Disability statistics

• Australians with disability
• Carers and support
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability

Australians with disability

The 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) (ABS 4430.0 2018) by the Australian Bureau of Statistics contains a number of interesting statistics about people with disability in Australian including:

• 4.4 million Australians are estimated to have disability or 17.7% of the population. The proportion is slightly lower than the 2015 SDAC results.
• 19.1% of the Queensland population or just less than 1 in every 5 Queenslanders have a disability.
• An estimated 306,400 Queenslanders of all ages have a profound or severe disability. People with a profound or severe disability require assistance in everyday activities, including core activities such as self-care, mobility and communication.
• Queenslanders with disability by age group:
  • 0 to 4 years—3.8%
  • 5 to 14 years—9.9%
  • 15 to 24 years—8.2%
  • 25 to 34 years—9.4%
  • 35 to 44 years—11.2%
  • 45 to 54 years—18.5%
  • 55 to 59 years—24.9%
  • 60 to 64 years—30.2%
  • 65 to 69 years—40.7%
  • 70 to 74 years—42.9%
  • 75 to 79 years—57.2%
  • 80 to 84 years—64.9%
  • 85 to 89 years—78.3%
  • 90 and over—84.9%

Carers and support

According to the 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) (ABS 4430.0 2018) by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are:

• In Australia, an estimated 2.65 million carers helping people with disability, or the aged.
• About 861,600 are primary carers—offering the majority of informal help to people with disability, or the aged.
• Seven in ten (71.8%) of primary carers are women.
• People with disability in Australia needing care, services and assistance in the following ways:
  • 23.0% needed assistance with mobility
  • 15.2% needed assistance with self-care
  • 29.9% needed assistance with health care
  • 37.4% of Australians aged 65 and over did not need any help performing daily activities. Older Australians who did require help commonly asked for support maintaining a home or property, household chores, mobility assistance and health care.
• About 533,200 Queenslanders—or 10.9% of the state’s population were carers.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability

The Health and Welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: 2015 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2015. The health and welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 2015. Cat. no. IHW 147. Canberra: AIHW) indicates that in 2012-13:

• Approximately 36% of Indigenous Australians had some form of disability.
• About 6.4% of the Indigenous population had a severe or profound disability – approximately 18% of Indigenous people with disability.
• Indigenous Australians were twice as likely as non-Indigenous Australians to have severe or profound disability.
• The most common disability type among Indigenous people with severe or profound disability were:
  • Physical disability (70% of those with severe or profound disability)
  • Sight, hearing or speech-related disabilities (53%)
  • Psychological disabilities (34.7%)
  • Intellectual disabilities (33.7%).
• The report also indicates that in 2012-13, the rate of severe or profound disability amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was:
• Highest amongst those in the older age groups reaching 14.4% in the 65 years and over age group
• Significantly higher in all age groups than for all Australians in all age groups except those aged under 15 years.

More information

The Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare can provide further statistics on disability in Australia.