Data released on disability support services provision 1998
A total of 6,174 agencies and organisations were funded to provide disability support services under the Commonwealth/State Disability Agreement (CSDA) in 1998, according to a report released today.
The report, by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), shows that non-government agencies provided 74% of these services (up 5% from the previous year), with the remainder being government-provided.
The services were of five main types:
- 41% were accommodation support services, covering 20,149 recipients living in institutional settings and community settings, such as group homes and family homes
- 14% were employment support services, covering open labour market services and supported employment services
- 22% were community support services, which include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, early childhood intervention, counselling and recreation programs
- 14% were community access services, mainly covering educational, social and daily living activities
- 8% were respite services, which provide short-term breaks from caring activities to carers of people with a disability.
Services provided under the CSDA are designed for people who need ongoing support in everyday life activity areas.
- Nearly 82% of recipients needed support in the areas of self-care, mobility or communication.
- The Disability Support Pension was the main income source for most service recipients aged 16 years or more (83%).
Of people receiving services in 1998:
- 52% were aged between 15 and 39 years
- 58% were men
- 64% were reported to have intellectual disability as the primary disability type
- 51% were reported to have more than one significant disability type; and
- 48% were reported to have multiple disabilities.
The fourth national data collection also provides data on other disabilities, country of birth, Indigenous origin, language, method of communication, income source, living arrangements, State distribution, service funding, staff hours, operating times and CSDA performance indicators.