Disability in Australia - what you need to know
In Australia, 1 in 5 people have a recognised disability. That’s 4.4 million people.
Disability is part of human diversity, yet it is often misunderstood.
Disability is an impairment, limitation or restriction to a person’s mental, mobility or sensory functions.
It can be:
- Visible or invisible
- Temporary or permanent
- Total or partial
- Lifelong or acquired
- Caused by accident, trauma, genetics or disease.
The breadth of impairments and medical conditions covered by the Disability Discrimination Act are set out below:
- Physical (affecting mobility or dexterity)
- Intellectual (affecting ability to learn)
- Mental Illness (affecting thinking processes)
- Sensory (affecting ability to hear or see)
- Neurological (affecting the brain and central nervous system)
- Learning disability
- Physical disfigurement
- Immunological (the presence of organisms causing disease in the body)
To be deemed a disability, the impairment or condition must impact daily activities, communication and/or mobility, and have lasted or is likely to last 6 months or more.
People with disability are part of every section of our community. No two people with the same disability experience their disability in the same way.
The only thing that distinguishes a person with disability is they may require some form of adaptation/adjustment to enable them to do certain things in the same way as people without disability.
83% of people with disability do not need time off work because of their condition.
Only 48% of working age people with a disability are employed and 10% are under employed.
The Australian Government’s Disability Employment Services (DES) program helps people with an injury, illness or disability find and keep a job.
APM is the largest provider of Disability Employment Services in Australia and is the company behind Employable Me - a new recruitment experience connecting employers and job seekers, powered by APM.