Disability in Australia

Suraksha Maharaj & Kathryn SchenkDisability Ageing and Carers

• What is disability?

• How do we measure disability?

- 3 major ABS sources

• Unmet need for formal assistance

• Disability statistics into the future

Overview

How is disability defined?

• Limitation, restriction or impairment which restricts everyday activities and has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least 6 months.

• Info about need for assistance, difficulty experienced and use of aids or equipment determines whether a person has a particular limitation or restriction.

• Aligns with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

3 sources of ABS disability data

• Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) – ‘Gold standard' in terms of measuring disability; provides

accurate prevalence rates.

• Short Disability Module– 10 questions included in most ABS social surveys; valuable

tool for comparing population characteristics of people with/without disability.

• Census Need for Assistance questions– 4 questions about a person’s need for assistance with

everyday activities and the reason for this need.

1 - Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC)

• Collected since 1981

• Measures the need for support of those with disability (and older people).

• Provides a demographic and socio-economic profile of people with disability, older people and carers compared with the general population.

• Measures the prevalence of disability in Australia.

Disability prevalence, 2012

312 500 (1.4%)

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Age group

Disability prevalence by age

1993

2012/13

Prevalence of disability

2012:Prevalence by age

•15-24 year olds around 8%•45-54 year olds 18%•55-64 year olds 29%

Disability over time: Overall prevalence

• 1981 – 13.2%

• 1998 – 19.0%

• 2003 – 20.0%

• 2009 – 18.5%

• 2012 – 18.5%

Three most prevalent disabling conditions

1981 2012

Musculoskeletal diseases (32.8%) Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (55.7%)

Hearing loss (27.4%) Diseases of the circulatory system (39.1%)

Circulatory disease (19.8%) Mental and behavioural disorders (35.3%)

‘Average’ person with a disability in 2012/13

• Is female (51.6%)• Has a mobility restriction• Has a mild core activity limitation• Is married• Has a disease of the musculoskeletal system and

connective tissue• Median age = 60 years

• What is unmet need for formal assistance?

• How many people had an unmet need?

• Who is more likely to have unmet need.

Unmet Need for Formal Assistance in Australia

10 activities of daily living:

• Self-care• Mobility• Communication• Cognitive or

emotional tasks• Health care

• Reading or writing tasks• Transport• Household chores• Property maintenance• Meal preparation

Formal assistance providers

• Organisations or individuals representing organisations; or

• other persons (excluding family, friends or neighbours as described in Informal assistance/providers), on a regular, paid basis, who are not associated with any organisation.

Informal assistance/providers

• Informal assistance is unpaid help or supervision

• Informal assistance may be provided by family, friends or neighbours.

What is unmet need?

In the 2012 SDAC, people had an unmet need for formal assistance if they:

• Received some formal assistance for that need but not enough, or

• Received no formal assistance for that need.

People may have had more than one unmet need for assistance for different activities.

How many people had an unmet need?

• 1.5 million people with disability needed formal assistance

• Around half (50.7% or 774,000 people) had an unmet need for formal assistance

Activities for which assistance was needed

Who is more likely to have an unmet need?

Who is more likely to have an unmet need?

Who is more likely to have an unmet need?

Reasons for not receiving adequate formal assistance

What’s coming up….• SDAC 2015 first results – 29th April 2016

• NATSISS 2015 first results – 28th April 2016

• Planning for the 2018 SDAC is underway

• Internationally comparable data… coming soon!