Disability discrimination

44% of complaints

received by the Australian Human Rights Commission are about disability discrimination

1 in 6

(16%) people aged 15–64 with disability have experienced disability discrimination in the previous year

4 in 9

(44%) people aged 15–64 with disability avoided situations because of their disability in the previous year

On this page:

Introduction

Discrimination happens when a person, or group of people, is treated less favourably than others because of their background or personal characteristics.

Experiencing discrimination makes participating in everyday life more difficult. It can affect education and employment opportunities and limit social interactions. A person unable to participate in everyday activities, or who avoids situations, may be at higher risk of adverse outcomes, including social isolation, unemployment and poor health.

What is disability discrimination?

Disability discrimination occurs when a person with disability is treated unequally, less favourably, or not given the same opportunities as other people because of their disability. The treatment may be direct or indirect.

Direct discrimination involves overt acts, often intentional, such as explicitly denying rights under the law or deliberately excluding people with disability from community life. For example, refusing a person entry to a café because they have a guide dog.

Indirect discrimination involves passive or unthinking acts. It can be unintentional or accidental. It occurs when a practice, policy or rule that applies to everyone causes unreasonable disadvantage to a person with disability. For example, if the only way to enter a public building is by a set of stairs, this indirectly discriminates against people with disability who use wheelchairs (AHRC 2012).

What is the law?

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cwlth) makes it against the law to treat people unfairly because of their disability.

In the previous year, an estimated:

  • 1 in 5 (22%) people aged 15 and over with disability experienced some form of discrimination (including disability discrimination), compared with 1 in 7 (15%) without disability (ABS 2020).
  • 1 in 6 (16%) people aged 15–64 with disability, living in households, experienced disability discrimination (ABS 2019a).

Disability discrimination complaints are consistently the largest category of complaints reported to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (Figure DISCRIMINATION.1).

Figure DISCRIMINATION.1: Discrimination complaints received by the Australian Human Rights Commissions (AHRC), by Act, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 and 2019–20

Pie chart showing the proportion of discrimination complaints made to the Australian Human Rights Commission under 5 discrimination acts. The reader can select to display the chart by year from 2013–14 to 2019–20. The chart shows complaints were more likely (44%) to be made under the Disability Discrimination Act in 2019–20 than the Sex Discrimination Act (21%) or any other discrimination Act.

Source data tables: Disability discrimination (XLSX, 359KB)

Australian Human Rights Commission complaints data

Complaints data in this section are sourced from the AHRC, for 2019–20. This independent statutory organisation is set-up to protect and promote human rights in Australia and internationally.

People who experience discrimination can complain to the AHRC. Each year, the commission compiles data on these complaints and publishes complaint statistics reports on its website. A complaint may raise several grounds and areas of discrimination and can be against one or more respondents.

Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers

Data in this section are largely sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) 2018. The SDAC is the most detailed and comprehensive source of data on disability prevalence in Australia.

The SDAC considers that a person has disability if they have at least one of a list of limitations, restrictions or impairments, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least 6 months and restricts everyday activities.

The limitations are grouped into 10 activities associated with daily living – self-care, mobility, communication, cognitive or emotional tasks, health care, reading or writing tasks, transport, household chores, property maintenance, and meal preparation. The SDAC also identifies 2 other life areas in which people may experience restriction or difficulty as a result of disability – schooling and employment.

The severity of disability is defined by whether a person needs help, has difficulty, or uses aids or equipment with 3 core activities – self-care, mobility, and communication – and is grouped for mild, moderate, severe, and profound limitation. People who always or sometimes need help with one or more core activities, have difficulty understanding or being understood by family or friends, or can communicate more easily using sign language or other non-spoken forms of communication are referred to in this section as ‘people with severe or profound disability’.

The SDAC includes information on the barriers people with disability can face in participating in everyday life in Australia. These discrimination data are collected for people with disability aged 15 and over living in households who had a personal interview. In the discrimination module, discrimination refers to people who felt they had been unfairly considered or treated because of their disability.

Unlike other modules in the SDAC, the discrimination module does not allow response by a proxy. A proxy is a person aged 15 or over who answers the survey questions on behalf of someone who has been selected for interview. A proxy interview may be conducted:

  • when the selected person is under 15 years of age
  • when the selected person is aged 15–17 and parental consent to interview them personally has not been provided
  • due to the selected person's illness, injury or language difficulties (ABS 2019b).

Sources of discrimination

People with disability may experience discrimination from various sources. In Australia, this discrimination most often occurs in relation to the provision of goods and services and employment. Experiencing discrimination in one area of life can result in people avoiding that particular situation as well as avoiding other situations.

Of the estimated 264,000 people aged 15–64 with disability, living in households, who experienced disability discrimination in the previous year:

  • 1 in 4 (24%) said it was by an employer
  • 1 in 3 (32%) said it was by a person who provided goods or services (for example, health staff, bus and taxi drivers, hospitality staff, or sales assistants) – the biggest contribution being from health staff (22% of all people who experienced disability discrimination)
  • 2 in 11 (18%) said it was by work colleagues (Table DISCRIMINATION.1).

Of the more than 1,000 disability discrimination complaints the AHRC received in 2019–20 (noting that one complaint may relate to more than one area):

  • 2 in 5 (39%) related to goods, services and facilities
  • 1 in 5 (20%) to employment
  • 1 in 8 (13%) to disability standards
  • 1 in 11 (9%) to education (AHRC 2020).
Table DISCRIMINATION.1: Source of disability discrimination in the last 12 months(a), by disability status, 2018 (%)

Source of discrimination

Severe or profound disability

Other disability status
 

All with disability

Employer

16.9

29.5

24.4

Work colleagues

13.1

20.1

18.1

Family or friends

20.8

22.2

22.0

Providers of goods or services(b)

41.2

26.1

32.2

Strangers in the street

20.6

15.5

17.4

Other sources(c)

29.5

26.5

28.7

(a) People aged 15–64 with disability living in households who had a personal interview and experienced disability discrimination.

(b) Includes health staff (GP, nurse, hospital staff), bus drivers/rail staff/taxi drivers, restaurant/hospitality staff, and sales assistants.

(c) Includes teacher or lecturer, and other.

Source: ABS 2019a; see also Table DISC7.

Community and social participation

Discrimination directly affects a person’s participation and inclusion in everyday activities. It can also lead to people avoiding everyday activities, such as going to school or work, attending events or seeking medical help. This, in turn, increases the risk that people with disability will experience social isolation, which can affect their overall health and wellbeing.

What is social isolation?

Social isolation is where a person has minimal contact with others. It differs from loneliness, which is a negative feeling or emotion a person has about having less social contact or connection than desired.

Research suggests that social isolation is associated with:

  • poor health outcomes, such as increased mortality
  • poorer health behaviours, such as smoking and physical inactivity
  • undesirable biological effects, such as high blood pressure and poorer immune function (AIHW 2019).

See Health risk factors and behaviours for more information on risk factors and health for people with disability.

See Social inclusion for more information on participation in society and social isolation for people with disability.

More than 3 in 10 (31% or 730,000) people aged 5–64 with disability, living in households, do not leave home as often as they would like to. The most common main reasons for this are own disability or condition (53% or 384,000), fear or anxiety (13% or 98,000) and cost or inability to afford (9.2% or 67,000) (ABS 2019a).

About 4 in 9 (44% or 751,000) people aged 15–64 with disability, living in households, avoided situations because of their disability in the previous year. Of those who avoided at least one situation because of their disability:

  • 45% avoided visiting family or friends
  • 37% avoided going to shops and banks
  • 34% avoided going to restaurants, cafés or bars
  • 30% avoided work
  • 24% avoided using public transport
  • 20% avoided using public parks or recreation venues (Figure DISCRIMINATION.2).

What is meant by situations?

In this section ‘situations’ refer to work and study, service, hospitality and retail venues, social situations, public transport, and public places.

Figure DISCRIMINATION.2: Type of situation avoided for people with disability, by disability status, 2018

Bar chart showing the proportion of people with disability who avoided situations because of their disability in the previous 12 months. The reader can select to display the chart by personal and public situations and by disability status. The chart shows 68% of people with severe or profound disability avoided at least one situation because of their disability in the previous 12 months, compared with 39% of people with other disability. Of these, people with severe or profound disability are more likely (42%) to avoid going to restaurants, cafés or bars than people with other disability (31%).

Source data tables: Disability discrimination (XLSX, 359KB)

Large differences in the likelihood of avoiding situations because of disability occur between people with severe or profound disability and other people with disability, aged 15–64 living in households. More than two-thirds (68% or 222,000) of people with severe or profound disability avoided situations compared with almost 2 in 5 (39% or 526,000) other people with disability. Of those who avoided at least one situation because of their disability, 40% (89,000) of people with severe or profound disability avoided public transport compared with 18% (93,000) of other people with disability (Figure DISCRIMINATION.2).

Differences in the likelihood of avoiding situations because of disability also occur by disability group:

  • nearly three-quarters (73% or 343,000) of people with psychosocial disability have avoided situations
  • nearly 3 in 5 (58% or 73,000) people with head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury have avoided situations
  • more than 2 in 5 (41% or 134,000) people with sensory and speech disability have avoided situations (ABS 2019a).

People with disability are even more likely to avoid situations because of their disability if they have experienced discrimination. More than 4 in 5 (82% or 216,000) people aged 15–64 who have experienced disability discrimination in the previous year also avoided situations because of their disability in that time (figures DISCRIMINATION.3 and DISCRIMINATION.4). This compares with almost 2 in 5 (37% or 534,000 people) who have not experienced discrimination.

Figure DISCRIMINATION.3: Whether have avoided at least one situation for people with disability, by whether have experienced discrimination and disability status, 2018

Column chart showing whether people with disability avoided situations in the previous 12 months for those who have and have not experienced disability discrimination. The chart shows people with severe or profound disability who have experienced discrimination are more likely (86%) to avoid situations than those who have not experienced discrimination (59%).

Source data tables: Disability discrimination (XLSX, 359KB)

People with severe or profound disability are also more likely to avoid situations if they have experienced discrimination (86%) and this varies depending on the situation avoided (Figure DISCRIMINATION.4).

Figure DISCRIMINATION.4: Situations avoided for people with disability, by whether have experienced discrimination and disability status, 2018

Bar chart showing the proportion of people with disability who avoided situations and also experienced disability discrimination in the last 12 months. The reader can select to display the chart by personal and public situations avoided and by disability status. The chart shows, of people with disability who avoided at least one situation and experienced discrimination, 48% avoided visiting family or friends, and 21% avoided using medical facilities.

Source data tables: Disability discrimination (XLSX, 359KB)

Disability group

Disability group is a broad categorisation of disability. It is based on underlying health conditions and on impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. It is not a diagnostic grouping, nor is there a one-to-one correspondence between a health condition and a disability group.

The ABS SDAC broadly groups disabilities depending on whether they relate to functioning of the mind or the senses, or to anatomy or physiology. Each disability group may refer to a single disability or be composed of a number of broadly similar disabilities. The SDAC identifies 6 separate groups based on the particular type of disability; these are:

  • sensory and speech (sight, hearing, speech)
  • intellectual (difficulty learning or understanding)
  • physical (including breathing difficulties, chronic or recurrent pain, incomplete use of limbs and more)
  • psychosocial (including nervous or emotional conditions, mental illness, memory problems, and social or behavioural difficulties)
  • head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury
  • other (restrictions in everyday activities due to other long-term conditions or ailments) (ABS 2019b).

People with psychosocial disability (disability related to mental health conditions) are the most likely disability group to avoid situations because of their disability. Almost 3 in 4 (73% or 343,000) people aged 15–64, with psychosocial disability living in households, avoided situations in the previous year, compared with 2 in 5 (41% or 134,000) with sensory and speech disability (ABS 2019a).

Females (47% or 425,000) with disability, living in households, were more likely to avoid situations because of their disability in the previous year than males (41% or 325,000). This is more pronounced for females with psychosocial disability (76% or 195,000) than for males with psychosocial disability (69% or 150,000) (ABS 2019a).

Almost 3 in 10 (29% or 134,000) people aged 15–64, living in households, with psychosocial disability and more than 1 in 4 (27% of 53,000) of those with intellectual disability experienced disability discrimination in the previous year. Those with sensory and speech disability (17% of 57,000) and physical disability (17% or 189,000) were less likely to experience disability discrimination (ABS 2019a).

People living in Outer regional and remote areas are more likely (19% or 32,000) to experience disability discrimination than those living in Major cities (14% or 154,000) (ABS 2019a).

People with psychosocial disability also account for the highest proportion of disability discrimination complaints the AHRC receives. A total of:

  • 27% of complaints are by people with psychosocial disability
  • 19% are by people with physical disability
  • 13% are by people with sensory disability
  • 6.6% are by people with intellectual or learning disability (AHRC 2020).

Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey

Data in this section are sourced from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Survey is a nationally representative, household-based longitudinal study of Australian households and individuals conducted in annual waves since 2001. Members of selected households who are Australian residents and aged 15 or over are invited to participate in a personal face-to-face interview. This section presents cross-sectional analyses of the 17th wave (2017). In 2017 almost 18,000 people from around 10,000 households participated in the HILDA Survey.

The HILDA Survey defines disability as an impairment, long-term health condition or disability that restricts everyday activities and has lasted, or is likely to last, for 6 months or more. This is similar to the definition of disability used by the ABS Short Disability Module. In this section people who always or sometimes need help or supervision with at least one core activity because of their disability are referred to as people with ‘severe or profound disability’. Core activities include self-care, mobility and communication. People who have a disability but do not always or sometimes need help or supervision with at least one core activity are referred to as people with ‘other disability’. The HILDA Survey does not collect information on level of disability in every wave. The most recent collection was in the 17th wave (2017) (Summerfield et al. 2019; Wilkins et al. 2019).

Disability group

Disability group is a broad categorisation of disability. It is based on underlying health conditions and on impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. It is not a diagnostic grouping, nor is there a one-to-one correspondence between a health condition and a disability group.

The HILDA Survey collects information on 17 disability types, which have been combined into the following 6 disability groups:

  • sensory: includes sight, hearing, and speech problems
  • intellectual: includes difficulty learning or understanding things
  • physical: includes difficulty breathing, blackouts, chronic pain, limited use of arms or fingers, difficulty gripping things, limited use of feet or legs, physical restrictions, and disfigurement or deformity
  • psychosocial: includes nervous or emotional conditions, and mental illness
  • head injury, stroke or other brain damage
  • other: includes long-term conditions that are restrictive despite treatment or medication, and other long-term conditions.

More than 1 in 9 (12%) people with disability aged 15–64, living in households, are not satisfied with their personal safety compared with 4.5% of those without disability. Older people with disability (aged 65 and over) are less likely (6.6%) to not be satisfied than those with disability aged 15–64, but more likely than older people without disability (2.4%). Of those with disability aged 15–64:

  • people with severe or profound disability (22%) are more likely not to be satisfied with their personal safety than people with other disability (11%)
  • more than 1 in 5 people with intellectual disability (21%) and psychosocial disability (21%) are not satisfied with their personal safety
  • more than 1 in 8 people with sensory disability (13%) and physical disability (13%) are not satisfied with their personal safety (DSS and MIAESR 2019).

Education

People with disability are less likely to be engaged in education, particularly higher education, than people without disability (see Education and skills for more information). This can be influenced by experiencing discrimination, including:

  • being explicitly denied educational rights, such as attending school
  • not having reasonable adjustments made to the educational environment or tasks to make it possible for them to participate equally, such as modifying equipment or assessment procedures.

In the previous year, of people aged 15–64 with disability living in households, an estimated:

  • 1 in 27 (3.7% or 9,700) of those who experienced disability discrimination, have experienced disability discrimination from a teacher or lecturer
  • 1 in 6 (17% or 30,100) attending a school or other educational institution experienced disability discrimination, inside or outside the education system
  • 1 in 9 (11% or 84,000) of those who avoided situations because of disability, avoided going to school, university or an educational facility – about 3 in 8 (37% or 31,000) of these experienced disability discrimination in that time (ABS 2019a) (Table DISCRIMINATION.2).

Who does the SDAC discrimination module capture?

The discrimination module of the SDAC is collected for people with disability aged 15 and over living in households who had a personal interview. The high age cut-off of 15 and the necessity of it being a personal interview mean that only 182,000 students are included. These students may attend secondary school, university, TAFE or technical college, or other educations institutions such as business college and industry skills centres. See Engagement in education for more details.

Table DISCRIMINATION.2: Whether have experienced discrimination for those(a) who avoided(b) an educational facility(c), 2018
Whether experienced discrimination % Estimate
(‘000)

Have experienced discrimination

36.8

30.8

Have not experienced discrimination

66.1

55.4

Total

100.0

83.8

(a) People aged 15–64 with disability living in households who had a personal interview.

(b) Because of their disability in the last 12 months.

(c) Including school, university or educational facility.

Source: ABS 2019a; see also Table DISC42.

Other sources of information

Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) conducted a small national education survey in 2020 of 719 young people with disability and families and caregivers of children with disability. The survey explored the experiences of inclusive education in Australia. Due to the design of this survey, it is not considered representative. There is the potential for bias and the results should be used with caution.

The majority of respondents were families of students with disability (95%) and the rest were students with disability. The survey had representation from all states and territories and students were: 63% males, 3.8% Indigenous, 66% aged 4–12 and 30% aged 13–18, 66% attending government school and 19% attending non-government school (Dickinson et al. 2020).

In 2019, CYDA conducted a survey of 505 young people with disability and families and caregivers of children with disability. Some of the students and their families faced enrolment barriers – for example, 63 students with disability had been refused enrolment. Of these, 32 students were refused by a government school and 16 students by a non-government school. Reasons provided for exclusion included schools advising families they lacked the necessary supports and resources (14 students), and some students had been denied enrolment on multiple occasions (13 students).

Some of the students (74 students) had been suspended in the previous 12 months. Some of these had been suspended multiple times (31 students).

Many students (203 students) were excluded from events or activities at school in the previous 12 months. Some of these were excluded from excursions (32 students), sports (25 students) and special events (22 students) (CYDA 2019).

Employment and income

Compared with people without disability, people with disability generally have:

  • lower rates of labour force participation
  • lower rates of employment
  • higher rates of unemployment
  • greater reliance on government pensions or benefits as their main source of income than people without disability.

See Employment and Income support for more information.

Participation in employment and the ability to be financially independent can be affected by experiencing discrimination. This can include people with disability:

  • being directly denied employment
  • having employers fail to provide reasonable adjustments in the workplace to enable them to work safely and productively, such as providing safe access to the workplace or assistive technology.

People who have experienced discrimination because of their disability are less likely to be employed than those who have not. An estimated 1 in 3 (34% or 89,000) working-age (aged 15–64) people with disability who have experienced discrimination in the previous year are employed, compared with 1 in 2 (53% or 755,000) who did not (ABS 2019a).

People with disability who are unemployed (24%) are more likely to experience disability discrimination than people who are employed (11%). Similarly, people who are not in the labour force (20%) are more likely than those who are employed (Table DISCRIMINATION.3).

Of people aged 15–64 with disability who avoided situations in the previous year, an estimated 3 in 10 (30% or 223,000) avoided going to work (ABS 2019a). About 1 in 3 (32% or 71,000) of these experienced some form of disability discrimination in that time:

  • 1 in 5 (17%) from an employer or work colleague
  • 1 in 5 (19%) from another source (Table DISCRIMINATION.4).
Table DISCRIMINATION.3: Labour force status of working-age people with disability(a), by whether have experienced discrimination(b), 2018 (%)

Labour force status

Have experienced discrimination

Have not experienced discrimination

Total

Employed

10.5

89.3

100.0

Full-time

9.0

90.7

100.0

Part-time

13.0

87.7

100.0

Unemployed

24.4

74.1

100.0

Not in the labour force(c)

20.0

80.1

100.0

(a) Aged 15–64 living in households who had a personal interview.

(b) Because of their disability in the last 12 months.

(c) People who are not employed or unemployed. Includes people who undertake unpaid household duties or other voluntary work only, are retired, voluntarily inactive and those permanently unable to work.

Note: Figures are rounded and components may not add to total because of ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes. Due to these processes, figures may differ from those published by the ABS and across tables.

Source: ABS 2019a; see also Table DISC43.

Table DISCRIMINATION.4: Whether have experienced discrimination for those(a) who avoided work(b), by source of discrimination, 2018

Source of discrimination

%

Estimate
(‘000)

Have experienced discrimination

31.9

71.1

Employer or work colleague

17.3

38.6

Other sources(c)

19.3

43.0

Have not experienced discrimination

68.0

151.5

Total

100.0

222.7

(a) People aged 15–64 living in households who had a personal interview.

(b) Because of their disability in the last 12 months.

(c) Other sources includes family or friends, teacher or lecturer, health staff (GP, nurse, hospital staff), bus drivers/rail staff/taxi drivers, restaurant/hospitality staff, sales assistants, strangers in the street, and other.

Note: A person may have experienced discrimination from more than one source, so components will not add to total. A person who experienced discrimination from more than one source is counted only once in aggregated totals.

Source: ABS 2019a; see also Table DISC44.

Working-age people with disability who experience disability discrimination from an employer or colleague are twice as likely to avoid work as those who experience disability discrimination from another source, and around 4 times as likely as those who did not experience disability discrimination. In the previous year, of people aged 15–64 with disability, an estimated:

  • 45% (or 39,000) who experienced disability discrimination from an employer or work colleague, avoided work
  • 21% (or 43,000) who experienced disability discrimination from another source, avoided work
  • 11% (or 151,000) who did not experience disability discrimination, avoided work.

Australians with disability often have lower levels of income than people without disability (see 'Income' for more information). Those who experience disability discrimination are even more likely to have lower incomes than those who have not – 74% (or 169,000) aged 15–64 with disability who have experienced disability discrimination in the previous year are in the bottom 5 personal income deciles ($700 or less of personal weekly income), compared with 61% (or 746,000) who have not.

Access to facilities and services

People with disability may also experience discrimination in terms of environmental or structural elements that limit their access to, and ability to participate in, the community. This is often indirect discrimination.

The physical environment, for example, can present a barrier to how some people with disability participate in community life. Public spaces, in particular, might have obstacles that make moving around the community and participating in everyday activities difficult. This includes accessing buildings or facilities. About 663,000 people with disability, aged 15–64 living in households who leave home, had challenges with mobility or communication. Of these people, 3 in 10 (30% or 198,000) found it difficult to access buildings or facilities. Those with sensory and speech disability were most likely (42% or 62,000) to have difficulty accessing building or facilities compared with other disability groups (ABS 2019a).

Difficulties accessing buildings or facilities are often related to the design of a structure or its surrounds. For example, of those who found it difficult to access a building or facility in the previous year:

  • around 2 in 3 (63% or 126,000 people) faced difficulty getting around the building, including with stairs, internal doors, corridor widths or obstructed walkways
  • 4 in 9 (45% or 90,000 people) had difficulty with car parking facilities
  • 4 in 10 (41% or 82,000 people) faced difficulty with approach areas, including ramps, handrails and lighting (ABS 2019a).

The types of building or facilities these people most often had difficulty accessing in the previous year are:

  • shops and banks (68% or 134,000 people)
  • medical facilities (43% or 84,000 people)
  • restaurants and cafés (34% or 67,000 people)
  • government buildings (30% or 60,000 people) (ABS 2019a).

Some people with disability also find it difficult to use public transport. About 1 in 6 (16% or 326,000) people aged 15–64 with disability, living in households who leave home, have difficulty using some or all forms of public transport. This includes:

  • using steps (34% or 111,000 people)
  • facing fear or anxiety (32% or 104,000 people)
  • getting to stops or stations (21% or 69,000 people)
  • finding a seat or standing (20% or 65,000 people) (ABS 2019a).

About 1 in 9 (11% or 221,000) people aged 15–64 with disability, living in households who leave home, are unable to use public transport at all. About 1% (21,000) of people aged 15–64 with disability living in households do not leave home (ABS 2019a).

Large differences in the likelihood of finding it difficult to use public transport occur between people with severe or profound disability (40% or 197,000) and other people with disability (8.4% or 129,000), aged 15–64 living in households who leave home. More than one-quarter (27% or 132,000) of those with severe or profound disability are unable to use public transport at all, compared with 1 in 17 (5.8% or 90,000) other people with disability (ABS 2019a).

For people with disability, this also differs by remoteness. Around 1 in 12 (8% or 108,000) people aged 15–64 with disability living in Major cities are unable to use public transport at all, compared with 1 in 7 (14% or 69,000) living in Inner regional areas and 1 in 4 (23% or 44,000) living in Outer regional and remote areas (ABS 2019a).

How is remoteness defined?

The remoteness categories used in the ABS SDAC are defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard Remoteness Structure (ABS 2016a) which divides Australia into 5 classes of remoteness on the basis of a measure of relative access to services. Very remote areas are out of scope for the SDAC.

By disability group, more than 1 in 5 (21% or 33,000) people with head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury are unable to use public transport at all, compared with more than 1 in 8 (13% or 172,000) with physical disability (ABS 2019a).

Access to facilities and services for people with and without disability

General Social Survey

Data in this section are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2019 General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS collects information on the social characteristics, wellbeing and social experiences of people aged 15 and over living in private dwellings in Australia.

The GSS uses the ABS Short Disability Module to identify disability. While this module provides useful information about the characteristics of people with disability relative to those without, it is not recommended for use in measuring disability prevalence.

In the GSS a person is considered to have disability if they had one or more conditions (including long-term health conditions) which have lasted, or are likely to last, for at least 6 months and restrict everyday activities. Disability is further classified by whether a person has a specific limitation or restriction and then by whether the limitation or restriction applies to core activities or only to schooling or employment.

The level of disability is defined by whether a person needs help, has difficulty, or uses aids or equipment, with 3 core activities – self-care, mobility, and communication – and is reported for mild, moderate, severe, and profound limitation.

People with disability aged 15 and over (81%) are less likely to have access to a motor vehicle to drive than people without disability (86%); the proportions for people with disability vary by age group – 83% of those aged 15–64 and 75% of those aged 65 and over (ABS 2021).

When services are accessible, everyone has equal access to the services they wish to use. Inaccessible services can limit a person’s ability to receive the support they need, particularly for people with disability.

People with disability aged 15 and over (28%) are more likely to experience problems accessing service providers than people without disability (20%). The types of service providers where people with disability experience problems are:

  • Centrelink/Family Assistance Office/Medicare (50%)
  • telecommunication services (35%)
  • hospitals and health-related services (29%)
  • banks or financial institutions (28%)
  • other services (15%) (ABS 2021).

Access to facilities and services for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people with and without disability

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey

Data in this section are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2014–15 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS). The NATSISS collects information from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in private dwellings across Australia on a range of demographic, social, environmental and economic characteristics.

The NATSISS uses the ABS Short Disability Module to identify disability. While this module provides useful information about the characteristics of people with disability relative to those without, it is not recommended for use in measuring disability prevalence.

In the NATSISS, a person is considered to have disability if they have one or more conditions (including long-term health conditions) which have lasted, or are likely to last, for at least 6 months and restrict everyday activities. Disability is further classified by whether a person has a specific limitation or restriction and then by whether the limitation or restriction applies to core activities or only to schooling or employment.

The level of disability is defined by whether a person needs help, has difficulty, or uses aids or equipment, with 3 core activities – self-care, mobility, and communication – and is reported for mild, moderate, severe, and profound limitation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 and over with disability (29%) are more likely to have problems accessing services than those without disability (20%). Females with disability (32%) are more likely to have problems accessing services than males (26%) (ABS 2016b).

For Indigenous people with disability who have problems accessing services, the top 5 barriers to access are:

  • waiting too long or appointment not available at time required (50%)
  • poor customer service (38%)
  • inadequate services in area (37%)
  • no service in area (32%)
  • transport or distance (28%) (ABS 2016b).

The services Indigenous people with disability have most problems accessing are:

  • Centrelink (33%)
  • dentists (25%)
  • doctors (23%)
  • hospitals (17%)
  • housing services (15%) (ABS 2016b).

Health

People with disability who experience disability discrimination are almost twice as likely as those who do not to report poorer health. More than half (55% or 146,000) of people aged 15–64 with disability who had experienced disability discrimination in the previous year rated their health as fair or poor, compared with 1 in 3 (35% or 498,000) who had not (Figure DISCRIMINATION.5).

Self–assessed health status

Self-assessed health status is a commonly used measure of overall health in which a person is asked to compare their own health with others around them.

It reflects a person's perception of their own health at a given point and provides a broad picture of a population's overall health. It has some limitations, including being influenced by factors such as a person’s access to health services (for example, to diagnosis and treatment), and level of education.

In the ABS SDAC, self-assessed health status is collected for people aged 15 and over, with disability, living in households, who had a personal interview, against a 5-point scale from excellent to poor.

People with disability who experience disability discrimination are more than twice as likely as those who do not to have high or very high levels of psychological distress. An estimated 71% (or 181,000) of people aged 18–64 with disability who experienced disability discrimination in the previous year have a high or very high level of psychological distress, compared with 37% (or 521,000) who did not (ABS 2019a). 

Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)

The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) is a survey device used to measure non-specific psychological distress in people. It uses a set of 10 questions about negative emotional states that participants in the survey may have experienced in the 4 weeks leading up to their interview. Higher levels of psychological distress indicate that a person may have, or is at risk of developing, mental health issues.

The ABS SDAC collects K10 information for people with disability aged 18 and over who have a personal interview.

Figure DISCRIMINATION.5: Health status for people with disability, by type of health assessment, whether have experienced discrimination and disability status, 2018

Stacked column chart showing categories of health status for people with disability who have and have not experienced disability discrimination in the last 12 months. The reader can select to display the chart by 2 types of health self-assessment, including 3 categories of general health and 4 categories of psychological distress. The chart shows people with severe or profound disability who experienced disability discrimination are more likely (51%) to experience very high levels of psychological distress than those who have not experienced disability discrimination (33%).

Source data tables: Disability discrimination (XLSX, 359KB)

Experiencing discrimination may also result in people with disability avoiding medical facilities. An estimated 1 in 7 (14% or 105,000) aged 15–64 with disability, who avoided situations due to their disability, avoided medical facilities in the previous year. About 4 in 9 (43% or 46,000) of this group experienced disability discrimination in that time:

  • 1 in 7 (14%) from health staff
  • 1 in 3 (32%) from other sources (Table DISCRIMINATION.5).
Table DISCRIMINATION.5: Whether have experienced disability discrimination for those(a) who avoided(b) medical facilities(c), by source of discrimination, 2018
Source of discrimination

 

%

Estimate
(‘000)

Have experienced discrimination

43.2

45.5

From health staff (GP, nurse, hospital staff)

14.2

14.9

From other sources(d)

32.4

34.1

Have not experienced discrimination

58.5

61.6

Total

100.0

105.3

(a) Aged 15–64 living in households who had a personal interview.

(b) Because of their disability in the last 12 months.

(c) Including GP, dentist or hospital.

(d) Including employer, work colleagues, family or friends, teacher or lecturer, bus drivers/rail staff/taxi drivers, restaurant/hospitality staff, sales assistants, strangers in the street, and other.

Note: A person may have experienced discrimination from more than one source, so components will not add to total. A person who experienced discrimination from more than one source is counted only once in aggregated totals.

Source: ABS 2019a; see also Table DISC53.

People with disability aged 15–64 who experience disability discrimination from health staff are more likely to avoid medical facilities than those who experience disability discrimination from another source and around 6 times as likely as those who did not experience disability discrimination. In the previous year, an estimated:

  • 25% (or 15,000) of people aged 15–64 with disability who experienced disability discrimination from health staff avoided medical facilities
  • 15% (or 34,000) who experienced disability discrimination from another source avoided medical facilities
  • 4.3% (or 62,000) who did not experience disability discrimination avoided medical facilities in that time (ABS 2019a).

Where can I find out more?

Data tables for this report.

ABS Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2018.

Complaints to the AHRC, and the Disability Discrimination Act – PDF DownloadAHRC 2019–20 complaint statistics (PDF, 1.17MB); a copy of the Act can be found in the Federal Register of Legislation

ABS General Social Survey (GSS) – ABS GSS, includes information on a broader experience of discrimination (that is, not only disability discrimination) for people with and without disability (based on the ABS Short Disability Module).

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