Overview

Disability is an umbrella term for any or all of the following components, all of which may also be influenced by environmental and personal factors:

  • impairment—problems in body function or structure
  • activity limitation—difficulties in executing activities
  • participation restriction—problems an individual may experience in involvement in life situations.

More reports and statistics on disability can be found under Disability services.

Latest findings

5.9% of service user deaths were caused by spinal muscular atrophy People with acquired brain injury and neurological disabilities had the highest rates of death 47% of adults with disability have experienced violence after the age of 15, compared with 36% without disability 32% of adults with disability experience high/very high psychological distress, compared with 8% without disability Service users’ rate of potentially avoidable deaths was 3.6 times as high as the rate for the general population 48% of working-age (aged 15–64) people with disability are employed, compared with 80% without disability 6.3% of service user deaths were caused by perinatal and congenital conditions Service users were 4.7 times as likely to die before aged 65 compared with the general population 24% of adults with disability experience very good or excellent health, compared with 65% without disability Rates of potentially avoidable deaths for male service users was 1.5 times as high as the rate for females

Featured reports

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Highlights

Around 5,600 peopleaged under 65 are younger people in permanent residential aged care (at 30 June 2019)
1 in 10 (9.6%) people aged 15 and over with disability have experienced disability discrimination in the last year
1 in 2 (48%)people with disability aged 5 and over living in households have a schooling or employment restriction
1 in 6 (18%)people in Australia have disability (about 4.4 million people)