Australia's children

Disability is more than the presence or absence of mental and physical health conditions; it relates to a person’s ability to participate in a range of activities (AIHW 2017a).

Disability may limit what a person can do in their daily life. It is typically measured in terms of the level of difficulty (also expressed as a need for assistance) a person experiences when performing the core activities of daily living: self-care, mobility and communication, as well as difficulties in other activities such as schooling and work.

Schooling is an integral part of life for most children and a child’s disability can be described in terms of core activity limitation and schooling restriction. Schooling restriction is often associated with a need for special assistance or equipment to participate in a mainstream class or attend a special school or special classes (ABS 2013).

Children with disability are an especially vulnerable population. Australian research suggests that children with intellectual disability, and mental and behavioural problems have a greater risk of experiencing maltreatment than children without disability (Maclean et al. 2017).

For more information, see Child abuse and neglect.

How many children have a disability?

It is estimated using data from the 2015 SDAC that, around 7.4% (or 329,000) of Australian children aged 0–14 had some level of disability. The proportion was slightly higher among boys than girls (9.4% compared with 5.4%).

The most common disability types among children were:

• intellectual, reported for an estimated 190,000 children (4.3%)
• sensory/speech, 140,000 children (3.2%) (Figure 1).

Of children aged 5–14, 219,000 (7.6%) had schooling restrictions. This includes children who have core activity limitations and schooling restrictions (ABS 2015).

Figure 1: Children aged 0–14 with disability, by disability group, 2015

Note: Figure is based on all reported conditions and so children with multiple conditions will be counted more than once.

Chart: AIHW. Source: ABS 2015.

How many children have a severe disability?

Around 177,000 children aged 0–14 (4.0%), had a severe disability in 2015 (Figure 2).

Boys (5.2%) were twice as likely as girls (2.6%) to have a severe disability, and the prevalence of severe disability was higher among children aged 5–9 (5.5%) than among those aged 10–14 (4.4%) or 0–4 (2%) (ABS 2015).

The higher rate among children aged 5–9 may:

• relate to increased identification of activity restrictions upon starting school
• relate to the availability of assistance
• suggest that some issues resolve or become less prominent in the minds of parents, children and/or teachers as children get older
• relate to the complexity of asking and answering questions about activity limitations among children aged 0–4, who, regardless of disability, are likely to need assistance in many activity areas due to their age (AIHW 2004).

Figure 2: Disability status of children aged 0–14, 2015

Note: The category ‘schooling restriction’ above does not include children who have a core activity limitation and a schooling restriction.

Chart: AIHW. Source: ABS 2015.

Has the prevalence of disability changed over time?

The prevalence of disability in children has remained stable with the proportion of those aged 0–14 with any type of disability decreasing slightly from 8.3% in 2003 to 7.4% in 2015. Over the same period, the proportion of children with severe disability remained stable at around 4% (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Prevalence of disability in children aged 0–14, 2003–2015

Chart: AIHW. Sources: ABS 2003, 2009, 2012, 2015.

Do rates of disability vary across population groups?

In 2015, the proportion of children aged 0–14 with severe disability was highest:

• in Inner regional areas (5.4%) and lowest in Major cities (3.6%)
• among low-income households (5.2%) and lowest among high-income households (3.1%) (ABS 2015) (Figure 4).

The higher representation of children with severe disability among low-income households may be a result of decreased household earnings due to parental caring responsibilities.

Information about the prevalence and type of disability among Indigenous children nationally is limited (ABS 2019b). According to the 2015 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, rates of severe disability were similar among Indigenous and non-Indigenous children aged 0–14 (5.9% and 3.9%, respectively) (ABS 2017).

Figure 4: Proportion of children aged 0–14 with severe disability by priority population group, 2015

Chart: AIHW. Sources: ABS 2015, 2017.

Data limitations and development opportunities

While the SDAC provides information on the number of children with disability, including disability type, health conditions and some household and family characteristics, disability status is not commonly captured in other routinely collected data sources. This makes it difficult to compare outcomes for children with disability with other children across a wide range of topics.

This report includes data for children with disability in other snapshots, wherever possible.

Where do I find more information?

For more information on:

• children with disability, see: Children with disabilities in Australia and Disability updates: children with disabilities.
• children with disability and education (primary and secondary school-age children), see: Engagement in education and Education participation needs and challenges
• people with disability, including disability-free life expectancy at birth, see: People with disability in Australia, Life expectancy and disability in Australia  and Australia’s Welfare 2017