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19/08/2025

Australia signed up to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008. Its goals are to make sure that everyone with disabilities can fully enjoy their human rights and freedoms, and to promote respect and dignity for people with disability.

Unfortunately, people with disability in Australia face many barriers to achieving their rights and full participation in society. Many people with disability are experiencing violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation in the workplace, in private, and in public life.

Demographics

• 1 in 5 people in Australia have disability.[1]
• ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ 3 in 4 people in Australia who have a disability say their main form of impairment is physical, while about 1 in 4 say their main form of impairment is mental or behavioural.[2]

Complaints to the Commission

• In 2023 – 24, the most common areas of the Disability Discrimination Act under which people made complaints were:
  • goods, services, and facilities (33%)
  • employment (29%)
  • disability standards (12%)
  • education (11%).[3]

Education

• Families of students with disability reported that their school:
  • provided inadequate support (39%)
  • told the student they would do better if they were at a segregated school (24%)
  • regularly excluded them from broader school activities (e.g. assemblies, sport, school exclusions) (20%)
  • used restrictive practices to manage behaviour (17%)[4]
• 1 in 10 students with disability go to a segregated school.[5]

Experiences of violence

• More than half of all people with disability aged 18 to 64 have experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 15. People with a psychosocial disability, acquired brain injury, or intellectual disability are particularly at risk.[6]

Employment and NDIS eligibility

• People with disability are more than 2 times as likely than people without disability to be unemployed.[7]
• Increasing the number of people with disability who are employed by 10% would raise national economic output by $16 billion per year.[8]
• Only 10% of people with disability in Australia are eligible for the NDIS.[9]

LGBTQA+ people with disability

• Only 57% of LGBTQA+ young people with disability say they feel included in the LGBTQA+ community.[10]
• Only 21% LGBTQA+ young people with disability feel their LGBTQA+ identity is supported by the NDIS or disability support services.[11]

Housing and poverty

• It is estimated that less than 5% of housing stock is suitable for a person with a mobility disability.[12]
• 1 in 6 adults with disability are living in poverty, compared with just over 1 in 10 Australians without disability.[13]

Downloads

• Disability rights fact sheet PDF (150 KB)
• Disability rights fact sheet Word (66 KB) 

Suggested citation

ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ. (2025). Stats & Facts: Disability rights.

References 

[1] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024, July 4). . Australian Government, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Based on the ABS definition of disability. 1 in 5 = 21.4%.

[2] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024, April 23).  Australian Government, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 3 in 4 = 77%.

[3] ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ. (2024). . Table 15 Disability Discrimination Act – Complaints received by area, p. 16.

[4] Poed, S., Cologon, K., & Jackson, R. (2017, October).  [Conference session]. Inclusive Education Summit, Adelaide, Australia, pp. 6 – 7.

[5] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024, April 23). . Australian Government, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 1 in 10 = 12%. Students = Foundation year to senior secondary students.

[6] Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. (2023). , pp. 88 – 91.

[7] Australian Bureau of Statistics. (October 2019). . Employment characteristics of people with disability – Unemployment. More than twice as likely = people with disability: 10.3%. People without disability: 4.6%.

[8] Buckland, A., Dockery, M., Duncan, A., Sanchez Arenas V., Sotirakopoulos, P., Twomey, C., & Loan Vu, L. (2024). . Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, p. 99.

[9] Layton, N. & Brusco, N. (2022). . Monash University; COTA Victoria, p.5.
National Disability Insurance Agency. (2024). .

[10] Hill, AO., Lyons, A., Jones, J., McGowan, I., Carman, M., Parsons, M., Power, J., & Bourne, A., (2021). . Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University: Melbourne, p. 157. Young people = aged 14 – 21.

[11] Hill, AO., Lyons, A., Jones, J., McGowan, I., Carman, M., Parsons, M., Power, J., & Bourne, A., (2021). . Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University: Melbourne, p. 157. Young people = aged 14 – 21.

[12] Australian Network for Universal Housing Design; Rights & Inclusion Australia. (2016). ,  p. 11.
This is an estimated figure that the current voluntary approach to adopting Liveable Housing Guidelines was expected to reach less than 5% of the 2020 target.

[13] Davidson, P., Saunders, P., Bradbury, B., & Wong, M (2018). . ACOSS, UNSW: Sydney. p. 59.