64 with a disability in households: employment restrictions, by type of multiple disabilities, 2003
	Level of employment restriction				
 	Profound	Profound or severe	Total with restriction	 	Total with restriction	Total with disability	
One disability only	Per cent of total with disability		('000)	('000)	
Psychiatric	19.0	29.4	78.3		58.5	74.7	
Sensory/speech	*4.2	*6.4	34.1		38.6	113.3	
Physical/diverse	22.3	26.9	65.2		656.8	1007.5	
Two disabilities							
Intellectual & psychiatric	*14.9	41.1	74.8		35.2	47.1	
Psychiatric & physical/diverse	37.3	45.1	84.6		204.8	242.2	
Sensory/speech & physical/diverse	26.3	30.2	64.4		153.9	239.1	
Acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	25.8	31.9	74.5		64.2	86.2	
Three disabilities							
Intellectual & psychiatric & physical/diverse	34.2	51.8	91.1		36.2	39.7	
Psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	47.1	50.9	86.1		50.3	58.4	
Sensory/speech & acquired brain injury & physical/diverse	27.7	35.8	77.2		32.1	41.6	
Acquired brain injury & psychiatric & physical/diverse	35.5	51.9	81.7		32.3	39.5	
Four disabilities							
Intellectual & psychiatric & sensory/speech & physical/diverse	55.6	59.4	87.2	 	18.6	21.3	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.

Table A16: People with disability: use of aids by number of disabilities by age, 2003
 	One 	Two	Three	Four or five	Total	
0–14		Per cent of total			
Self-care	*1.4	*4.3	*8.9	*16.7	4.2	
Mobility	**1.1	*4.6	*7.5	*15.4	3.8	
Communication and hearing	6.5	13.8	*12.9	*23.6	10.6	
Total core activity	8.4	18.8	21.5	*35.6	14.9	
Meal preparation	*0.5	**0.6	*2.1	**1.5	0.8	
Medical aids	19.2	12.3	*18.5	*43.9	18.7	
Total uses aids	28.1	32.5	38.2	63.2	33.0	
Total with disability	162.8	97.9	35.6	21.6	317.9	
15–64						
Self-care	3.9	7.2	9.2	19.5	6.1	
Mobility	5.6	8.3	9.4	16.6	7.3	
Communication and hearing	10.9	16.8	18.1	24.4	14.0	
Total core activity	16.3	24.3	27.4	39.5	20.9	
Meal preparation	1.0	*1.4	*1.3	*5.1	1.3	
Medical aids	22.7	25.8	30.2	28.4	24.6	
Total uses aids	34.3	40.7	45.7	55.0	38.3	
Total with disability	1,230.4	681.2	227.8	98.8	2,238.1	
65+						
Self-care	17.3	21.3	40.7	73.9	26.1	
Mobility	19.0	25.4	40.6	67.1	27.9	
Communication and hearing	16.1	46.8	39.5	28.3	32.9	
Total core activity	37.9	64.8	73.6	87.3	57.3	
Meal preparation	*1.6	*1.6	*3.8	*3.3	2.0	
Medical aids	24.3	24.7	32.8	40.4	26.7	
Total uses aids	50.5	72.6	79.3	91.3	66.4	
Total with disability	528.7	586.5	173.1	102.1	1,390.4	
All ages						
Self-care	7.4	13.1	21.7	44.2	13.0	
Mobility	8.9	15.4	21.6	39.6	14.3	
Communication and hearing	12.0	29.5	26.2	26.1	20.4	
Total core activity	21.6	41.3	45.2	61.1	33.2	
Meal preparation	1.1	1.4	2.4	*3.9	1.5	
Medical aids	22.8	24.3	30.3	35.4	24.9	
Total uses aids	38.2	53.9	58.4	72.4	47.8	
Total with disability	1,921.8	1,365.6	436.5	222.5	3,946.4	
* 	Estimates marked with * have an associated relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
** 	Estimates marked with ** have an associated relative standard error of greater than 50% and are considered too unreliable for general use.
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers confidentialised unit record file.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2004. Disability, ageing and carers: summary of findings, Australia 2003. Cat. no. 4430.0. Canberra: ABS.
AIHW 2000. Disability and ageing: Australian population patterns and implications. AIHW cat. no. DIS 19. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2003. Disability prevalence and trends. Disability series Cat. no. DIS 34. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2004. Disability and its relationship to health conditions and other factors. AIHW 
cat. no. DIS 37. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2005. Australia's welfare 2005. AIHW cat. no. AUS65. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2007a. Disability in Australia: acquired brain injury. Bulletin no. 55. Cat. no. AUS 96. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2007b. Australia's Welfare 2007. Cat. no. AUS 93. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2007c. Dementia in Australia: national data analysis and development. AIHW cat. no. AGE 53. Canberra: AIHW. 
AIHW 2009. Younger people with disability in residential aged care program: final report on the 2007–2008 minimum data set. AIHW cat. no. DIS 53. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW: Fortune N & Wen X 1999. The definition, incidence and prevalence of acquired brain injury in Australia. AIHW cat. no. DIS 15 Canberra: AIHW.
Getter B 1996. The service needs of people with a disability who are ageing. Report commissioned by Western Australian Disability Services Commission. Bandt Gatter & Associates.
International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities 2001. Mental health and intellectual disabilities, addressing the mental health needs of people with intellectual disabilities, report by the Mental Health Special Interest Research Group of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities to the World Health Organisation.
Llewellyn G, Eiches V, Hindmarsh G, Parmenter T & Chan J 2005. I-CAN: instrument to classify support needs for people with disability, a report of a study with funding from the ARC Linkage Grant Scheme 2002–2004. Viewed on 17 July 2009, http://www.cdds.med.usyd.edu.au/html/PDF/ICAN_ExecutiveSummary.pdf.
Statistics Canada 2006. Profile of disability for children. Participation and Activity Limitation Survey 2006: Analytical report. Viewed on 2 June 2009, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-628-x/2007002/4125020-eng.htm.
Suttie J 1995. Ageing and people with and without an intellectual disability. unpublished PhD thesis. University of Queensland.
Williams E & Chad R 1998. Promoting the fundamental principle of ageing in place for older adults with intellectual disability. Paper presented at the 1998 ACROD conference, 25 November 1998, Canberra.
List of tables
Table 1: 	People with disability: number of disabilities by age, 2003
Table 2: 	People with multiple disabilities, by combinations of disabilities by age, 2003
Table 3: 	People with multiple disabilities: mean number of health conditions by combinations of multiple disabilities, 2003
Table 4:	People with a disability living in households who need assistance with health care: proportion whose health care need was fully met, 2003
Table 5: 	People with disability: highest frequency of need for assistance with core activities, by number of disabilities, 2003
Table 6: 	People aged 5–19 years with disability in households: type of school attending by number of disabilities, 2003
Table 7: 	People aged 5 years or over with disability in households: could not leave home at all or could not go out as often as would like due to disability or condition, by combinations of multiple disabilities, 2003
Table 8: 	People with disability living in households who needed help with core activities and/ or non-core activities, by the extent to which need for help was met, by number of disabilities, 2003
Table 9: 	People with disability living in households who had their need for help fully met, by frequency of need for help by number of disabilities, 2003
Table 10: 	People aged under 20 with a disability living in households: schooling restrictions and receipt of support or special arrangement at school, by number of disabilities, 2003
Table 11: 	People aged 15 to 64 years with disability living in households: employment restrictions and receipt of support or special arrangement for employment, by number of disabilities, 2003
Table 12: 	People with disability and mobility limitation: use of mobility aids by number of disabilities, by age, 2003
Table A1: 	People with disability: number of disabilities by disability groups by age, 2003
Table A2: 	People with disability: selected long-term health conditions by disability group, 2003
Table A3: 	People with disability: number of disabilities by severity of core activity limitation, 2003
Table A4: 	People with multiple disabilities: proportion of severe or profound core activity limitation by specific combinations of disabilities, by age, 2003
Table A5: 	People with disability: number of core activities in which help is needed, by number of disabilities, 2003
Table A6: 	People with disability who needed help with two or three core activities by combinations of multiple disabilities, 2003
Table A7: 	People with disability: highest frequency of need for help with core activities, by combinations of disabilities 2003
Table A8: 	People aged 5–19 years with disability in households: type of school attending by combinations of multiple disabilities, 2003
Table A9: 	People aged 15–64 years with disability in households: labour force status, 2003
Table A10: 	People aged 5 years or over with disability in households: does not leave home at all or cannot go out due to disability or condition, by number of disabilities, by age, 2003
Table A11: 	People with a severe or profound core activity limitation: core activities in which 
help was needed, by number of disabilities, 2003
Table A12: 	People with a severe or profound core activity limitation: core activities in which 
help is needed, by age, 2003
Table A13: 	People with disability in households who needed help with core activities 
and/or non-core activities, by type of assistance received, by number of disabilities, 2003.
Table A14: 	Students aged under 20 years with disability living in households: schooling 
restrictions and receipt of support or special arrangements at school, by type of 
multiple disabilities, 2003
Table A15: 	People aged 15 to 64 with a disability in households: employment restrictions, 
by type of multiple disabilities, 2003
Table A16: 	People with disability: use of aids by number of disabilities by age, 2003
List of figures
Figure 1: 	Proportion of people with three or more disabilities by age and disability group, 2003
Figure 2: 	People with disability: proportion with core activity limitation,  by severity, 
according to number of disabilities, 2003
Figure 3: 	People with disability: number of core activities in which help was needed, 
by number of disabilities, 2003
Figure 4: 	People aged 15–64 years with disability in households: labour force participation rates, 
by number of disabilities, 2003
Figure 5: 	Proportion of people aged 5 years or over living in households who could not leave home at all or could not go out as often as would like due to their disability, 
by age, 2003
Figure 6: 	People with severe or profound core activity limitation: core activities in which 
help is needed, by number of disabilities, 2003
Figure 7: 	People with severe or profound core activity limitation who needed help with core activities by source of help received for core activities, by number of disabilities, 
2003
Figure 8: 	People with disability: proportion using aids by number of disabilities, by age,
 2003
Figure 9: 	People with disability: type of aids used, by age, 2003