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 identified, these are:
- sensory (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. An estimated 2 in 3 (67% or 413,000) people aged 15 and over, with psychosocial disability living in households, avoided situations in the last year, compared with 1 in 4 (25% or 277,000) with sensory and speech disability (ABS 2019a).
Females (35% or 610,000) with disability, living in households, were more likely to avoid situations because of their disability in the past year than males (31% or 475,000). This is more pronounced for females with psychosocial disability (69% or 231,000) compared with 64% (or 182,000) males (ABS 2019a).
People with psychosocial disability are also more likely to experience discrimination because of their disability. Around 1 in 4 (24% or 149,000) people aged 15 and over, living in households, with psychosocial disability experienced disability discrimination in the last year, compared with 1 in 17 (7.5% or 82,000 people) with sensory and speech disability (ABS 2019a).
Females (10% or 178,000) with disability, living in households, were more likely to experience disability discrimination in the past year than males (8.8% or 136,000). This is more pronounced for females with psychosocial disability (26% or 86,000) compared with 22% (or 63,000) of males (ABS 2019a).
People with psychosocial disability also account for the highest proportion of disability discrimination complaints the AHRC receives. A total of:
- 32% of complaints are by people with psychosocial disability
- 18% are by people with physical disability
- 9.3% are by people with intellectual or learning disability
- 9.0% are by people with sensory disability (AHRC 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 last year, of people aged 15 and over with disability living in households, an estimated:
- 1 in 32 (3.1% or 9,700) of those who experienced disability discrimination, have experienced disability discrimination from a teacher or lecturer
- 1 in 6 (17% or 31,000) attending a school or other educational institution experienced disability discrimination, inside or outside the education system
- 1 in 11 (8.6% or 93,000) of those who avoided situations because of disability, avoided going to school, university or an educational facility (ABS 2019a)—about 1 in 3 (35% or 32,000) of these experienced disability discrimination in that time (Table DISCRIMINATION.2).
Who does the SDAC 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 years and the necessity of it being a personal interview, means 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
|
34.6
|
32.1
|
Have not experienced discrimination
|
65.8
|
61.0
|
Total
|
100.0
|
92.7
|
(a) People aged 15 and over 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 DISC10.
Other sources of information
Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) conducted a small national education survey in 2019 of 505 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 (97%) and the rest were students with disability. The survey had representation from all states and territories and students were: 68% males, 3.2% Indigenous, 61% aged 4–12 and 34% aged 13–18, 65% attending government school and 24% attending non-government school.
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 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 last 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).
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
|
|
9.0
|
90.7
|
100.0
|
|
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.
Of people aged 15–64 with disability who avoided situations in the last 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.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 1 source, so components will not add to total. A person who experienced discrimination from more than 1 source is counted only once in aggregated totals.
Source: ABS 2019a.
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 last 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 last year are in the bottom 5 personal income deciles ($700 or less of personal weekly income), compared with 61% (or 746,000) who had not.
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 (56% or 177,000) of people aged 15 and over with disability who have experienced disability discrimination in the last year rated their health as fair or poor, compared with 1 in 3 (33% or 982,000) 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 through to poor.
People with disability who experience disability discrimination are more than twice as likely as those who have not to have high or very high levels of psychological distress. An estimated 67% (or 205,000) of people aged 18 and over with disability who have experienced disability discrimination in the last year have a high or very high level of psychological distress, compared with 27% (or 785,000) who had 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 is collected for people with disability aged 18 and over who had a personal interview.